Dublin...

Congratulations! You've finally reached the last post about Ireland! I don't know if that's more of a relief for you or for me. Clearly, I'm not going to reach my goal of telling you about Italy before we go home on Monday, but maybe I'll get some typing done on the 10 hour plane ride to Dallas. It's fairer for everyone involved that I don't cut any corners from our perfect Italian getaway. You can look forward to hearing about Pompeii, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Pozzuoli, and the islands of Ischia and Capri. To top it all off, we watched Independence Day fireworks on the NATO recreational base. Which just so happens to be located inside a volcanic crater. But, once again I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's flash back to Dublin, the final stop on our exhausting yet exhilarating road trip!

First I must mention what a thrill it was to see a decent hotel room upon checking in. We were so excited not to be in fear for our lives. This ordinary place felt like the lap of luxury.

Here was the view down the street where we stayed. We ate lunch at the Irish pub on the opposite corner before we left for the airport on the final afternoon. Dublin was a very walkable and clean city. I know we missed out on a ton of its history because we didn't take any tours or do any research. But by that point in our adventure, we were happy to relax.

We dined like kings in our room. Bread, cheese, fruit, salad, carrot cake, and wine a la Tesco Express. I think these types of meals are officially my favorite. I promptly fell asleep as soon as my tummy was full.

Sadly, I have managed to misplace around 50 photos from the next portion of Dublin. And 'misplace' means that I have somehow lost them forever. I swear I imported them onto my computer, but they are nowhere to be found. And I have long since cleared my memory cards, so there is no chance of recovery. (Frowny face.) The good news is that these lost pictures were not the crème de la crème of my collection. I only took a few of Trinity College (Dublin's university, not to be confused with the Cambridge college), St. Patrick's Cathedral (as in the church dedicated to the patron saint of the St. Patrick's Day holiday), and Christ's Church Cathedral. Interesting tidbits: Trinity College is one of the few places where upperclassman compete to live on campus. In the first few years as undergraduates, students attempt to accumulate enough involvement and accolades to earn a spot in one of the dormitories. It's an honor to live there. Also, Trinity College's library is home to the Book of Kells. This illuminated manuscript of the Gospels and the New Testament is considered Ireland's greatest national treasure. It was created by monks around 800AD. As far as St. Patrick's Cathedral is concerned, I only had the chance to read one fun fact on the sign outside the gate. Jonathan Swift was the Dean of the church way back when. You may recognize the Swift name because he was the author of Gulliver's Travels.

On our final morning in Ireland, Tomas, Matthew, and I made a visit to the Guinness factory. I can't say that I was ultra enthused to spend the day learning about a beer that tastes like burnt coffee beans, but I wasn't miserable. I could at least appreciate the vision of Arthur Guinness (founder of the company) and the risks he took as an entrepreneur. Brave dude.

At the entrance to the factory is the 9,000 year lease that Arthur signed for the property on which the brewery sits. Who is crazy enough to enter a contract for 9,000 years??? Guess it paid off!

The atrium of the storehouse/museum/restaurant building is shaped like a pint glass. Creative architecture.

The marketing exhibit was my favorite part. Two advertisements used a few decades ago would never fly today. This is one of them.

This is the other. Racial stereotyping?

Once you make it through the entire museum, you are entitled to one free pint. Or in my case, a free orange soda. Ching ching! Sidenote: All Guinness sold in the US is brewed at the St. James Gate factory in Dublin. So the beer Tomas and Matt were drinking is the same they'd be drinking in the States.

As we were taking in the panoramic views of Dublin, Matt noticed that this girl had an Oklahoma City Thunder shirt on. Come to find out, this group of students were from Oklahoma City University! What a small small world. We had to take our picture with them. (PS - We were following the NBA championship tournament from over here, and we have really come to love the Thunder! What a class act. It helps that they have the best fans, of course. I think they should win the finals next year.)

Leaving the Guinness factory to get our luggage and go to the airport, we passed a horse-drawn carriage and a tourist bus sharing the road. Oh, and I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but we saw Irish gypsies riding on chariots. They caused a traffic jam.

YAY! DONE WITH IRELAND! What perseverance! And thanks to your reading, I might actually reach my second goal of hitting 10,000 page views before going back to the United States. We're only 194 views short. I'm humbled to know that people care about a couple of goofy Okies.

Tonight the Olympic Torch arrives in Cambridge, and we are heading for a celebration on Parker's Pieces. There will be performers from Britain's Got Talent, and some sort of massive moving art installation will be unveiled. With Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola handing out promotional items along the torch's route, perhaps we will get some free goodies too. And I don't want to jinx this, but Matthew, Xenia, and I will be attending an exciting ceremony in Trinity College's Great Court tomorrow morning. Early. Like we could be lining up for entry around 4:30am. This ceremony is going to be broadcast live by the BBC, and I'm hoping against all hope that a certain royal couple will be in attendance. That's all I'm going to say. Cheerio!