Rachel’s visit

Rachel and Alex took full advantage of their Thanksgiving break and headed over to Ireland for five days of fun!  They arrived very early Sunday morning (flight landed at 4:45AM!!) and we picked them up at the Dublin airport.  The first day we explored Malahide (our town), which included walking through the downtown, walking on the beach, taking a tour of Malahide castle, followed up with dinner at Duffy’s, a local pub.  Malahide Castle has a very large park, butterfly garden, an old church from the 1500’s, tennis courts, golf course, restaurants and of course the castle (owned by the Talbot family).

Next stop – DUBLIN!

Getting into city proved a slight bit challenging when the always prompt DART train line went down.  Luckily, the bus stop was right across the street.  And we enjoyed the view into Dublin from the upper level of the double decker bus.

They first stopped at “EPIC” which we talked about in an earlier blog.  They walked through St. Stevens Green and several other places that day.  Still working through the jet lag, it was a comfortable day with light walking.

The second day Rachel and Alex did the tour that is usually at the top of most tourists when they visit Dublin which is….Guinness beer of course.  The tour explains the history of Guinness and the process of making beer.  At the end, visitors are served a fresh pint of their creamy beer at thefamous Gravity Bar which has a 360 degree view of Dublin and the countryside.

Next up – Kilmainham Gaol (Jail).  This too is a must if you visit Dublin as it describes the hardships the Irish went through during the difficult times such as the 1850 Potato Famine.  The jail also played a big part in the story of Irish independence from The United Kingdom.  After the 1916 Uprising, many Irish leaders were captured by the British and held in Kilmainham Gaol.  A week later, the British sentenced them to death and they were shot in the jail’s outside area.  The Irish leaders who were shot are considered martyrs.  This led to Ireland gaining their independence from Britain several years later.