Heaven´s Gate

Sunday, June 18, 2006
Dublin, Ireland
He Said:

We made it Ireland, and within a few hours of finding our first home away from home, we found St . Jame´s Gate at the Guinness Storehouse, or as I prefer to call it, Heaven´s Gate. All the folks at ABCNEWS can scrap that clipreel on cults and replace it with the attached photo of me, the new Marshall Applewhite, drinking Guinness, the new Kool-Aid. I drank it, and so did Alli, leading us to verify the famous slogan "Guinness is Goodness." It certainly cured Alli's case of the jitters, which I thought it might. That night we met Kevin at our B&B pub, who preceded to tell the entire place that we were on our honeymoon. A few beers later we were dancing an Irish jig.

The next day we went to Trinity College, had a few pints at a famous Irish beer garden, walked through St Stephen's Green, had a few pints, walked past the Prime Minister´s office as his mentor Charles Haughey was being buried, had a few pints, met some other travelers from South Africa at O'Neils (thanks Holyfield), and decided to have a few pints.

Saturday, our last day in Dublin, was without a doubt our best . We discovered that Claire's (a friend of ours in NYC from Ireland) family is even more impressive than her alma mater (Trinity - home to nobel laureates and one Samuel Beckett). We are eternally grateful to the McDonough's for picking us up at the train station and taking us through the Irish countryside where we saw 40 shades of green and ancient burial sites that date back to the year 3000 BC. They then opened up their home to us, and we had a Saturday evening BBQ, had a few pints, talked, much to my chagrin, about the things we don't like to talk about in the states - politics, religion, and education, had a few pints, talked about Irish history, and then decided to have a few pints.

Claire, please forward this to your family as we forgot their email addresses at the hotel before we walked down to the cybercafe. Thank you again!

Slainte!

She Said:

Guinness, Guiness, and more Guiness ...I am putting Chad in detox as soon as we get to Portugal! Seriously though, Ireland turned out to be the best unplanned diversion to start the trip. Since Chad gave you some history and culture, I will give you some reality of the beginning of our journey.

We arrived in Dublin and when the customs agent stamped our passports "honeymoon", I knew I'd better snap out of my nervous fit. We took the local bus to the city center and the first people we heard conversing on the bus were Canadians. They had bright red flags on each piece of luggage and almost shared some anti-American sentiment until they caught themselves. We got off at O'Connell Street and apparently walked to the "wrong side of the river" to find a hostel. With a long night of traveling and heavy backpacks, I wanted to find a place fast. The first place we walked into was 35 Euro per person per night, and as I looked at the nasty room with the bathroom 4 floors down (no lift), Chad knew without even asking and we loaded the packs back up . We remembered Captain's suggestion of Gardiner Street and the employees of RyanAir telling us of a place that we just so happened to run right into it. We decided 50 Euro per person per night for an elevator, breakfast, a double room with a bathroom, and a pub downstairs with nightly live music was acceptable.

As we sat up in the rooftop bar at the Guinness brewery where I almost passed out in my free Guiness (typical Alli style) from jet-lag, it all hit me. I am here with the man I love and we have no place to be for a really long time. Instantly I felt better and my trip officially began. As Chad told you, that night we enjoyed traditional Irish music and watched the local version of Riverdance. Everyone congratulated us and we went to sleep smiling!

We had more than a few pints as Chad will have you to believe. Let's just say that I actually began to acquire a taste for the low calorie beer (which Guinness is belive it or not)!

As for our day with the McDonough's, Chad said it perfectly. We thank you all so very much for your hospitality and warmth. We will cherish the memories of our day together and hope to return the favor if/when you come to the states.

He Said:

I almost forgot to mention the Canadian thing until Alli reminded me. It seems they all wear Maple leaves on their packs because they don't want to be confused with Americans or people with personalities (sorry Tracy and Debi).
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