Luck of the Irish

Well we didn't kiss the Blarney Stone, but we were blessed with sunny, RAINLESS days in historic Dublin this past Thanksgiving Weekend. Zev and I flew with budget airline "Ryan Air" to Dublin and learnt some interesting lessons from our first true budget airline experience:

1) There are no assigned seats. First in, best dressed, so be sure to move swiftly if you want a seat next to your partner;

2) Bring your own food and drinks. And be prepared for the fact that your seat does not recline back at all during the flight;

3) Try to pack all your belongings for the weekend into your carry on luggage, in order to avoid paying 40 Euro to check in your luggage. We saw some interesting "examples" of carry on luggage- let's just say that probably 70% of the passengers had carry on luggage as their only baggage and a lot of these mini suitcases/ bags were busting at the seems....

Although Dublin was as chilly as the rest of Europe at this time of year, what we discovered was a youthful, vibrant city, full of good restaurants and pubs and friendly people. We did a lot of walking around the city, on both sides of the River Liffey and enjoyed walking the grounds of Trinity College, Gordon Street and O'Connell Street, Temple Bar and of course, touring the historic Guiness Factory and Jameson Whiskey Factory. We even squeezed in two movies (the new James Bond film, "Quantum of Solace" and the new film with Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"-both excellent films, which was a special treat because we only have one English speaking movie theatre in town and it's on the other side of town....) Some of the highlights of our trip included eating quail and lamb dishes in a very interesting and rustic old wine cellar in Temple Bar, and enjoying the view and the warm sun from the Galaxy Bar at the top of the Guiness Factory. For now we are planning to enjoy the various Christmas Markets held in Stuttgart and Esslingen and settling in to life in lovely Deutschland. Hope all are happy and healthy! Zev and Fi xoxo