A Day In Dublin

IRELAND!

Our flight landed just before 5:00 local time. We deplaned, parted with Mrs. McDermott, and made our way to our rental car. After shoving all of our luggage in the cars (Mike's aunt came to help take suitcases) we drove to the hotel in Liffey Valley. We had breakfast around 7:00 and then went up to the room to sleep.

We woke up at 12:00 and got ready to head into Dublin. We drove to Mike's cousins' house and met Eoghain, Diarmuid, Louie, and Tom. We all walked to the bus stop together and rode into the city. We roamed around for a bit before deciding to stop and have McDonalds. While we were eating we witnessed some large demonstration, the purpose of which we do not know. From there, we walked around and ended up in some pub trying to watch rugby at the suggestion of some kid named Steve who just joined us while we were eating. We got kicked out because we were too young, but we spent a good 10 minutes in there. Steve left and the rest of us walked to Croke Park. It took a while to get there and we walked through Dublin's Chinatown on the way there. The area outside the stadium is not the nicest place...but the stadium itself was immaculate. We went into the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) Museum and played a bunch of games that were supposed to simulate hurling and Gaelic football. Paul can jump really high and I cannot hit a sliotar at all. As we were leaving, we decided to try and get into the stadium to see it. It didn't take too much time for us to realize that there weren't any gates or anything blocking us from getting in, so we walked up the stars and into the stadium. It's awesome. Brendan took this panorama from up in the stands. After we left the Park we walked back to where the McDonalds was to meet Mr. and Mrs. O'Hara. We walked to the car and drove back to the hotel, where we went for a quick swim/steam and had Domino's for dinner. I just took my first poop in Ireland, so there's that.

Right now, we're all just chilling until we leave for Mike's aunt's 50th birthday party in a bit. Should be interesting.