Farewell Dublin, Hello Paris

Our final day in Dublin started with us realizing that staying out until 3:00am and drinking all the Guinness in Dublin makes for a slow start to the day. We had to prioritize, Book of Kells or Jameson. We went for thr book of Kells. We found a place to eat by Trinity College (food was not great). Then we headed into see the exhibit. What an amazing piece of history. Melissa was impressed with the Long Hall, where all of tjhe historical books are stored and restored. We actually got to see them working on restoring a book. From there we did some shopping. Barry was looking for pieces to add to is Waterford Nativity. No pieces were found but he did find some beautiful glasses. He has not yet purchased them but he still can and have them shipped to the US at no charge. From shopping we headed to Dublin Castle and then the Christ Church. There is a concert tonight at Christ Church so we got to walk around while the symphony was rehearsing, it was amazing to walk around with Motzart being played. The treasures in the basement were very cool and the mummified cat and rat from the organ pipes, too funny! From there it was back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport. Off to Paris! We were not able to access any of the lounges on this leg, but Melissa was just happy that Aer Lingus did not charge me for extra weight 8 euros for every Kilo over 26. We did some shopping and then headed to the gate. We were off to Paris. Once we arrived we gathered our bags and took the Air France bus into the city. Melissa has learned from her mistakes and will never miss a plane from Paris again! 1e arrived at the hotel and headed out for some food, but even by Paris standards it was late so we ended up at the hotel bar. Surprising, I know! We quickly made friends with the bartender and had a great evening. Tomorrow Versailles!

Oh Dublin....What a town!

We went to the Guinness Storehouse(Brewery) and Temple bar today.... Need we say more?

Post Dublin update:
We don't know what to say about Dublin beside the fact that we both want to move there. Our day in Dublin started with a true Irish breakfast. We don't care what anyone says black and white pudding Rocks! We then ventured toward Trinity College and went to the Dublin Visitors Center, there we decided to take one of the city bus tours. We figured it would be better to see as much as we could and then pick and choose from there. The ticket was good for 24 hours. 1e board the bus and head up to the open 2nd story. It was a beautiful clear day so we thought what the hell! :ave we mentioned how flipping cold it is here! Melissa who has been warm everywhere was FREEZING! So can you imagine how Barry felt. Once we had made the full round we got off at our first stop, St. Patricks Cathedral, Melissa thought all the churches in Dublin were catholic but is is actually quite the opposite. Majority of them are Church of Ireland. St. Patricks was amazing there were these flags that date back beyond imagination. After exploring St. Patricks we boarded the bus and headed to the Guinness Storehouse, Trouble with a capitol T. We timed it so we would arrive at the Gravity Bar at the end of the tour and watch the sunset over Dublin. Barry pulled his own Guinness and was pronounced a master pourer, I had the masters pour mine in the Gravity Bar and ended up with a Shamrock in my head! So awesome. We ended up at a window table and made friends with our table mates. The spanglish pilot Tmemories of Spain 2001 for melissa) and his father and an American Military man and his wife on their last weekend getaway before he is reassigned to a new base. We loved our Spanish friends and drank several drinks and closed down the Gravity Bar. Off we went back to the hotel to get advice about dinner. We were given a restaurant and off we went (in the wrong direction) finally we found our pub in Temple Bar, Melissa had Irish Stew, Barry Beef and stout Cassarole, we were both surprised since we ate in aplace where we could not hear each other, the best people watching ever Tvideo and pictures to follow). Fromthere we headed to the actual Temple Bar where we got to have a real Irish sing a long. When that ended we headed across the street to listen to some more live music. These two were amazing and we stayeduntil they were done. More Guinness and a surprising meet up with our friend the Pilot from The Guinness Store House. When the music ended we tried to head over to Octagon but they closed at 11pm during the week. No U2 sightings for us. Back we went to the other bar where we got to drink yet more Guinness with the Band. Have we mentioned that we cleaned out all the Guinness in Dublin! 3:00 am and we headed back to the hotel. Our plan change our tickets so we can get another day in Dublin. The reality, great plan when your are drunk, not so much when sober!

The Last Day in London!

The day started late again. We had every intention of an early start but insomnia was not our friend. We met Luis in the city center and had Sushi for lunch. We then had the priveledge of going to see an active trading floor. We then walked around the area and got to see the Royal Exchange. Not what you would think, it is now high end shopping. Luis directed us to an old market place where scenes from Harry Potter are filmed. From there we took the tube to Harrods. We are now sitting in Harrod's having afternoon high tea with real clotted cream and real scones. Melissa did not realize there was an option for a scone without gross wrinkled brown things until after she had picked them out ever so carefully from the first scone she digested. Then she noticed plain scones in the case and the world is right again. Melissa did not think Barry would appreciate half chewed scone spit at him from across the table. Barry on the other hand is as happy as can be, mostly because he got his Harrod's bear! We walked back to the hotel from Harrods and nice way to end our time in London. The car picked us up at the hotel at 6:30pm and we were off to the next destination.... DUBLIN. When we arrived at Heathrow we were pleased to be directed to the BMI business lounge...by way of almost getting on a plane. The Bar in the lounge was self serve and we created a new drink, Vodka, lemonade(not like ours) and soda. We then made our way to the gate through a 14 mile series of Hampster tubes. But we made it and are currently sitting at the hotel bar. Melissa with her first Guiness of the trip and Barry with an 18 year old Jameson! Off to bed soon, so we can make it an early morning tomorrow.

