The Tour Continues

Friday afternoon Connor left for Germany, however my plans to follow had changed. A few weeks prior I discovered that my flight to Germany had been refunded for some reason. So I decided to change plans and book a ferry from the Dublin port to the Holyhead, and a train to London.

Last photo in Dublin: a street performer who threw a playing card three stories high

Big Ben

Outer deck of the ferry.

Giant horse head in a market.

Lsat Day

And so it has come to pass, that our last day on assignment in Dublin has arrived. To pay homage, I thought I'd appreciate how safe they keep us in the Dublin office by documenting the fire extinguishers, just on our floor near our desks.

All the Way to Galway

This weekend Connor and I took a trip to Galway, a small college town on the west coast of Ireland. After work on Friday we took a bus to Galway. Except we got to the bus stop too late and had to wait for the next bus. Upon the recommendation of several people, we stayed at Kinlay Hostel.

On our first night in Galway we ran into a bus driver for the Paddy Wagon tours. He had some room and offered us a ride to the Cliffs of Moher on Saturday morning. We took him up on it and were off at 9:30 for our tour. One of our first stops was a nice little castle outside of Galway.

Then we stopped at some baby cliffs on the way to the actual Cliffs of Moher.

And we finally arrive at the cliffs!

When we got back we signed up for a viking pub crawl that took us to 4 different pubs and a nightclub.

Pub crawl group

On Sunday we went to the Galway Cathedral to drop off some flower petals grown by Ethan's mom at the altar of Mary. Mass was going on at the time so we didn't get to explore but at least it was mission accomplished!

Oh to; Oh to Be; Oh to Be a Rebel!

Lucky us! Today is the all Ireland Hurling final!!! To which we replied, "huh?"
Not having really hurd of hurling before, we didn't realize this is quite a significance match. It was being held at the Croke Park stadium in Dublin, just a few kilometers from where we are staying. It was of course sold out long before we had a chance to get a ticket, so we headed to a pub called The Big Tree to meet with some friends and watch the game.

On the way, we took a detour through Trinity College.

The buildings at Cal Poly were a little different.

 Once we arrived at The Big Tree, we were greeted with a huge pub that had at least 3 bars and was packed to the gills with spectators. We made our way out back where they set up a giant inflatable Guinness pint.

True fans of hurling.

Barry and Connor respectively

The crew

Hurling is quite an interesting, fast paced and intenseley physical sport. If we were at the game live I would have likely broken my neck following the action back and forth. The game ended in a tie between Cork and Clare. Which means they must have a replay match at the end of the month: after we're gone from Ireland, but I'll probably end up streaming it.

Sunday Funday

Our viking ship

Today we took the Viking Splash tour through Dublin. The tour went through the larger commercial districts in Dublin and down on the river liffey. Our vehicle was a 70 year old D-day supply delivery vehicle.

High tech equipment

After the viking invasion we were pretty hungry so we had a nice brunch at Café En Seine complete with a live jazz performance. Highly recommended. The waitress took us to the closed section to show us the 3 level bar in the back. Might have to check that out this weekend.

After lunch we bought a rugby ball and practiced the underhand throwing technique.

Ethan Arrives!

Exit from main terminal at Dublin International.

It was quite a trip, After a car ride from the house, to a bus ride from Long Island to New York City, then on a cab to the NYC international airport, and finally I was away. 

I took the red-eye from 7:30pm Eastern time to 7:30am Dublin time, losing 5 hours along the way. The flight was uneventful, I didn't get much sleep as I was playing Sudoku with an art curator for a museum in Waterford, Ireland. She mentioned they're hosting events for Sonic Arts Waterford 2013. A possible event to check out if we're in Ireland that weekend.

Goodbye America

My grandma Linda and I, I swear my eyes are open

After a great trip in New York, seeing MOMA, fine dining in the city at Eatily et. al., going sailing in Sag Harbor, and seeing a live performance by Wynton Marsalis with my grandparents on the east coast, it was time to say goodbye to the states...

Winton Marsalis at the Guild playbill.

"Mouth, 7" by Tom Wesselmann.