Day 1: The real first day in Ireland

Finally in Ireland!  We were exhausted, a little gross right off the plane, and so very, very excited to have made it to Ireland!  It was a pretty happy bus ride!

We made plans to meet my sister-in-law's sister-in-law, Phoebe, at the Molly Malone statue... and after getting a little nervous in our exhaustion, Daniel walked around the corner to the tourist center and called her to make sure we hadn't missed her.  Erin and I just hung out... and decided the nickname "Tart with the Cart" was probably and accurate one for Miss Molly.

Phoebe took us to Starbucks (very Irish, I know ;-)) for a little pick-me-up and then took two of our bags back home with her to make our day in Dublin a little easier to traverse.

We started with St. Stephen's Green, mostly because it was there and pretty.  We wandered, took some pictures, and discussed our options for the rest of the day.

From St. Stephen's Green, we started our way to the National Museum.  We passed this little square of land in the middle of the city containing a cemetery.  I think the big thing about being in Ireland, is that these things are just there, tucked into the corners of the city, and that it's completely normal. 

The National Museum was pretty awesome; although, exhaustion was pretty heavy at this point and I only remember the highlights.  For instance, one really huge boat.  Yep.

From there we headed towards the site at which Handel's Messiah was performed for the first time.  Luckily, Erin is a music teacher and so sang part of the Hallelujah Chorus at the site to celebrate the moment.  (PS Did you know I was briefly a music major?  One year in, I was trying to juggle several other degrees and accepted that music was a better hobby for me than career.  Erin; however, is uber talented and always brings the music nerd in at the right times ;-).)

Just a short way down the block, there is a little restaurant called Chorus Cafe, apparently named for being in close vicinity to the above site.  Much to our surprise, it was an Italian restaurant.  However; we had heard that Dublin was one of the best places to eat a variety in ethnic foods, so there we were!

In case you're curious, Erin had a panini, Daniel had a pasta arribiata and I had a pasta bolognese.  So tasty!  We were really hungry at that point after walking across town, so we dug in and tried to resist the temptation to curl up and take a nap.
  

From there, we kept walking.  Walking was a theme on this trip, something Daniel loved and missed from his days living in Italy.

We planned on visiting both Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's cathedral, but both had an entrance fee and we decided there was more we wanted to see inside St. Patrick's cathedral, so Christ Church got a brief walk around the grounds, a quick smile at the family sword fighting with programs and on our way again. 

And, there we were.  St. Patrick's was not only gorgeous, but had some amazing artifacts.  Stone from St. Patrick's well, the body of Jonathan Swift (I paid close attention here as my sister has a masters in literature and reminded me to keep an eye out for him), a handwritten manuscript of Handel's Messiah done by one of the musicians at St. Patrick's around the 1750s, and some amazing architecture to boot. 

 

From there we headed to "home."  Phoebe, realizing we were completely exhausted, walked us to their local pub and sat with us while we enjoyed our first Ireland drinks (Bulmer's for Erin and I and a Guiness for Daniel... the first of many).  Erin and I both got bangers and mash and Daniel had fish and chips.  I don't know if I can describe how satisfying that meal was... after a day of walking and what seemed like nights without sleep, this was the ultimate comfort food.  Warm, filling... mmm... I'm craving it now.  We finished off with sticky toffee pudding... trust me, you should try it.  And that, my friends, is how we ended day one in Ireland.