Today was the last day of visiting the beautiful Dublin, Ireland. Today was set to be our day to venture and explore the great city of Dublin. The day started after a most needed night sleep after the early start to the day before. The complimentary breakfast at our Best Western Hotel was a traditional Irish breakfast, very hardy! It consisted of thick bacon, cheese, ham, cereal, fruit, and much more. It was one of our
better break
fast buffets on this trip. After breakfast, everyone decided where in Dublin they wished to explore, and learn more of the Irish culture and history. The most popular site to explore among the group was the great Guinness Storehouse: Home of Guinness Dublin. Guinness has been around since 1759, and since that time it has made tasty beers, and have a huge impact on the city of Dublin. There people had the opportunity to learn about how Guinness make their famous Guinness beers. People also had the opportunity to attend and graduate from the Guinness Academy. At the Guinness Academy, students learned how to pour the perfect beer. The other popular thing to do was just walk around the city and see the sites. The general consensus of Dublin was that it is a beautiful city with a rich history. Other places that people went to were the Howth Peninsula, the gorgeous St. Stephens Green, and the cake factory. Another cool restaurant/food place was the Chocolate Cafe, which had amazing chocolate foods. Some of the people that went there called it “heaven in a cup”. We were all pretty lucky with the weather on this free day. It was picturesque with mostly clear skies and sunny, and a warm 45 degrees. The day ended with dinner at the Arlington Hotel, where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner and show. The food was really delicious. The music was amazing!! And entertaining and interactive. The music consisted of four players: two guitarists plus singers, one fiddle player, and one accordion player. The musicians were amazing and fun. The main guy, Ian, was entertaining, cool, and funny. The dancers were absolutely fabulous and intense!!! There were four of them: two females and two males. Towards the end of the show, the dancers had four volunteers go up and dance with them. From our group, we had three people go up: Steve, Haley, and Rachel. All of us had a great time watching them try to keep up with the professional Irish dancers. They did an amazing job. After the dinner and show, we went back to the hotel to pack, and either stay up or take a “cat” nap for we must leave the much loved Europe to go back home to the great United States of America at 2:45 in the morning. While we will all miss Germany, France, England, and Ireland and the many memories that we made, we are all looking forward to coming home to our homes, families, and to the food that we know the names of and know what are the ingredients. Farewell Europe, hello the United States of America!!