Ireland Day 3 - Our First Day in Dublin

Let me first begin with the night before we left for Dublin. We had one last evening in Waterford and decided to head over to the pub across the street from our hotel. It had a few names listed on the front of the building so I believe that it had changed names a few times. I think the name of the bar though was Bridge Street. It was the "corner bar" of that area and it seemed that it was where some of the locals chose to hang out. We did make some rather awesome friends after a bit of time. Sadly, I cannot remember their names but they made that portion of the trip most memorable. One gentleman was carrying a large silver trophy and I just had to ask him why. When I did he explained that he, the owner of the pub, and some of the guys with him had greyhounds in a tournament and they had won. They were out that evening to celebrate even though the tournament was settled two weeks prior. It was the first chance that they had to get together. He then asked me where I was from and we talked about Las Vegas a bit. He also asked about my heritage and I told him some of the names of my family. He smiled. "Yes, we have an Irish lass here gents! Have a drink from our trophy!" He explained that the trophy was filled with whiskey and lemonade. Normally I would have been freaked out by doing this but after a few ciders, and there awesome good nature, I could not say no. It was some of the finest tasting whiskey I have had. So smooth. I ended up drinking from it three times. Slainte my friends!

 

The next morning we packed up and headed out to Dublin. This part of the trip was what Ben was most excited for since we were headed to the Croke Park Classic the following day to see Penn State take on University of Central Florida. I must tell you. As maddening as it is to drive on the left side of the road (well for Ben I had no chance of tackling that) it was by far more crazy to navigate the endless one way streets that made up this city. We got lost several times, bickered a bit more than we would care to admit, but after a bit we did find our hotel, The Beresford. Parking was a nightmare so I had to make a few trip up to our room once we were checked in and then Ben was able to move the car.

 

This is where Karen panics a bit. The parking garage was about a 5 minute walk so it should have taken 20 minutes tops for Ben to park and make it back. Forty five minutes later he was still no where to be seen. I stood outside for awhile and then just waited in the lounge. After another ten minutes he finally popped in and I was relieved beyond belief.

 

Once we were settled we decided to go find something to eat and get the lay of the land. We headed over the bridge to the area where The Temple Bar is located. I was looking around and noticed a LOT of Penn State gear and then I saw a stage in the middle of the road. I grabbed Ben's arm and we headed over to see what was happening. Turns out we made it in perfect time to join a pep rally for Penn State! We also walked right near the stage and ran in to John Shafer, a member of the Las Vegas Chapter for the Penn State Alums in Las Vegas. How crazy is that?

 

Here are some pictures and a short clip:

 

Ben and I with John



But first....



The players came right by afterwards!

WE ARE....

 

After that we headed out for dinner and settled on The Porterhouse where we had some of the best bar food. Definitely the best pork spare ribs ever.

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the hotel after dinner but here are some sights from that walk back.

 

 

Soon we'd be on our way to the Croke Park Classic.....stay tuned!