Dublin, Ireland

Dear Grace,

The final stop on our European vacation was Dublin, Ireland! You can thank the O'Connor family for our last leg of this journey. Your Grammie Mo's maiden name was O'Connor, which is a very Irish name. Out of all the cities we have visited, the people in Dublin are the warmest and most welcoming. Even though the city was very dirty and of course rainy, the people had the best sense of humor. Enjoy!

Love, Mummy and Daddy 

Since the first day was a travel day, we were all in the mood to start off with lunch and a Guinness. We stumbled into a charming restaurant, called The Bank on College Green. At one time it was the main banking hall and we were able to go downstairs to check out the original vaults and Chatwood safes. The staff was exceptionally friendly and welcomed you immediately into their restaurant. If you look really close at the safe you're trying to break into, it says Grace Church Street London. 

Our first touristy stop was checking out Trinity College. We thought the buildings were neat and it was a pretty campus, but we were sad that we weren't able to get inside the library to see the Book of Kelts. Daddy and I were persistent and tried three different times. They had hours posted on the door, which they didn't follow.

It was then time to hop on a double decker tour bus for our group. We drove around inside the warm bus while it was rainy outside and didn't hop off until we arrived at.....

...the Guinness Brewery!

Daddy and I have had the pleasure of touring several breweries. The Guinness Brewery and their tour blow the others out of the water. We have enjoyed a complimentary beer at the Budweiser Brewery in St. Louis, MO, the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, CO and the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO.  

"A bottle of the house white please." Thanks, Grammie Mo for the hilarious bib!

Everyone else finished the tour with a delicious glass of Guinness from the top bar of the brewery overlooking the city of Dublin. 

Pictures of the beautiful St. Peter's Church and Christ Church in Dublin, Ireland.

Scenes from the Tudors T.V. series were filmed in the basement of Christ Church. It was very dark and eerie, and had a tiny museum, cafe and gift shop.

As we arrived at the Dublin Castle we made it to the right place at the right time. We were not only there in time for the last tour of the day, but we also bought the very last tickets. We had a wonderful tour guide who took us around the State Apartments. 

I spy Grace hiding behind something blue...

Conor O'Conner, our concierge at the Brooks Hotel, made our Dublin experience that much more spectacular. He genuinely made us feel that he wanted to know how we were doing, and if there was anything we needed. He seemed to always be looking out for you as well. From the moment we introduced ourselves to him, he remembered all 6 of our names. At breakfast he would join us at our table for a moment to ask about the rest of our evening and he even lent us his personal umbrella to make sure you stayed nice and dry during the day. I love meeting genuinely kind people who love their job and who are passionate about life. Thanks, Conor, for providing such a positive experience for us from our hellos to our goodbyes.

Grace, the name Connor (spelled a little differently) holds a special place in our hearts. If one day we are blessed with a brother for you, we would love to name him Connor after the O'Connors from Grammie Mo's side of the family. 

Goodbye, Grace. 

Love, Dublin, Molly Malone and the funny Leprechaun man. 

If you aren't familiar with Molly Malone, her statue is in the above picture and you can listen to the traditional Irish song below.