Thalys & thoughts

THALYS!!  BEST TRAIN EVER….in route from Brussels to Amsterdam!

And something we decided…

We aren’t city people.  The only cities we love are Munich, Amsterdam, DC and New Orleans.  I would include Vegas, but we only go to the three mile stretch known as “the Strip.”  I think Europe has been the deciding factor. When we arrived in Brussels, the station is in the not so good part of town.  Immediately, the city left a bad taste.  However, we warmed up to it.  The city did not take itself too seriously, and that is very evident by the people and the comic strips!  However, we felt ourselves longing to get on the Thalys to Amsterdam, even as we were enjoying the pretty sites.  We should consider this a “learning moment.”  See why you travel?

Brussels

Our 26 hours in Belgium was intense!  Luckily we got to see everything I wanted –thanks to cabs. 

We hopped in a cab and visited the Atomium. This statue is amazing!   As amazing as the Eiffel Tower!

Then we made my dream come true and visited Mini-Europe.  This park is has a mini-version all of at least one building in every European country!  Even complete with a mini-Eiffel Tower…

From there, we wondered around the city trying to see the beautiful buildings.  It is very easy to get lost in Brussels because the streets constantly change names and can be very winding.

The Grand Palace was as beautiful as promised.  As we watched the sunset on the square, we sampled different Belgium beers & ate a waffle.

The last spot was the EU tour.  If Congress is lazy, then the EU is just plain asleep.  Most people had a driver drop them off at the door or wandered in around 10am. Oh Europe…

After that we tried to take a bus back to the hotel, as we had taken a bus to the EU, but somehow got on the wrong bus and ended up on the other side of the large city.  A NYC analog would be like trying to go to the Upper East Side but ending up in Queens!  Luckily, someone could call us a cab!  See isn’t being able to take cabs make live so much better?!

 

Isn't that little guy funny?

Dublin Overview

When we got to Dublin, we had the opposite of Irish luck. We had an awful flight with a screeching baby in the row behind us and got hardly any sleep.  Then the pub in which we could check into our room was closed b/c it was a weekend.  After about ten tries with my southern charm, a man at the Westin told us about a luggage store place all the way across the river.  Of course, the river we would learn is a short walk.  After that incident, our Dublin days were great!

We hit all the high spots while we walked--The O'Connell bridge, the Post Office (where they read their Independence writing in 1916), and the Spire.  The Spire is European's tallest monument.

We walked to Dublin Castle, which is where the Normans started the city.  Then to Chester Beatty Library.  This library is a collection of amazing books donated by an American businessman who moved to England then Dublin in the 20th century.  We saw original pieces of the gospel writings from the Bible and other religious writings.  Sadly, the whole first floor was closed, so we missed the "fun" writings.  Then we toured St. Patrick's, where most of the famous Irishmen are buried. Also, we toured Christ Cathedral, where Strongbow is buried.  And Trinity College, with the Book of Kells and the largest single library on Earth!

Then Jordan said we needed to experience Dublin.  We headed to the touristy Temple Bar and heard some great live Irish music.  We even encountered some crazy Irishmen dressed up as WWE people?!  A nice Englishmen (they are so polite) helped me find my drink of choice, Bulmer’s cider!  It's great and comes in four varieties.  We noticed more Irish people drank Bulmer’s cider or Smirnoff Ice then Guinness...weird huh?

The second day we headed around Grafton Street and the famous parks-St. Stephen's Green and Merrion's Square.  Both of these parks have famous statues:

We walked to the Guinness Storehouse.  The tour was great and very informative. Sadly, I still couldn't stomach any Guinness Beer:

After that, we had plenty of time to stroll around and see Dublin:

We learned we loved hanging out at our local pub--the one we stayed above.  The music, sports watching, and local families were fun to watch and talk to about Dublin.

We barely missed President Obama's speech.  We did see all the set-up and the car route.  Luckily, it didn't cause too much delay.  Did you know that Lady Gaga and Obama were in Dublin on the same day?  Coincidence, I think not!

From there we took RyanAir straight to Brussels.

Dublin (day one)

  After a less than entertaining flight complete with a screeching ginger baby we made it to Ireland bright and early this morning.  Dublin is a very nice little city and much smaller than expected, even after Marty said it would be.

  While waiting to visit one of the spots on Lauren's list - a library :( - we did stumble across one of the sights Obama will be visiting/speaking on Monday (Dublin castle/Chester Beatty Library) :

  We hit most of the major sites in our list on the first day which frees us up for a much more exciting second day including the Guiness tour.