dublin

Are you ready to be bombarded with all things Irish? You're probably not, and I get that. Vacation photos are notoriously blah, but I can't ignore the past three weeks of my life. I took about 1000 too many photos on the trip, but I managed to separate some favorites by city or village into a series of posts that I will (kindly) spread out and disperse among other topics of interest. I've also made a conscious effort to combine some food and fashion into the travel posts to spare you from endless cathedrals, castles, cliffs, and coastlines. Check out that alliteration. First stop:  Dublin. You may notice the conspicuous absence of pubs and pints in this post because, yes, I believe they deserve their own homage in days to come.

Christ Church Cathedral

The River Liffey by Day and Night

Molly Malone

St. Audeon's Church

Kristen and I at St. Stephen's Green

Side note:  I am in love with this rain jacket. When I first bought it, I sort of kicked myself thinking I should have just stuck with basic black to match most outfits, but I was wrong. I love navy and black together, and have always thought the combo looks somehow polished and elegant. My jacket was from Nordstrom about a year ago (now on crazy sale at the Rack!), and there are also similar options here and here. The Burberry version is a pipe dream, but amazing.

It's our last full day at Trinity College today, then it's off to the West Coast for some weekend travels to round out the trip. The weather here has been pretty spectacular this week, making it seem even more amazing to be a student here. These lucky bums get to see gorgeous views and architecture every day, all while being in the heart of Dublin.

Kissing the Blarney stone is a considerably more ridiculous endeavor than I had imagined. You're at the top edge of a castle tower, lying on your back over a hole in the floor over heights that are certainly fatal. Then you dip backward, arch your back with all you've got, and pucker up. Just as you do, the constant wind tunnel swoops upward, and let me tell you it makes this girl's ginger hair go wild. The picture turned out awesome and I love it!

Ever since we locked down our Ireland trip, I've been dying to see some castles. I know that there are more impressive ones to be seen on other legs of our trip, but it didn't make the first one (Dublin Castle) any less exciting. In fact it was just enough of a teaser to up the excitement that much more. Sometimes the iPhone camera really impresses me, and I thought these turned out really nice!

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