Court Yard Hotel Leixlip

... I'll have a great deal to miss when I return home. I'll miss the potatoes believe it or not. I'll miss the walking. The grocery store back home is closer than the one here, but heaven forbid you walk to it. People will walk for miles without thinking twice. I'm looking forward to coming home in such great shape though!

Other updates... Jonathan (not sure who in the office named him), our office ...

... shorts, sleeveless T-shirt and sandals. No matter what the weather, that is his choice of clothing, as long as it's not pouring rain. The weather was expected to clear up and hit 62 degrees. It turned out most of the morning was brisk and overcast, but the afternoon weather was warm and sunny. We've been very lucky with the weather this far... As we made our way into Dublin, the city seemed like any other large city you'd visit in the US ...

... morning at 9:00 am we took a horse drawn carriage ride around the park in Killarny it was fabulous and the horse that pulled the cart that i was in with about 9 other people was named Billy. He was a very laid back horse and did his job as effecently as possible with very little wasted energy. The park is incredibly beatiful and worth it. It was about an hours carriage ride called Jaunting cars and i loved every bit of it. The views of the lakes and the swans ...

Landing in Dublin and getting my bearing took a little while. Fortunately there was a bus that went from the airport right to the city center. Once in the city it was time to explore and see what Dublin had to offer. The major stop of the day was the Guinness brewery. I do have to say that the tour was rather disappointing. It was a self guided tour where you watched a lot of TV ...

... and whispers were exchanged between the people of various origins that inhabited the lobby. We weren't allowed to check into our room until 3 pm (keep in mind this is about 7am), so we stored our luggage in the cages and started exploring. We walked around listlessly in delirium, trying to decide what to do. We stopped for a bite to eat for breakfast (our first encounter with odd Irish breakfast customs---i can't even explain to you) and almost ...

... even more excited to put mountains in the view. I sure do miss those mountains. After our picnic, we headed back to Dublin, walked around some more, said hello to random strangers and went to the hostel. We split into two for dinner that night. Sarah, Sophia and I bought grilled cheese makings with tomato soup with more milk for hot chocolate. It was the best grilled cheese sandwich I have had in four months. Maybe because it is the only one I've had, but it was amazing. A wonderful last night in Dublin.

... 34 days. The following year, the pair teamed up to win the Champions Tour Qualifying School in Florida. Smyth has since gone on to win twice on the US Seniors circuit and twice more on the European Seniors Tour, earning more than $4.2 million (€2.82 million). He is already actively searching for a replacement for Latchford before he begins his 2008 Champions Tour campaign in the Allianz Championship in Florida from February 8-10. Smyth added: "Ray was a big help to ...

... Nothing much here of interest to us. We then abandoned our quest for Irish goods and went to see Dublin Castle. We came up to the gate, and it said it was closed all weekend. Of course it would be. Adjacent to the castle is the Chester Beatty Library and is known to have the earliest texts of the Bible and has the richest collection of books and printed items in the world. We went to the exhibit of The Codex Leicester, an autograph manuscript by Leonardo ...

... out in Dublin was the hot men. Seriously. Just a timely reminder that there is zero talent in Berlin, or Germany for that matter (except for Felix of course :p). Well maybe not hot hot Colin Farrell men all over Dublin, but the average was a LOT higher that's for sure. And that's without even drinking! Unbelievable. There should be some exchange program of just hot men to distribute them more evenly around countries as some sure did get the short end of the stick.

... maze of stone fences, nor the all day cycle deep into County Clare's burren and the realisation that if I cycled back to Galway it'd be 2am in the morning before I arrived. I played dozens of games of cricket in Laois and I think I could still find my way around the Wicklow Mountains in the back of Dublin. I stayed much longer than I thought. I even got myself a career in public relations. And then, just when I thought ...