A Rainy Day in London Town!

We got off to a late start today. We actually slept until noon. Headed out from the hotel for Brunch where we both enjoyed Eggs Benedict and Barry finally got some good strong coffee. From there we tried to make a visit to the Christian Louboutin store but alas is was closed. At this point it had also started to rain. So we headed back to the hotel and got our hats. Yes Barry had to buy a hat to keep his head warm! Off we headed to the Annie Leibovitz exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. The pictures were Amazing. Several were un expected. Are we the only ones who did not know how close she was to Susan Sontag? Or that she did not have her children until she was in her 50's. After the museum we headed back to Leiceister Square where we happened on the premier of Madagaskar 2. We wanted to see famous people but it started POURING! No one is worth that trouble. So here we are haging at KU a bar for Barry having an adult beverage and enjoying the early evening in London. Funny, the guys keep looking at Mel like... Why are you here??? Not like S.F.
From Ku we headed to a pub for dinner so that I could have fish and chips. The food was great although I liked Barry's mushroom and beef pie more than my own food. Then we wandered around the city seeing some of Londons sites at night. We are now back at the hotel for our last night at the Grosvenor House. We have the day in London tomorrow and then off to Dublin!

Covent Gardens and Piaf, What a day in London.

We woke up after a great nights sleep at the Grosvenor House in London. Ordered room service and then hit the road. First stop Leicester Square for theater tickets.... the hope was for Billy Elliott but we had to settle for Piaf. We were both thrilled with the alternate and bought tickets for the 3:00pm show. The plan was to buy the tickets at TKTS, but we messed up and payed full price at a ticket brocker. Oh well, so worth it. After we go the tickets, we headed for breakfast at a local pub. It was noon but we had our first traditional english breakfast of the trip. Beans and all! Then we headed over to Covent Gardens, Melissa had never been before. We ended up in a great little courtyard behing the Covent Gardens church... This is the setting for the farmers market in My Fair Lady. So beautiful!

From there we ended up in a coffee house, because if we have not mentioned it yet, it's COLD here! After coffee we headed to the theater. The show was 1.5 hours with out intermission and is on a limited run of only 100 performances. We lucked out! The actress who portrayed Edith Piaf was AMAZING. If you closed your eyes you would would think you were listening to the actual Edith Piaf. Have we mentioned it was AMAZING!

After the play we headed to yet another mobile phone store to try and get Melissa's Blackberry up and running... to no success. We headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit before meeting Luis for dinner again tonight. One thing everyone should know about London, the ethnic food is fantastic and tonight we had Thai. Another great pick in Chelsea.

We called it an early night tonight and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow another busy day! Who knows were our adventures will lead us, but there is an Annie Lebowitz exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. Do you think we can get our picture taken?

The blackberry is finally up and running, technical dificulties resolved!

By the way, have we mentioned it is flipping FREEZING! How do people live in this weather?

London WE have arrived!

We landed in London today at 1:25pm. A perfect crystal clear day. Our landing was amazing we were on the right side of the plane with window seats.... So as we approched Heathrow we got a birds eye view of the entire city. No need for the London Eye, as we circled the city and got a better view than the EYE could offer.

The biggest bummer is that currently my blackberry is not working. So when we arrived at the hotel I was one the phone with Sprint for an hour trying to work it out. We have moved to plan b which is that I will purchase a sim card tomorrow and let everyone know the new cell number while we are in Europe.

The highlight of our first day was meeting Melissa's college friend Luis. We met at the Fifth floor bar at Harvey Nichols, by way of Marks and Spencer.... Melissa Ditz moment #1. We then moved on to have an amazing Indian dinner. No place better for Indian than London. Name of restaurant to follow.

Now we are headed out for one last drink for me, Pint for Barry before heading to bed.

Tomorrow a full day, and dinner with Luis again... This time Thai!

Best to all. We are having a BLAST!

THE TRIP

Thursday, November 20, 2008, 6:58pm: Depart for London on United Flight 930 - Business Class Baby!

(Was there champagne in the Town Car? What do you think?)

Friday, November 21, 2008, 1:25pm: Arrive London Heathrow

Accomodations in London: Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel

November 21-24, 2008: London Adventures

Monday, November 24, 2008, 9:50pm: Depart London for Dublin on BMI Flight 135

Accomodations in Dublin:
The Shelbourne Dublin, A Renaissance Hotel

November 24-26, 2008: Dublin Adventures

Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 6:15pm: Depart Dublin for Paris on Aer Lingus Flight 528

Accomodations in Paris:
Renaissance La Defense

Thursday, November 27, 2008 (Thanksgiving Day): Day Trip to Versailles

Friday, November 28, 2008, 8:57am: Depart Paris for Reims via train

(Melissa is finally making it to Champagne! I think it should be a national holiday.)

Appointements confirmed at Veuve Clicqout, GH Mumm, Pommery & Taittinger.

November 29-30, 2008: Paris Adventures

November 30, 2008, 9:45pm: Depart Paris for London on British Airways flight 329

Accomodations:
London Heathrow Marriott Hotel

December 1, 2008, 10:25am: Depart London for San Francisco on United Flight 955

(Thank God for our Business Class Upgrade!)