Home is Where the Heart Is

Home is where the heart is, that’s certainly true; but, lucky enough—home also isn’t a building, so it’s quite transportable! So, last week, part of my home came to me; my Dad and brother made their first trip to the Emerald Isle! Prior to their arrival, I had composed a list of about thirty-five things I wanted them to do and see in Dublin

 alone—so to say that I kept them running around would be quite the understatement. From the minute they stepped off the plane, we were on our way to Dublin Castle, Stephen’s Green, Christchurch cathedral, eating sandwiches in O’Brien’s, standing outside the GPO—the list goes on and on (literally). I think they went to bed at 7PM that night because I didn’t let them sleep when they got off the plane (Oops! Sorry, guys!). Our second day together, we completed the Howth cliff walk, which provided absolutely incredible views of Dublin. The weather was quite warm; but by the time we had reached the top of the cliff, it could almost be described as “hot,” which is really unusual for Ireland’s standards—the boys clearly brought the weather with them!

We spent the next four days in Galway, hitting many of Ireland’s main tourists attractions—including Eyre Square (renamed Kennedy Square when JFK spent about ten minutes in Galway City), the Cliffs of Moher (which should definitely be on the list of seven natural wonders of the world), the Burren (where we saw a grave site that dated back to 500 BC—I think! Not quite as old as Newgrange, though!), Kylemore Abbey (if you have the chance, Google the story behind the creation of this castle; it’s probably the most romantic story you’d find! Mitchell Henry built it for his wife, Margaret, when they visited Ireland and fell in love with Connemara. When she passed away at 45 from Nile fever, he constructed a mausoleum for her body on the grounds, and a small Gothic church in her honor. He loved her so much, in fact, that for the next 40 years until his death, he did not remarry. And, on top of this story, the castle is just phenomenally gorgeous. Pictures just don’t do it justice!), and Connemara (where we ran into a horse, a Connemara pony, and more sheep than you could count! I almost took all of them home—but our tour guide wasn’t too fond of the idea, unfortunately.). As if all of this sightseeing wasn’t enough, the bed and breakfast we stayed in was located in a small town outside of Galway city, giving us a great view of Galway Bay! The trip was really incredible, and I was so happy that my Dad and brother were able to see the countryside of Ireland; Dublin is wonderful and really is so diverse—from Howth to the City Centre to Dun Laoghaire, all have different flavours! But, I think that the picture one has when thinking of Ireland doesn’t incorporate taxis, and the busy-ness of a city environment, but rather, the peace and quiet of a countryside.

At the end of our trip to Galway, though, even the boys were happy to be returning to Dublin (as was I)—hearing this made me extremely happy, knowing that their short stay in Dublin already had them loving the city. We spent the last two days roaming the city centre, making sure they saw everything, bought the perfect souvenirs (including a beautiful claddagh door-knocker, which I am so excited to see mounted outside of my house when I return home in a month!), and eating in all of my favorite places! We spent their last night walking around Dun Laoghaire; it was a beautiful night weather-wise (every day they were here actually was; go Ireland!). We were able to see the Joyce Tower, and witness all of the city lights along the sea front come alive as darkness fell.

Of course, it was beyond hard to let them go. But, I feel terribly blessed that they were able to come and get to know Ireland and mostly, Dublin, the place I now feel comfortable calling my third home.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 28th, 2011 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Home is Where the Heart Is”

1. Kelsey says:

   May 1, 2011 at 1:20 pm

   It sounds like you guys had a great time!

2. Dad says:

   May 3, 2011 at 8:10 am

   Dad Likes this very much, Can’t wait till you come home