Norah successfully ate this entire scorpion-pop.
Pretty cool to have these pictures of them - Norah (4) and Marko (7)
Dad, at his happy place.
Playing in the huge Barley/wheat pit in the first part of the museum.
No better view in allll of Dublin than from the 360-degree Sky-Bar atop the Guinness Storehouse. This is on the 8th story with floor-to-ceiling glass and views as far as the eye can see.
In the cost of your ticket there is a pint of Guinness. Also, I found someone's ticket on the ground so I got two pints for Dad.
My and my kooky nephew
Oh! Dad needs a quick little snoozer after those pints.
Carry on everyone, he's fine.
The sheer size of the grounds of the Guinness factory is worth going - it is awe-inspiring to see.
We heard the 3rd largest/longest Tall ship on earth was in Dublin (with free tours) so we just had to see it! It is 370 feet long, in case you're curious. It's a fully working Spanish (training) military ship and even though it was about a mile and a half walk after the long bus ride back from the Guinness storehouse we really wanted to make it there. So, Dad, Mimi and the boys headed home on the train(sheer exhaustion, and rightly so) so Sarah, Wayne, Norah and I made the walk. It was well worth it.
We ran into this real Dublin scene - some boys jumping off the wall into the Liffey. (water so grimy and polluted you might get a staff infection just from looking at it, but hey, sure, ya, no, jump on in)
So here's a photo of the Juan Sebastian Elcano in all its majestic glory:
And I admit, here it doesn't look quite as stunning but it was amazing in person.
Norah (age 4) and a Spanish Sailor.
Full-on swords and machine guns...I felt odd taking a picture of them (like it was somehow 'not allowed') but clearly they didn't care.
All the names of the officers on duty.
Batten down the hatches! Is this what that's referring to??
(And is that how you spell "batten"?)
These guys don't quite do them justice but every one of the sailors was tall, Spanish, and gorgeous. Afterward, Wayne goes, "Even I have to admit, they were all really good looking" hahahaha! Leave it to a ship full of Spanish sailors...
This doesn't do it justice but the scale of everything on this ship was mind-blowing! Everything was just....so....large. Even the ropes.
The woodwork and brass on this ship was genuinely awe-inspiring.
Map of the world and where this ship has sailed. They had just recently come from Florida for this trip, I think, via Boston.
It was hard enough climbing up and down these steep ladders when moored on a quay, I cannot even FATHOM having to climb up these stairs, LET ALONE a 120 foot mast out in the middle of the Atlantic.
Going up into the cockpit. Captain's chair?? I don't know.
Loved seeing this on a bonafide ship because my Uncle Dan always had this in his home and I just loved them. Something about them inspired this...I'm not sure....reverie?? in me about being a sailor at sea. To see one on a true Spanish military tall ship was really....cool. :)
Press the blue button! The Orange one!
Down yet another ladder. You just went up, down, up, down, across, up, down.
These rings around the mast were incredible. Each is hand made and made out of wood! This is one of the main sails.
Is that....Is that a...?? Is that a full on machine gun?? (possibly from Star Wars??)
Yes. It is. And all they have is a sign that reads, "Don't touch. No Tocar."
If only I could turn this thing on and fire it up, I could shoot at that bridge in Dublin city!
Here is the lovely Wikipedia page on the Juan Sebastian Elcano built in 1927.
Unbelievable! And we got to walk on this ship and poke around, willy-nilly. So lucky.
1 comment:
Loved the ship - that is just awesome. Imagine being out in the middle of the ocean during a storm! These sailors of yore and today were hardy men!
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