We just got back from a quick weekend in Dublin, Ireland. Jess and I took a flight to Dublin (super cheap, $80 for 2 round trip tix, I love Europe!) and we met a bunch of the UW MBA group there to go experience Dublin. It is definitely the happiest place on earth, WAAYYY better than EuroDisney! The people are incredibly friendly and they had plenty of tourist and non-tourist suggestions for us.

A couple of highlights you'll see in the photos are the St. James Gate Brewery, home of Guiness, the Malahide Castle, and the Brazen Head Pub.

The brewery was fantastic. It had a ton of very educational displays about Guiness advertising, changes through the years (the formula is tweeked almost yearly like Coke's) and the overall brewing process. There is a pub at the top of the main building where you can have a pint of Guiness and enjoy the views of Dublin.

Another cool site was the Brazen Head Pub. It is the oldest pub in Ireland dating back to 1198. The oldest still surviving pub is in England, established 1189. The Brazen Head opened as an inn, stable and a pub at the only crossing of the Liffey River (which cuts Dublin in two). The other fun site was a medieval castle in the little town of Malahide. It was a fantastic old castle with a large public garden and a great, creepy old graveyard complete with broken leaning tombstones. The castle even has a special room in it specifically for Huck, the castle's ghost. All in all, a great trip.

We also had a ton of fun at all the pubs in the touristy but fun Temple Bar area. We are off to Nice next week to escape our bombshelter studio and Paris for a while so post again after we return! Now I have to let Jess type...

Hello! Here are some helpful beer-drinking tips that we learned in Dublin.
1) Only knackers drink Budweiser.
2) Whitwicks is for women. (Joe tried to order one and got denied.)
3) You should just order a Guinness or a whisky, unless you're a knacker.
Also, people actually talk about *how* the Guinness tastes at a certain bar. For example, "Cobblestone Pub pours a beautiful pint".

Another tidbit... Ireland has been experiencing incredible economic success over the past 2 decades, coinciding with a 21-year streak of having a woman president. Coincidence??Dublin was full of fun and we'll defitely be back!

Here are some more photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/sets/72157594346227122/detail/ 

Mike Jess and Nick Travel Paris and France

Hi all,

This week my friend Mike is in town. He is another UW MBA studying at the Copenhagen Business School. We have been going nonstop for the past 4 days and it has been a really great time!

First stop was Disneyland Paris! It was a great time. The weather was good so we rode the rides and hung out there all day comparing all the rides in Paris to Disneyland at home. There are some pretty cool differences but they still have rides like Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Manor and Space Mountain (which is WAY cooler here than in California!).

On Sunday, we rented a car and drove north to the beaches at Normandy and to the St. Michel Abbey. We visited some of the beaches where the allied forces landed on June 6, 1944 to liberate Europe. We also visited the memorial cemetary to pay our respects as well. Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, was the largest seaborne military operation in history, involving almost 3 million troops. Some of the photos show the infrastructure still left on the beach after the invasion.

We then moved on to the St. Michel Abbey. Construction began in the 10th century and was completed in the 18th century. It has served as a castle, an abbey and a prison. It sits on an island with a small village surrounding the base and it is truly amazing! The tides come all the way up to the abbey walls during high tide, washing away cars in the parking lot if they have not been moved! The abbey and the village are very fun, compltete with tours, restaurants and hotels.

Today, we toured the sites of Paris with Mike, including the Arc de Triomphe. Construction on this tribute to Napoleon was completed in 1836. It is 164 feet high and sits in a straight line with the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre. It is encrusted with reliefs and and sculptures dedicated to liberty and Napoleon. It is also home to the France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

All in all, we had a great time hanging out with Mike and getting to see more sites in and around France! Here are some more pictures!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/sets/72157594331366986/detail/ 

Sacre Coeur Blowout!

Hey all,

Sorry it has been a while since the last post, lot happening here both technically and personally. The internets continue to be a problem but today I got a Ethernet splitter so Jess and I can both be online. One step closer to fame, baby. That solved, I should be able to make posts more often.

On the personal side, we had friends decend on us. Our friends Tony and Dustin had been traveling in Prague and Amsterdam and our friends Kate and Adam were recently married and were wrapping up their honeymoon with a couple of days in Paris.

We started out with some touring at the Louvre and St. Chapelle Chapel, the chapel is amazing with the best stained glass in Paris. Each 20 foot panel has a story from one of the books of the bible depicted on it.

After touring we decided to head to the neighborhood of Mont Martre, the famous neighborhood of Picasso and other fantastic artists. We intended to have a relatively quiet dinner and drinks. Didn't happen. We got to the Sacre Coeur, at the top of Mont Martre, and found a huge party already going on! It was part of a celebration called Nuit Blanch or White Night. It is a celebration for the people to stay up all night and see art exhibits and enjoy Paris at night.

The party had tons of food and best of all, 5 euro bottles of wine uncorked for you to drink outside during the party. So with wine in hand, we toured the party nibbling on all types of foods and looking at artwork. Later that night, there was a great fireworks show that helped put the finishing touch on a great night.

We headed home a little too late and missed our last metro so we had to walk home but it was a great time!

More Photos? Mais Oui!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/sets/72157594323534863/detail/ 

Palace of Versailles

Hello! This is a guest blog from Jessica. We visited the fabulous palace and gardens at Versailles last weekend. King Louis XIV spent half the national income of France to build his own personal residence. Nice place! He also built huge gardens, complete with 1500 fountains (300 remain today). We spent the afternoon like a treasure hunt, wandering through the maze of hedges to find the fountains.
OK, time for some myths and facts about France:
Myth: The French all speak English, they just pretend not to... NOT TRUE. So far, NO ONE in our neighborhood speaks any English, and they are not just pretending! As we tried to get cold medicine for Nick the other day (pantomiming the various cold symptoms) I am sure that the gal at the counter would have done anything to get us out of there faster. People are very patient, but it is up to us to speak French!
Fact: French people bring their dogs everywhere. This is completely true. Dogs follow along, usually without a leash, and go right into cafes and shops. The other day, we watched a lady bring a boxer into an antique shop. My dog would have destoyed countless treasures in a matter of minutes.
Photos of Versailles at http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/sets/72157594306328257/detail/