I Heart Dublin!

So, London has been knocked out of its number two spot and has been replaced with Dublin! Munich is my number one favorite city in the world (more so for sentimental reasons), and London use to be my second. Well Dublin has stolen my heart as well as the number two position on my list of favorite cities in the world.

Call me an idiot (or a typical American), but I did not know that they spoke English in Ireland… I know, I know, that’s pretty sad :-( Anyway, I had a great time here! Although a little pricey, Dublin is awesome. We spent the majority of our time exploring the streets and walking endlessly with no destination in mind. We tend not to plan things when we travel and just go wherever the wind blows. We stayed at the Best Western Academy Plaza, which is in a great location, right off of OConnell Street. My husband is a genius at finding great rates on the internet and Tripadvisor has never failed us on reviews and ratings.

We flew Ryan Air… If anybody has ever flown Ryan Air, then you know what an experience it can be. Since it’s just the two of us, we didn’t check any bags and carried on one bag each (which is all you’re allowed) no purses, no laptop bag… Just one bag, and it better not go over their weight limit (which is about 10 or 11 Kilos) and it better fit into their mock overhead bin that they have at the check in area. I can’t talk bad about Ryan Air, because their prices are amazing, and I believe this is the way they keep their prices so low. The flight was less then two hours and the trip from the Airport to the Hotel was about 15-20 minutes.

I don’t want to write a minute by minute review of our trip but I will highlight some of the things we did. My husband is a beer connoisseur, so we visited the Guinness Storehouse, which was interesting. He enjoyed it and he enjoyed the sampling and free pint you get at the end of the tour.

We spent our evenings eating (my favorite thing) and then we closed the night out at a Pub. We spent the majority of our nights at the Fitzsimons Pub, my husband loved this place. They were also showing the playoff games, which is rare to find in Europe. American Football isn’t very popular over here.

I wish I had more of a luggage allowance because the shopping is wonderful! The weather leaves a lot to be desired, it rained and even snowed a bit during our stay---but that didn't put a damper in our swagger.

I truly had a magnificent time here and I hope that we get a chance to come back and visit before we leave Europe.

This is how the Guinness is served at the storehouse.

AJ posing with the Guinness man.

AJ in front of the storehouse/museum

I found it amusing that they have a TK Maxx in Dublin - Especially since I use to work at TJ Maxx as a teenager.

These were seriously the best chips I ever had.

Hard Rock Dublin

Temple Bar

What a Wonderlul Day in History!

Okay, this blog thing is hard to keep up with. Well, since my last post America has witnessed history and I am so happy and inspired by our new president and his family. I spent the MLK weekend in Dublin with my husband and I was so amazed at how the people there were excited about President Obama and wanted to celebrate the event.

We left Dublin on Monday night, so I wasn’t able to see first hand what kind of events they had going on Tuesday, but I did notice this at the TGI Fridays in Dublin, as well as posters around the city announcing events to celebrate the big day.

I spent the whole evening Tuesday night watching the Inauguration and was overcome with emotion and joy. My husband wasn’t as emotional as I was, but he did sit and watch about 4 hours of the event with me. I could tell he was getting a little bored after that – he tends to blab a when he’s disinterested with something. I took my one man party upstairs and continued to watch the events and I finally fell asleep during the parade. The time difference here really makes it hard, but thank God for the internet!

Past travels...

My husband and I are HUGE traveller's, which is kind of sad because I think a blog would have been a great way to share our adventures with friends and family. So, to play catch up, I thought i'd highlight some of our past trips and continue to post about our future trips.

Paris is such a beautiful city!

London is my second favorite city in the world.

Istanbul Turkey

Amsterdam

Rome

Ich liebe Dich

Isn't love a wonderful thing?

I'm dedicating today's post to my husband who is truly my better half. I met my husband in 2006 in Izmir, Turkey during a lunch with my good friend Jill. He has such a magnetic personality and he is the funniest person I've ever met. I had the hugest crush on him for the longest, but I was so conflicted on if I should pursue it and I had no idea how. We became friends and started chatting on messenger and on the phone and of course one thing led to another and well, here we are today.

We've been married about 7 months now and it seems like I love him more and more each day. I'm actually a tad bit obsessed with the man, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Looking back...

So as I ponder the new year and past years, I can't help but to be nostalgic and wonder what if...

I didn't go to college after high school which I truly regret now... But as I sit and really think about it, I know that I would have wasted a lot of time and money if I had chosen college after high school instead of the route that I chose.

I recently turned 27 (time sure does fly) and although I have a great job, life and I am on the road to completing my degree and starting on my masters. I still get the feeling that I've missed out on something.

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and although I would not change my life or any of the choices I have made.... I still wonder what if....

I'm just thinking out loud here.

Anyway, I came across this throwback pic from 1999, celebrating Grad Nite at Disneyland and thought I'd share.

Welcome 2009...

Well, for 2009 I decided to create and hopefully keep a current blog. I'm still undecided about what I actually plan to blog about, so let me apologize now, as I'm sure I will ramble on for a while until I am able to come to a decision on what exactly my blog will contain.

Anyway, let me just start by saying that 2009 will be my year. I feel like I have let so much of my life pass me by and have let so many opportunities slip through my fingers. I'm not a big fan of resolutions, so I will not make any... But I will say that this is MY year and it WILL be prosperous.

I hope that everyone had a safe and Happy New Year. Me and my husband spent the day and night in Frankfurt. Unfortunately, I had a little to much champagne and didn't quite make it til Midnight, but from what I hear... It was a blast!

Until next time....