They drive on the other side of the road!

Dublin!

Yesterday night we met two Irish studs named Kevin and Greg. We met them at a bus stop where we ended up spending the majority of our night visiting with them. They kept us entertained as they continually imitated Americans as we are "loud and obnoxious." Very friendly folks and we hope to run into them again!

Today we literally walked around ALL day and just now sat down for our first time at 5:30pm (we even ate lunch on foot!). Our highlight of the day was going to the Guinness Brewery where we walked around for over an hour exploring and meeting new friends like Patricia from Mexico City in the photo above. We also went to the National Museum and few little shops to purchase more souvenirs for you loved ones at home! Tonight we plan on going to a pub, however NOT drinking Guinness despite our love for the brewery! Hope everyone is busy enjoying lunch at this time while we head to dinner!

Note to Mike McMahon: Brooke took 28648935890 pictures at the Guinness Brewery including the ingredients and complete process.

And to Biggie B, a keg of holy water???

This one is out to Grandma Yambert!

Note to GrandPA Yambert: I know it's nothing compared to your photography skills but I am trying!

This one is out to Grandma McMahon!

Mandy's Mishap

So it all starts when we're walking back to our hotel after an AMAZING day in Cork. We get off the 2 hour bus ride and begin walking, in the pouring rain, back to our hotel. Brooke and I have big souvenir bags full of things from Cork...mine apparently much heavier. We're about 10 minutes from our hotel when my bag rips into pieces and takes off in the current on the side of the road. I dive down to get the remains and all of the souvenirs as the first bus comes by and covers us in water (dirty at that). I continue to throw things in Brooke's bag and Janelle's mini bookbag as yet another car comes by and..you guessed it, covers us in more water. At this point Janelle and Brooke are basically peeing their pants laughing while I'm still gathering my things crouched down on the side of the road. It's not over yet...another car comes and finishes us off. Hilarious. So I stand up and see that luckily, the handle of the bag is still attached to my arm..thank goodness! We start walking back to the hotel looking like wet dogs that just got into a fight with three cars and we notice that Brooke's bag is ripping as well, and my little bag from Lisa's is ripping along with it. We finally make it back to the hotel where EVERYONE stares at us, thinking..where did these stupid Americans come from this time and what exactly did they just do? Story of our lives...maybe kissing the Blarney stone was a bad idea?

Tuesday March10th - Dublin, here we come!

Today we arrived in Dublin, after a very strenuous walk in Limerick from our hotel to the bus station. Just imagine the site of three American tourists lugging three suitcases, three back packs, two little back packs, and Mandy's largely sized suitcase for over a mile in a half through the hectic streets of Limerick City. Once finally making it to the train station we purchased our tickets and once again had amazing luck with catching our bus! Although we were told it would only be a 2 and a half hour ride, it turned out to be around 3 and a half, which was fine seeing as though Brooke and Mandy slept most of the bus ride. Once we arrived at the train station in Dublin, that was where it started to get tricky. After being told two different things as to how to locate the right bus to take us to our location, we FINALLY found the correct double decker bus to take us there. We then got off at our Days Inn Hotel and checked into our hotel, which was nice but about a fourth of the size as our beloved room in Limerick. We are currently wandring around, seeing the sights in the beautiful city of Dublin! Stay tuned: tomorrow we plan to see the Guiness Brewery and the oldest jail in Ireland!

Brooke's 1st Guiness

The Big Blarney Experience

Today we woke up nice and early to begin Brooke's most important day of the trip: our journey to the Blarney Castle! We walked to Limerick City and got on a bus for an hour and a half then arrived in Cork. From there we took another short bus to the Blarney Castle where we kissed the Blarney Stone (as seen in the photo)! The Castle was surrounded by a beautiful scenery including a nice picnic location where we sat down to eat our homemade peanut butter and jellys (well peanut butter and marshmallows in Mandy's case-she has developed a new love for the combination). The weather was pretty nice the majority of the day, just a little chili but we learned our lesson yesterday to wear layers! More photos to come!

Our Journey

Yesterday we spent the day in Limerick City where we visited many historically significant buildings as well as lots of shopping. As I wrote in an earlier post, we survived the blizzard and ended walking around for five hours after the storm was over. While walking around so much, we managed to get a teeny bit lost and decided we were going to trust our instincts and walk in "the general direction" that we thought was right. I think it was a good thing we went to church that morning because somehow we managed to find ourselves almost right in front of our hotel when we thought we had miles to go. Lucky lil dawgs. A lovely night once we got back filled with watching our new favorite show: Dancing On Ice and eating ice cream after going to the grocery store. Oh! And we musn't forget the flirting with Eoin (one of the human resource guys for our hotel) in an attempt to not only get free drinks but also gain some Ireland knowledge from the questions we pondered however were to scared to ask the other locals. Unfortunately, he is thirty years old, otherwise Janelle may have contemplated marrying him...actually she still might. Another blog to come shortly! -love, the three musketeers

Some photos!!!

The three babes in front of a little waterfall we discovered on a trail at the Blarney Castle Park.

Mandy kissing the Blarney Stone (with the much requested help of that guy).

Brooke's pride and joy: The Blarney Castle.

Walking with the swans at the Shannon River.

Arriving at our hotel in Limerick.

Limerick City

Hello All! Writing you from the bus station in Limerick City (with a keyboard that does not work too well so we apologize for typos)! We just got done trekking through a blizzard after going to church this morning. The weather is very sparatic as it changes every ten minutes. Amidst the blizzard we stopped at a pub where we tried our first Guiness and well...let's just say different. :) Nonetheless the sun is now shining brightly and we are going to wander town before going to the Blarney Stone tomorrow! Sorry for not many phone calls...it's complicated (and we're not talking about facebook relationships teeheehee!)! Peace out for now!!

We are here! Welcome to Ireland!

Hello fellow blog checkers! We arrived in Ireland at 7am (but really 1am Champaign time) after close call in Newark as our plane was delayed for an hour and ran to catch our connecting flight to Ireland. We are currently at our hotel awaiting to check-in. We already managed to find a McDonald's here in Limerick as well as looking at a local hardware store for kicks and giggles. We love the accents. Pretty sure we are not coming home already! Miss you all! More to come!

PS McMahon Family: We are unable to post pictures from this computer since the USB does not work however Brookie wants you all to know she spotted your last name on "McMahon Funeral Home" within ten minutes of arriving here! XOXO

5 Days BabAy!

Jon Vimr promises to comment on our blog! We have three followers!