Seeing Green...

A quick, cheery hello from Dublin! Sitting here in the pub attached to our hotel, The Bram Stoker, and the cheerful smiles of the staff don't make the WiFi any stronger, so this will be brief with just cell phone pictures (for now)...

A pop-up food market at Christchurch Cathedral.

Once again, Vicky and I seem to be acted like a magnet for sunny, unseasonably pleasant weather as we cut our swath across the British Isles. Despite a long, eventful and uncomfortable trip across England from London to Manchester to Hollyhead to Dublin via bus and ferry, we managed to make it into town with smiles on our faces and maps in our hands, ready for more adventures. It being St. Patrick's Day weekend in Dublin, there is no shortage of places to go and things to see.

As I write this, it is the eve of St. Patty's day, but we have already walked around the city many times over, been part of a city-wide treasure hunt, eaten another 'full something' breakfast (this time, Irish), been to the largest park in all of Europe, watched music played in the streets on stages big and small, drank Guinness from the source, and even seen a great movie floating on the Liffey River...

WHEW. IT HAS BEEN THREE DAYS.

Not bad for a placeholder, cellphone picture, huh?

That being said, as great as Dublin is, there is so much more Ireland has to offer than just the city center itself. Unfortunately, our time here in this great country is limited (on this trip, anyway), so great sights like Belfast and the Giant's Causeway will just have to live on without us for a while. Considering the many millennia of magic and history under her belt, I think Ireland will get along just fine. Us on the other hand... We'll see. Back to what we could see...

Dublin, more so than any other city thus far, has welcomed us with open arms and did it with a goofy grin and wonderfully quirky sense of humor. From our boisterous bartender/bellhop, Barry at the Bram Stoker to the wonderful gentleman we met outside Phoenix Park who showed us the way to not only a toilet, but 'one of the best pubs in Dublin,' there is something to be said for a population that get the most out of life not just through finding joy, but by sharing it with others. It could be friends, family, the people attached to the two closest barstools, or even weary travelers, the people of Dublin thus far have been nothing but helpful, kind and, above all, appreciative for our presence. The least I could do is raise a glass of Guinness in their honor.

The next to least I could do, is do it over and over and over again. Which is exactly what we plan to do tomorrow. Thank you, Dublin.

Sláinte!

First Impressions...

Well, Blogosphere. We made it across the pond in one (very tired) piece! Though a bit worse for wear, thanks in large part to the 10 hour direct flight from Los Angeles, we made it to the UK, through customs, onto the London Underground (The Tube, Picadilly Line to the Central Line), met my brother to get his keys and to my brother's flat in Bethnal Green, whereupon we rediscovered an energetic spark!

No. No, we did not.

After regrouping and realizing we were, in fact, in another country, we dealt with the strange fact that our bodies said it was the middle of the night, but our accurately reconfigured watches said it was actually mid afternoon in sunny London. We dealt with it in the only way we knew how. We took a nap. Once awake, we plotted out our evening and proceeded to go with my brother to his and his wife's favorite watering hole, The Star of Bethnal Green.

The Star of Bethnal Green.

After a couple of rounds of ales and chips (fries, you non-British mooks), we headed back to complete our first foray into the Old World. A few things struck me as we lounged in the room dripping with wood and brass and history. For one, as much as I love Chicago because it is one of the few places in the U.S. that can claim 'history' as one of it's charms, I walked past a pub that had the date '1666' on it. I can no longer see faded daguerreotypes of people holding up glass mugs of beer in zoot suits without thinking that time period, once ancient to me, is actually more 'modern history' to the images conjured in the halls of some of London's more seasoned pubs. Seriously. People have been drinking at some of these places for nearly half a millennium. What. The hell.

The next morning, after coffee and crumpets (hell yes, those crumpets), Vicky and I went on our first of what promises to be many walks through the city. Traveling along the areas surrounding Bethnal Green Ave, Brick Ln, Whitechapel Rd, and Shoreditch High St on our way to the London Tower and the Tower Bridge was an absolutely special memory to create.

Vicky poses in an alleyway near Allen Park.

Once across the Tower Bridge, we took in the majesty of the Thames River from it's bank and marveled at the audacity of the fact that there has been a major civilized population there for nearly 2,000 years (even before Betty White was born).

What.

Despite being floored by a wave of awesome, Vicky had the wherewithal to take a quick sketch of the bridge from her point of view.

Seriously. You artist types...

After heading back towards Bethnal Green, we nipped into an area called Box Park in Shoreditch. We met a local, drank a local and played a few games of the UK's most famous sport... Ping Pong. All in all, an amazing first day and a half here, across the pond.

As we sat and decompressed after our 7 mile walkabout around just parts of Central London, I kept coming back to the same thoughts, not only am I making a once-in-a-lifetime trip come true (again), but I'm doing so with the most wonderful woman, the most wonderful person I have ever met. The person who was kind enough to call me 'husband.' My wife. All the history and all the Ping Pong and all the beer in the world will never make me lose sight of the fact that while traveling is an amazing adventure in and of itself, it pales in comparison to the adventure of creating memories with someone you love and who loves you enough in return to make you a better person along the way...

See you in the next adventure...