imagine that :

We had already been in London for four days, we left our bags in hotel storage in London and just took a few small bags to Dublin for the weekend. Bright and early in the cab, heading to Heathrow. I think this was the cab ride where the motorcycle clipped the side of the cab. No big deal in that London traffic.

Spotted these lovelies at a little cafe in Heathrow. Should have brought a few bags back for souvenirs, and a game of dare! The Brits have such an awesome variety of flavored chips. More photos to come with London photos!

From the moment we set foot onto our Aer Lingus flight, I was in heaven surrounded by the Irish people and their lovely accent once again. Off the plane, heading to customs to get our passport stamped!

I should admit right now that I chose The Clarene Hotel in Dublin based purely on the fact that it is owned by Bono and The Edge. U2 has always been my favorite band and their music is the soundtrack of my youth.

It is in the Temple Bar area of Dublin and the front door of the hotel is directly across the street from the River Liffey. Great location. When we checked in the concierge took us around and showed us the hotel. He took Delaney by the hand and told her in his charming Irish way that if her parents went missing, she could probably find them in the Octagon Bar. He even showed her into the bar. Hilarious. There were several instrument cases piled up in the lobby. He said they belong to the band and I was reeeeally hoping he meant U2. Turns out he meant The Band Perry (that made the teenagers in tow happy!). And we even spotted a few of them later in the lobby. They were playing next door to the hotel that night.

When we got up to the room, the conceirge told us we had missed not only Bono and The Edge, but the ENTIRE band and their families by about 12 hours. Bono had a birthday party for his wife at the hotel restaurant the night before. !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! Oh, so close!

So, when you pick a hotel owned by a legendary rock band...don't expect to get much (any) sleep. The Octagon Bar downstairs as well as the entire Temple Bar area was ON FIRE both nights we were there! I literally heard hundreds of beer bottles rolling down the charming cobblestone streets. I also heard a very clever song that a fellow Irishman sang that consisted entirely of the f-word, set to a lovely tune I should note.

Also, they had their daylight savings time change that first night. You would assume that one hour doesn't hurt, when you are already operating seven hours off your normal time zone. BUT when you lay awake listening to charming Irish songs and the beer bottles and your mind is on overtime thinking about how you missed U2 by 12 hours, and you have to get up early for a day tour of the Irish countryside, you really CAN feel that one hour!! I am NOT compaining. I picked that hotel, and I was IN IRELAND for goodness sake!

The finishes are simple and clean at the hotel. Delaney got right to work playing in the sink when we got there!

This is the view out of our hotel room window. Our rooms faced the back street and not the River Liffey out front. See the cobblestone streets down there?

After we hung out in the room, we hit the streets walking in the direction of St Stephens Green. Dublin Castle is a few block behind the hotel, so we walked through there first. The castle was built in 1204, and now hosts government functions, conferences and is the location for each Irish Presidential Inauguration.