Where the Streets Have No Name... or Dublin

On Facebook on his birthday, Gavin mentioned that we spent the day doing Tracy things and I got some flack from some people (all in good nature), but let me defend myself. We spent his birthday weekend in Dublin, which is the home of my very favorite rock band, so we spent part of the day doing U2 stuff. But I promise Gavin had a good birthday. :)

I didn't want to take his birthday presents with him, so I gave them to him before we left town. But since he wasn't quite 30 yet, I had to make some alterations to the wrapping paper.

We were a little nervous to go to Dublin. They just had a huge snowstorm the week before we came and the airport had been shut down most of that time. Also, we went right after Ireland accepted the bail out from the European Union and there were a lot of protesting going on. However, our trip went very smoothly.

We spent Gavin's birthday walking around and exploring Dublin.
This is a statue of Molly Malone, otherwise known as the "tart with the cart". She's a character in a popular Irish song, which has become the unofficial song of Dublin.

This is the Dublin Wall of Fame with pictures of famous people from Dublin.

The Clarence Hotel is owned by Bono and the Edge.

For lunch, we had afternoon tea at the Clarence Hotel. We actually had hot chocolate since we aren't tea drinkers, but it was still fun to get the scones and tea sandwiches.

The Birthday Boy.

Our tea service.

After tea with Bono, we walked to St. Patricks Cathedral.

I loved the tiled floor.

We also loved the stone the Cathedral is made out of.

The gates to the Dublin Castle.

The Bedford Tower.

The Record Tower, which is the last remaining part of the medieval castle. It dates back to 1228 A.D.

Inside the Chapel Royal.

The Temple Bar. We aren't sure why or if it's really famous, but everyone was taking their picture in front of it, so we did too. :)

I think it's a good look for me.

Before Bono was Bono, he was Paul Hewson. When he was younger, he got the nickname Bono Vox from this hearing aid store.

The Spire of Dublin.

The Charles Parnell monument. He was the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party.

The view of O'Connell Street and the Dublin Spire.

O'Connell Street had a really cool Christmas tree that changed color every few seconds.

There was this really cool shopping area right off of O'Connell Street that was pedestrian only. There were a ton of stores and street vendors everywhere.

Fleet Street.

Walking along the River Liffey.

We went to the area where U2 recorded a lot of their records. The studio isn't there anymore and there is a ton of graffiti everywhere. We were fascinated with how it looked to us compared to how it looked when the camera flash went off.

With the flash.

This is where the record studio used to be.

People had written on the wall different things to U2 and I wanted to write something, as well. We found a nice, clear patch for me to write one. However, once Gavin took the picture of me writing, we realized that I was writing on the first letter of a bad word. We couldn't see it without the light.

I think this is one of the coolest bridges I have seen.

For his birthday dinner, we went to a pub near our hotel.

Gavin had steak and Guinness Pie

Fusilier's Arch in St. Stephen's Green.

Grafton Street is another huge shopping area.

The next day we drove south to the neighborhood Bono lives in, looking for his house. We are pretty sure this is his house, but we aren't positive.

One of his neighbors live in a cool castle house.

After stalking Bono, we drove to the north part of Dublin to see the light house overlooking the Irish Sea.

Malahide Castle.

Gavin took too long to take my picture, so I amused myself by stomping on the snow.

We went looking for the Newgrange Monument, but by time we got there, it was already closed. It was a pretty drive through, the countryside though.
Dublin was such a fun city, despite the freezing temperatures and snow. It was really neat to see the area that inspired some of my favorite songs.