Alcatraz Island

Here is Alcatraz from our ferry boat ride over to the Island. We did a guided tour of the island with stories of all the escape attempts made when the island was in operation as a federal prison. We then did the audio tour through the prison. What I found most interesting was that the officers and their families lived on the island and the kids would take a boat to school everyday in San Fran. They described the island as a "nice place to grow up." I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I would want to raise a family next door to the prison where the countries worst criminals were sent...but at least you know where the "bad guys" are.

Me on D Block in isolation.

Brian "taking a break" in his cell.

After going to jail, we went out for some real San Fran seafood...my first dungeness crab and certainly not my last! It really seems like there are a lot of pics on here of me eating...hmmm. Anywho...it was damn good and I will be having more before we leave here!

Fisherman's Wharf

On our first weekend in town, we figured we should start our sightseeing in San Francisco but as where else...Fisherman's Wharf. We basically just spent the afternoon walking around Pier 39.

Sourdough bread bowl with clam chowder...isn't this a great pic?

Forrest Gump outside his restaurant.

Overlooking San Fran Bay.

And of course, the seals! They were very loud and we found it amusing how they would go in the water then come back up and just climb over each other.

Finally...an O's game!

On our first Saturday in town, the Orioles also happened to be in town playing the Athletics. So we headed into Oakland for the game. Above, batting practice.

Adam Jones signing autographs.

Woo-hoo, so excited for the game. That excitement didn't last long. The O's played horribly...so horribly that we were actually embarrassed. Actually, I can't say our fielding was all the bad, but as usual our pitching stunk up the place.

Brian also supporting the O's just as I support his Phils.

And lucky us! We were at a game that included a free Jordin Sparks concert after the game. Naturally we stayed to watch.

Ireland 13

Back in Dublin for our last night...so sad:( We spent the evening the Temple Bar area and had a fantastic last night.

After having an appetizer beverage at The Long Hall pub, we were beyond excited to come across the Gallagher Boxty House! We had wanted boxty during our entire trip, but couldn't find it being served anywhere. The receptionist girl in Killarney had actually told us she had never heard of boxty...we were starting to this it was an "Irish" dish made up by American's until we found this. Had we found the Boxty House our first time around in Dublin, we would've come back. The food was completely scrumptous and if you are ever in Dublin THIS is the place we would recommend you eat. They had over 10 boxty dishes to choose from and we couldn't tried them all!

View of Temple Bar...pub, after pub, after pub. We went to a few and also stopped for some gelato and people watching, which included a man dressed as a cartoon leprachaun with many people paying to have their pic taken with him.

Our last stop of the night, "The" Temple Bar. It was crazy crowded and we had to fight our way through, but worth the stop.

Our last picture in Ireland. All we can say is thank you to Ireland (and to Globus) for an unforgettable trip. We had the time of our lives and would love to return someday. We hope we have inspired everyone to take a trip there! This concludes our Irish Adventure.

Ireland 12

We did a walking tour through Derry in Northern Ireland that was really interesting...it was hard for us to believe that there is still so much unrest between the Protestants and Catholics living there.Above is the Bloody Sunday Memorial and below is one of the murals created in remembrance.

Of course we took in a few pubs in Belfast...why wouldn't we? I loved this place! This was the view from our snug at Crowne Liquor Saloon...so private. We did share with some of our bus-mates though!

City Hall in Belfast.

Ireland 11

Giant's Causeway was so unique and spectacular that it deserved its very own blog! The Causeway is made up of thousands of basalt columns that are all perfectly hexagonal in shape. It is thought that this was formed thousands of years ago through volcanic eruptions and the alternate heating and cooling. It was like thousands of stepping stones that were very fun to climb/walk over!

View of the tallest columns there.

Brian Almighty at the highest part of Giant's Causeway looking up at the top of the mountain.

Great view of the shape of the columns.

View of Giant's Causeway from the mountain above...we hiked a trail to the top to get this pic.

Ireland 10

We had lunch here in Donegal...another quaint stone pub/restaurant.

Donegal Castle.

Belleek Pottery Factory. We did the tour, which was incredibly interesting. It was neat to see how each piece is made...BY HAND! The craftsmen were very impressive and patient. I can't imagine painting or sculpting teeny-tiny shamrocks all day long! I also got to smash some "defective" pottery...that was fun!

Back in Bundoran, it had started to rain again, but that didn't stop us from heading to the beach. Despite the fact that it was rainy, windy, and very cold outside, Brian still braved putting his feet in the water...which quickly went numb and started to burn. I was happy to remain the photographer!

Ireland 9

These were all taken on our walk along the cliffs outside our hotel in Bundoran.

If you look closely, you can see the rainbow in the background...the first and only we saw in Ireland despite all the rain/sun, rain/sun we had. I was so excited to chase my pot of gold!

Brian down the cliffs edge near the fairy bridges, which were basically rock formations with arches under them where you could see the water on the other side.

Brian tried to get closer for this shot, but was freaking out the cows...they were quite suspicious of him! The rest of our walk included trespassing into a very nice stone home that was being built followed by torrential downpour punishment. We were soaked...as you can see by the pic below!

Ireland 8

View from another scenic drive leaving Clifden.

Ahh...Kylemore Abbey. This was a favorite stop, at least for me. This is presently being used as a boarding school for girls and is run by nuns. However, it was originally a castle built by a loving husband for his wife. I believe this should be the blueprint for the castle that Brian will someday build me, but he's not buying into it.

View from Kylemore...now what girl couldn't get used to this?

Us at Kylemore...perfect setting, lake in the front yard, mountains in the backyard. We did go inside to see some of the rooms and they were just as spectacular.

On our next stop we went to the Shrine at Knock, site of a confirmed miracle in which several villagers saw an apparition in which Mary, Joseph, St. John the Baptist, and a lamb appeared. This is not the actual shrine...I didn't feel comfortable taking a picture of it. We were also very intrigued by the holy water water fountains that were on the grounds...I don't know about anyone else, but that doesn't seem very holy to me.

Ireland 7

These are the famed Cliffs of Moher. Can you see them? Yeah, neither could we! Sadly, this was the one day on our trip where the weather truly disappointed us. We went up to the Cliffs, but the fog was so bad you could barely see 5ft in front of you. We could hear the ocean as a tease, but couldn't see squat!

Our next stop made up for the disappointment of the Cliffs at least a little. Here we are watching a sheep shearing at Rathbaun farms (after being fed more fresh scones, yum!)

The highlight of Rathbaun was petting and feeding the baby lamb...they were so soft and cute! Too bad they would soon be lamb chops :(

We ate lunch here in Galway on recommendation from Schoppe. There was live traditional music being played outside (you can see the harp) and Brian bought a CD. We would've loved to have actually stayed in Galway, especially to come back to this pub at night. Unfortunately, we stayed in the very unexciting town of Clifden.

This is the inside of the King's Head...loved all the stone!