P.S. I love Ireland: Roadtrip time.

Cliffs of Moher

Just got back from Ireland. Saw a lot of green and more rainbows in that week than I think I have my whole life. Did not encounter any Leprechauns. Unfortunately. Did learn though that the Irish are HILARIOUS! And that Mexicans, are amazing, that is, when they're not telling you that a certain rock is a whale, and you don't find out that they were pulling your leg until you're home safe and sound a couple of days later.

The Whale^^

DUBLIN- day 1: Simply galavanted around the city. Discovered that Dublin has the best shopping IN THE WORLD. Except maybe China (have yet to go there.) We took a walk in the park and spotted an old timer feeding the birds who was nice enough to give me some bread so I could do the same! Went to a pub. Maybe two? Does the place we went to lunch (Brewley's) also classify as one? Hmmm.. In any case I love the 'pub' atmosphere. Warm, welcoming, live music, and lots of funny drunk people! 

Roadtrip- day 2: (Northern Ireland, an actual country apparently.)  Wake up... early? Probable. Head off to ANCIENT 5000 YEAR OLD SITE! It was called Newgrange. Historical significance: old, has a tomb, matches up with the season solstices, and was probably built by aliens. From there we went to a classic Irish town called Hillsborough and visited a beautiful church as well as its eerie cemetery. Onward we went to the Giants Causeway. Probably also built by aliens. To top the day off we drove under some really old looking trees called "Dark Hedges." Also eerie...

The roadtrip gang in front of kylemore. 

Roadtrip- day 3: (Southern Ireland.) Visited Kylemore Abbey; however, wasn't always an abbey. This estate was originally built as a gift for the wife of some (obviously) successful man. So this is what love looks like... From there we went to the tiny town of Doolin! Stayed the night in an adorable hostel that was actually a legit cottage. Attempted to go to ancient ritual stone in the night... Epic fail. Not only were there 'imaginary' guard dogs, but fences, rocks, and actually (as we found out the next day) it was the complete wrong location!

Roadtrip- day 4: GOOD MORNING! -Says the lovely Irish sun (which actually, did shine for us.) 

Random horse says hello as well...

First things first, breakfast! We all sampled a 'real' Irish breakfast which consists of ham, sausage, potatoes, a tomato, and an egg. Drove to the Poulnabrone dolmen stone (same one we had tried to go to the night before), and I got whistled at (not the 'hey you're hot!' kind but the 'step back!' kind) when I tried to get a closer look... Next stop: Cliffs of Moher. Absolutely stunning. From there to the Blarney Castle we go! And I kiss the stone that claims I am now blessed with 'blarney,' or in other words, the gift of gab. It was a difficult thing to do seeing as that when I lay upside down, I for some reason can't contain my laughter! Resulting in unpuckerable lips. 

I wonder how many people before me have
kissed this very same stone...

Departure day- day 5: Back in Dublin and decide to make the boys breakfast. Nadine and I wandered off and stumbled upon a nice Saturday morning market complete with nice Saturday morning Irish accents. Found the ingredients and back to the apartment we went! We continued the day by just walking around Dublin, watching street performers, and witnessing some older trash worker scare the life out of an unsuspecting woman just trying to throw her coffee cup out. (He was taking the bag out, she put her cup in, he shook the bag and yelled 'wah!' and then started laughing hilariously as she smacked him and ran quickly away with his "I was only messsing!" trailing behind her.) 

Highlight: Benji

Annnnnnnd life goes on. I know I promised more from my mega vacation but i'm waiting until I receive more pictures from a friend! So, til then, sit tight. I promise it will be worth it.

What I have recognized so far in the last month is that Benji is hilarious. We've had quite the few bonding moments starting with first, our bike ride to Niederscherli, the next town over. Benji wanted to try an experiement with this time, 7up and brown sugar. Our little store in the Mittelhausern village didn't sell this fine American pop. So, "Dianne! Let's ride our bikes to Niederscherli and get some at the Coop (like a mini walmart)" well... Did I really have a choice? So we embark on our journey with him jutting his little arm out every once in a while to signal to the drivers when we were turning either left or right. We found our soda and then the line is about 4 people too long for his patience scale. So what does he do? He cuts. "Benji!" And then he upsettedly explains to me why it's only logical that we go before the other people because we only have one item whereas they have much more. Luckily the people in line found it rather funny and agreed with him. Oh Benji.

Experience number #2: Gehen zum Zahnarzt in Bern. Benji had an appointment at the dentist so I was left in charge of taking him all the way into the city. And he was NOT happy. "Dianne will get lost! She doesn't know where it is!" After assuring him that I in fact, did know Bern pretty well, he still felt that he needed to make sure I wouldn't get us lost and held my hand the whole time. We made it to the dentist early and so then had 2 hours to kill afterwards in Bern. So, I suggested that we go to the Shooting museum! And that we did. After exploring a bit we came to the section where we could shoot an airsoft gun into a target. The lady was very nice and gave both of us legit "Bernese shooting Club" medals. After that Benji then had the wonderful idea of going up to the top of the Münster. However, we didn't make it up too far because we found out that he's scared of heights... Then we got him some gelato which he successfully managed to get all over his clothes before I had to see him off for his religion class. (Which he absolutely despises.)

Schuetzen Museum

Here is a video that we made together that he absolutely insisted we put on youtube... enjoy.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL8ucPeEj7o

This kid really is a trip :)