Dia duit ó Éirinn! - Hello from Ireland!

After the excitement of the holidays had died down, and my sleeping routine restored, it was already time to prepare for the arrival of Jessica, and the adventure I have been preparing in anxious anticipation to put into action.

The first part of the trip was getting to Madrid and awaiting the arrival of my youngest sister and her highly touted boyfriend, who among other promising qualities, was said to have similar hair length to Jessica. In any case, I decided to take the overnight bus to meet them at the airport upon their red-eye flight arrivals. I figured it would be fun to take a 6 hour bus ride and get some good well deserved rest on the bus. Nope. 

Upon arriving at the airport, I now had about 3 hours to kill until JP's flight arrived. Got some good reading done between resting my eyelids every fifteen minutes. Once JP arrived we started the painful task of the preliminary interrogation. I made sure to keep my barber scissors close incase the rumours were true. After sitting down and getting to know JP, I was refreshed by how normal he seemed. He did have an unnecessary fixation to this ring he kept saying was the one to rule them all. After winning the argument with JP about the number of uppercase Xs on the 'Lord of the Rings' ring, Jessica's flight was landing and we dropped the subject in order to greet Jessica properly. 

With the group now at three we were discussing our plans for the week ahead, while heading towards the hostel in Madrid. The plan was to spend a night in Madrid and make our way back to Seville. 

Now normally after taking a transatlantic flight for 8 hours it is normal to take a night nap to try and adjust for the time change. That isn't how we did it. 

Enjoying this foreign thing called sunlight, in Retiro Park (Madrid)

Promptly after arriving to the hostel we changed our things and got out and saw as much of the city as possible. Speed sightseeing is now an art that we have perfected. 

Me too! 

After Retiro Parka and several other sights, we made our way towards the Athletico Madrid game we had tickets to. A trip to Spain is never complete without seeing a display of the beautiful game. I'm certain that it is just Spanish brainwashing, but I really enjoy being part of the craziness that calls itself the Spanish Football League. What a game. We saw lots of goals and enjoyed the game thoroughly.

The following day,  we were on the train back towards Sevilla to get some work done before heading to Dublin. Work passed surprisingly quickly. Getting to Wednesday felt like nothing. It must be because of my diligent and proactive planning.... or that my sister was in town. During this time however, JP and Jessica took in the sun while seeing the sights and history of Sevilla. After class I showed them around and made them stand in front of cool things around the city.

After completing my school day on Wednesday, we packed up and made haste towards the train station to catch the afternoon train to Madrid. A kid kept looking at me while I was trying to nap. Trains are a lot of fun though.

Plaza España from a different angle.

Plaza España. These two wouldn't get out of my awesome picture. 

The plane trip was quite cramped, but at least we were going to Dublin. So I was able to live with my knees touching my face for two hours.

The next morning we decided that taking things slow just wasn't going to happen, and made our way towards Kilmainham Gaol (jail) first thing after breakfast (meh on the free breakfast). I can't confirm how Jessica and JP felt, but I had an amazing time touring this historic place while taking in a guided tour. It was however difficult not to ask questions at every stop. I miss being a guide and I know how much a good question can be fun to answer, if you know your stuff, and this guide knew his stuff back and front. I really did enjoy learning about this part of important Irish Independence history. 

The front facade of Kilmainham Jail. 

Mandatory St. James Gate picture. 

After sufficiently reading all the displays the museum had to offer, it was time to hit one of the stops I had really been looking forward too. We had our Guinness checkup scheduled for noon and made it just in time. I really didn't want to be late for this appointment. The brewery tour was a lot of fun and I think just being in the building made it worth it to me. At the end of the tour we were treated to a tasting tutorial, which seemed a little cheesy, but it actually was a lot of fun feeling snobby with Guinness. Then came the tutorial on how to properly pour a pint of the black stuff. I can now say I am a certified Guinness pouring expert. Yes, it is already on my CV.

The new experts!

Just outside the Guinness factory as well!!

Next was to the Jameson distillery to enjoy another rich and well made tour. Fun all around and the Jameson tasting was also a treat. I'm an expert at that now too.

Jameson tasting room.

Temple bar was the next stop. Fun place, although packed with people all day. The 8euro Irish coffee was pricey, but tasted fantastic.

The famous Temple Bar. 

"This is how Coffee should be." -JP
"I like turtles." -Jessica

The following day we decided it would be nice to see what the Irish countryside looked like. Took the train about an hour outside of Dublin, and it actually wasn't raining! It turned out to be a gorgeous day, and made the hike that much nicer. Walking down the beach was amazing as well. A little colder than I was used to while walking on a beach, but still memorable. It was great just being able to walk all three of us together with little to no one else on the beach with us. It was the small and simple moments, like picking up shells and rocks on the beach, that made this trip so memorable for me. These little parts that seem insignificant, really help put a smile on my face when asked if I enjoyed the time with my sister.

I told her not to swim on the rocks, but she didn't listen. 

After we returned back to our hostel, we decided to head out and have a pub night in order to enjoy some good food and great irish music. We stopped in at a pub called the Celt. To make a long story short, it was really the highlight of my trip. Being able to sit in a pub, eat irish stew, and listen to classic irish songs was something I dreamed about. Being able to experience it with Jessica and JP made it even better. There were really no better people to share that moment with. The food was great, and just before leaving I was able to request Finnegan's wake. It was the perfect way to finish my Guinness and head to bed for my last night in Dublin. 

I really don't want to make my sister's ego grow bigger than it already is, but she really was the difference maker for me on this trip. I was hesitant about having my sister and her boyfriend come down and spend a week travelling with me, but it really worked out better than I thought. After returning back to Madrid and sending my sister off to Canada at 4am, I had a hard time looking back and saying goodbye. I knew it wasn't goodbye for long, but after a trip like this I really didn't want to have to say goodbye at all. It was truly a privilege to have someone I love come with me to a place I have been dreaming about for years. Without her, I don't think what I was dreaming about would have come true.

And that's all folks!