Family Time in Dublin

We took the kids to McDonald's - Keelin's favorite! Ryker was eating the french fries until he discovered the vanilla milkshake! Mmmmmmmmmmmm. He drank it in one big gulp. Really. We also went downtown to see all of the pretty decorations on Grafton Street and to the park where I took him on the big swing.

Free Derry

Andrew was a great tourguide. We walked the walls of Derry (oldest and most intact walled city in Europe). We explored Free Derry (the Catholic end of town) and all of the wonderful murals which depict the history of The Troubles.

Bed!

Every night AVO and T would be so tired and thankful to crawl into a bed at the end of the day that they'd say "Bed!" as a form of goodnight. We stayed at a B&B outside of Derry. It was very cold and we woke to frost on everything.

Hot Whiskey!

It was a VERY cold, windy day at Giant's Causeway. We trudged up behind this Polish woman. We got AVO up the hill by telling her she could have a Bushmill's hot whiskey at the top. The distillery was closed for the holiday but the pub served us well.

THE LEGEND OF FINN MACCUMHAIL LYRICS - DROPKICK MURPHYS

THE LEGEND OF FINN MACCUMHAIL LYRICS - DROPKICK MURPHYS

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Giant's Causeway

Ryker's middle name, Fionn, is in honor of Fionn MacCool (Mac Cumhail in Gaellic). One of the first posts in this blog tells the legend so I won't repeat it. Giant's Causeway is on the coast of Northern Ireland. It is a natural rock formation dating from the Paleogene Period (65 - 23 million years ago). It is a Unesco World Heritage site and appears on the cover of the Led Zeppelin album Houses of the Holy.

This was Tara's favorite part of the trip - even if we had to do a quick hike back because we got there a bit late in the day (after all, we did Newgrange earlier!). Ryker was getting over being sick and was still a bit under the weather. Fortunately, we could put him in the pack and carry him.

Newgrange

Just north of Dublin is a VERY old passage tomb. It is 1,000 years older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza. It is the oldest domed roof structure ever discovered. It was designed so the rising sun on the Winter Solstice shines deep inside the tomb and lights up the back corners. The waiting list to see this is 10 years long and over 40,000 people apply for the lottery every year. Maybe 20 people (and that would be incredibly tight) would fit inside at any given time.

The Brazen Head

We went to The Brazen Head, established in the 1100's (or earlier) for lunch and a Guinness. It is famous for many reasons, including being the oldest pub in Ireland, the place where the Easter Uprising was planned, and the many famous people who've passed through. Andrew and I shared a Beef & Guinness stew with chips (french fries), my mom had fish and chips and T had a chicken sandwich. It is hard to believe, but in my 20 odd trips to Dublin I'd never been here!

Brazen Head

We went to The Brazen Head, established in the 1100's for lunch and a Guinness. Andrew and I shared a Beef & Guinness stew with chips (french fries), my mom had fish and chips and T

Kilmainham Gaol

Today we went to the famous jail (gaol). It was awful. I mean, great tour and all, but the conditions... I carried Ryker around on my back. He was pretty good. Two other kids on the tour weren't - at all.

Hanging out at Home over the Holidays

Christmas Day

Jumping into Dublin Bay at the Forty Foot on Christmas Day is a tradition. Andrew did it! Ryker and I were too sick and AVO thought everyone was crazy. There were hundreds of people there, including a few Santa Clauses who all jumped in. Afterwards, there was hot cider and whiskey.

Howth

On Christmas Eve, we went to Howth to get seafood for dinner. Unfortunately, Ryker and I came down with a stomach flu so we postponed dinner. There was a little fair set up and Ryker drove a car. He also went on the slide. We saw seals in the harbor.

Johnnie Fox's Pub

We went to Johnnie Fox's so Tara and AVO could try Guinness and hear a bit of music. Tara thought it was too bitter, but AVO liked it.

Christmas in Dublin

AVO and Tara came from Newport, RI to join us. We hadn't been on a plane in almost 3 months. Ryker is having so much fun playing with his sister, Keelin, and seeing Daddy too. We got a beautiful Christmas tree. Santa came early so we could celebrate with Keelin.

Mama's Boots

Ryker loves to put on everyone's shoes and try to walk in them - even my boots!

Annual Christmas Photo

Here we are in front of our beautiful, 8 foot Christmas tree. Keelin got a Hello Kitty ornament. Ryker got a Santa riding in a firetruck. We celebrated on December 20-21 which turned out to be a good thing since we all had the flu over Christmas!

Firetrucks!

Ryker LOVES firetrucks. We pass by the firehouse down the street almost every day. We saw one parked on the street up in NY and the firefighters took a picture with him. FDNY at its finest.