Sláinte - a weekend in Dublin

So I'm picking back up on the blog.  We've fallen massively behind which can be demotivating.  The fact that we are headed back to Dublin again before even writing the first post was the wakeup call needed to get back to things.  So let's see what I can remember from our past Dublin trip.

It was a nice weekend in early February when we traveled to Dublin.  We were tempting fate a bit by going in Winter but the weather ended up being pretty nice (slight drizzle but generally warm enough with jacket and hat).  One of the benefits of the cold weather was how it complimented the Irish food (stew and roast), Irish beer (Guinness and much more) and Irish Whiskey (Jameson of course).  Upon arriving we had some Irish comfort food at O'Donoghue's Bar.  Their Buffet style allowed us to sample much and we got a listen to some live Irish music as well.  The rest of the night was spent pub-hopping and watching 6 Nations Rugby (Go Ireland)!

Saturday we brushed up on our Irish history through a walking tour.  Our tour guide was much like Dublin - laid back, charming, and self deprecating.  Some of the highlights included: Trinity College, Dublin Castle, street art and the Old Jameson Distellery.

James Joyce's Bloom watches over the Irish Bankers

That evening we went to a Gaellic Football game.  It's a physical fast paced sport that combines concepts from rugby, soccer and handball.  We made like locals and bought standing room only tickets for a game at the beautiful Croke Park.  One of the best parts was hearing the locals complain non-stop about how the referees were absolutely screwing their team.  Their disdain was so contagious I even started lamenting the blindness of the officials.

One of the highlights of the game was at halftime when the little ones got to play.  Some were littler than others.

After the game we headed out to explore more of Dublin's pubs.  We came across a nice pub that had live music.  While awaiting the live music we "made friends" with an extremely intoxicated Scottish man.  Between the booze and his Scottish accent it was quite difficult to understand anything he was saying.  Megan had the right idea and ignored him but I couldn't complete stiff-arm him.  He tried to talk to us about football and beer and politics but really none of it made any sense.  Once the band played he tried to sing, dance and join in.  The band was quite top notch and couldn't be bothered and in some ways I felt sad for them because their talent level deserved more respect.  Watch the bad ass fiddle guy go at it.

Our last day saw us visit the famous Guinness Storehouse.  I couldn't recommend this place enough.  The exhibits and building are really well done.  The history and production of Guinness is fascinating.  Megan particularly enjoyed the exhibit on how they made the wooden barrels.  During the tour they teach you how to properly taste Guinness and they explain why it tastes better in Ireland (partly the environment).  Lastly, the tour ends at the roof top bar with a nice view of Dublin and a great pint of Guinness.  It was a satisfying end to a spectacular trip.

Surf's Up - Portugal

Back in the Fall of 2014 we went on our first LBS trek. It was a Surfin Safari to Baleal Portugal.  The weather was warm and sunny.  The beaches were sandy and beautiful.  And we had a blast surfing during the day, eating large in the evening and socializing late into the night.  Below are some highlight pictures.

One of Baleal's many choice beaches for catching the waves

This is Turco he was our guide.

We had surf lessons in the morning and afternoon for two straight days.  We were fortunate enough to be in the group led by Turco.  Turco was amazing.  He would lead us on these long and hilarious stretching exercises that were probably quite helpful.  He had energy, he had passion and on the first day he was the most nicest and encouraging guy.  Turco even took cool photos for and with us.

Taking lessons from the legend

Day 2 Turco was a different story.  He was a task master telling us to paddle left then paddle right then go deep then come back into the shallow water.  It was brutal and exhausting and he would mock us if we weren't paddling hard enough.  While it was a bit discouraging, we can't argue with the results.  We caught some awesome waves and rode them a long ways into shore.  Definitely one of our best surfing adventures yet.

After the lessons we'd relax a bit back at the lodge.

Megan on the Indoboard

 Then we'd head out for awesome but lengthy dinners.  The Portuguese diet is heavy on steak, fries, fish and wine.

Teddy and Jeff giving the thumbs up for a great meal

Megan and Darren showing us their model side.

The team organizing drinks - there were 30 of us total

That weekend there was a professional surf competition in town.  It was a huge attraction; locals and tourists both showed out in force for the event.  Megan even got to meet one of the surfers.

Panorama of the surf competition.  Huge crowds and huge waves.

Megan met a surf pro!

Our buddy Tom.  He's a riot.