Today was the first day of our Ireland Portugal trip. I had asked Will where he would like to go in honor of his 60th birthday. These were two of the places he named. So, on his birthday, I presented him with an itinerary for both countries. What he didn’t know was that I coordinated with the kids for them to be here too.
He found out this morning when we walked into our hotel.
We started off having breakfast at the hotel’s incredible buffet inspired by the traditional Irish breakfast. I enjoyed tea instead of coffee. We all tried the black sausage. It was a fun way to kick off the trip.
Our first tour was of the Guinness Storehouse. It was a fun, flashy walk through the Guinness history and process. One of the key ingredients, obviously, is water. This was the fancy waterfall:
My favorite parts were the tasting room, where they had different aromas you could smell the ingredients that all make up the Guinness fragrance – roasted barley, hops, something like caramel. As Maddy said, we never knew Guinness could smell so good.
Then we got a taste of Guinness.
The tour ended in the top floor Gravity Bar and included a pint each.
The views were incredible.
After that we walked about 20 minutes to Christchurch Cathedral for an Anglican evensong service. I enjoyed the choir music. Their 16 voices blended beautifully.
This church was the site of a Viking church 1,000 years ago. The current structure is about 150 years old.
After the service, we met briefly with a work friend who is visiting Dublin at the same time. Hello, Marjie!
It was fun to overlap our itineraries a bit!
After that, we ate dinner at The Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland. It’s been in existence since 1198!
Moseying back to the hotel was so pleasant.
We ended the day with room service dessert.
Now, we look forward to a good night’s sleep and Austin’s arrival tomorrow!
P.S. Doug, Hannah, Nezzie, Maddy and the grandkids arrived yesterday. Last night they went to an Ireland – Hungary World Cup qualifier!
Travel Buddies 
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