In Dublin's fair city...

...where the girls are so pretty/I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone/As she wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow/Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive a-live O!"

When I was growing up, my sister had a CD with children's tunes, and Molly Malone was one of them. So I learned to sing it, but had no idea where Dublin was, and absolutely no dream that I would one day visit that fair city and see Molly Malone's statue. Some of the Irish are a bit scornful of the whole thing, saying that the story was made up for the tourists, but it's interesting anyway.

The statue is a bit, shall we say, scantily clad, and we took scarves to drape over her, but when we got there, it was so incredibly busy, we couldn't even get close to it. So this picture was taken while walking and holding the camera over my head.

Anyway, back to chronological order. 

We got up early and went into the bakery at 5 instead of 6 so we could get done early. We left the bakery at 6:30 and were at the bus station for the 7 o'clock bus with 5 minutes to spare. Rebecca Yoder is on the far left of this picture, looking bright-eyed and a bit shell-shocked. She arrived here 2 months ago, and has been doing a lot of work in the shop. However, when my current bakery co-worker, Amy (middle in the pink coat), leaves, Rebecca will be my full-time co-worker. Amy will be leaving mid-October, so her time is quickly drawing to a close! I almost have her convinced to come back next summer and fill in for me when my family is here. Violetta is on the far right, looking much, much too awake. She's a teen girl from the community that I will be tutoring in Algebra. She went with us because she lived in Dublin for about 6 years, and knows her way around well. Plus we like her. :)

This poor Jelly Baby stood no chance once she decided to bite its head off (you have to do that first, you know, so you don't hear it yelling as you eat the rest).

 After our 3 hour bus ride, it was high time for coffee (or so I was told...some seem too awake already!), so Starbucks was our first stop.

We stopped for a few minutes and walked among the statues at the Famine Memorial. A sobering reality backed by opulent buildings and a thriving city. 

 A cathedral. I don't know which. They were having a funeral that morning.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge.

Trinity College campus. We walked around a bit on campus and looked at the statues and used the bathroom. We didn't see the Book of Kells because of admission prices and the long line that had already formed.

Dublin Castle.

Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin (there's one in Waterford too). Beautiful building.

By this time we had walked a very, very long way, and we were starting to get really worn out. And we had set our hearts on fish 'n chips. We saw several shops but some were closed, some were considered too "fast food", and others we just plain walked by (I don't know why). Finally, we settled on one and ordered food. This was a wondrous sight:

 After lunch, we did souvenir shopping. I found some neat things for my nephews, and several presents (for friends) that I'm saving for birthdays and/or Christmas. And then we found ice cream on a street crowded with vendors and performers. I got a black forest ice cream (chocolate ice cream with cherries mixed in). It was, as the Irish say, gorgeous.

Just look at that cheesy grin! :D I should also mention here that we got SO many stares as we were standing there eating that I suggested we allow people to take pictures with us and charge €1 each!

Last, but not least, the Spire of Dublin, otherwise known as the Monument of Light. Very tall (398 ft). And also an Irish flag got in there.

 And then we dragged our weary bodies back to the bus station and waited (and waited) for our bus to come pick us up. After a 3.5 hour trip home (yes, takes longer in the evening because it makes more stops), I crawled into my nice house and shook my toes out of my socks.

And that was the end of another adventure.
Thanks for reading!

Dad's 50th Birthday

I just realized that I completely forgot to post the promised pictures of my Dad's 50th birthday and the "letter surprise" we did for him. I'm so sorry if you've been waiting for it! Here it is.

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I sent out a letter far and wide asking friends to write and send us a short letter describing a particularly vivid or favorite memory of Dad. Hannah and I (Hannah being my hands where mine couldn't be) put each memory in a separate envelope and presented them to him at his birthday party. The hope was to have 50 memories, and therefore 50 envelopes, because it was his 50th birthday, but I don't think we quite made it. I think the final number was closer to 35. Oh well.

I was able to attend the party via Skype so I can tell you I witnessed first-hand the awe and teary eyes he experienced when he realized what this stack of letters contained!

That's me, in my own little corner, on my own little chair, watching them eat the sumptuous feast laid before them by my mother, otherwise known as Kitchen Goddess.

I'm disappointed to say that we didn't get that many pictures of the actual letter opening (perhaps because it took nigh unto forever).

But there were sober moments:

 And moments filled with mirth as he remembered the incident and expounded on it for our benefit:

 Notice the stack of letters behind Sarah's hand to the left of the picture -- I ordered the envelopes online. I thought they added a neat touch because they have the red and blue airmail stripes on the edges.

I was told that a couple of weeks later, memories were still trickling in from people that hadn't gotten around to it earlier. I was also told (by Dad) that it was the best birthday he's ever had, and that all the letters were incredibly touching.

For those of you that participated, THANK YOU for helping make Dad's 50th birthday so special. I wish you could have all been there to witness it.