One of our favorite places to go.....Ireland!!

After our trip to Ireland last March we knew we wanted to go back at some point.  Little did we know at that time, we would have the opportunity to do it just a year later.  While having a few pints of Guinness at an Irish pub in downtown Ktown sometime in January or Februrary with Toni and Warren, we decided that a trip to Dublin, Ireland needed to be in our future.  We planned a trip while I was on Spring break and before we knew it we were back in Dublin.

Instead of getting a car and driving around the countryside, this time we decided to stay in Dublin and see many of the sights the city has to offer that we didn't get to see last time we were there.  We went all over the city.  Some of the stops we made were the Guinness Storehouse (again :)), the old Jameson distillery, the old Dublin Jail, Trinity College and the Book of Kells, the Temple Bar area as well as many different restaurants and pubs.

We were selected to do some whiskey tasting!

Along the Liffey

Dennis - We found the perfect fire department for you :)

Learning how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness

We are master pourers and even have the certificate to prove it ;)

Overlooking Dublin at the top of the Guinness Storehouse

The old Dublin jail

The Liffey River

The library at Trinity College

Christs Church Cathedral

Some of the bars in the Temple Bar area

We had a fun time hanging out at this bar one night.  The bartender was really nice and we even walked away with some free stuff!  We got a really cool bar mat and a t-shirt after closing down the bar with him and staying for one last drink after he kicked everyone else out.  

The Porterhouse - This was our favorite pub/microbrewery that we visited numerous times :)

We also took a little side trip to a town outside of Dublin called Dalkey.  We walked around the town and hiked along the coastline.

I think that brings us up to date for now.  We are going on a weekend hiking trip along the Rhine next week and we will post a new blog after that trip.  Brandon is heading home in a few weeks for Ian's graduation and we have a trip to Munich planned for Memorial Day weekend (the day after he gets back :)).  I will be heading home in June as soon as school is done and the day after I get back from that trip Greg and Kristin will be coming to spend about 10 days with us.  We are going to show them around here as well as take a few day trip to Rome, Italy.  Those are the trips we have in the books, but I'm sure many more will happen over the Summer!  We are so excited for warm weather and daylight until after 10:00 at night!

Weekend fun around Ktown

I think the winter has dragged on just as long in Germany as it has in the Midwest.  We have been doing our best to convince the weather gods to change their ways on the weekends by getting outside and doing some hiking.  Toni and Warren have taken us on a couple different day trips, we went on a wine walk in Bad Durkheim and we have attended a couple soccer games here in Ktown.

Our first trip was down to Dahn which is about 45 minutes southwest of Kaiserslautern.   This hike was about 10K and made our way up to some very cool locations.  Toni and Warren have told us that the best views in Germany can't be reached by car.  We're really starting to believe them as we go on more hikes.  Some of the highlights on this hike were castle ruins, some really cool rock formations, a beer hall, and some awesome views!  Here are some pics:

The second hike that we went on was to Vorderweidenthal.  Again, we were about 45 mins southwest of Ktown.  This hike was quite a bit longer, but was honestly a little bit easier.  There weren't as many hills, so I was happy!  Here are some of the pictures from the Vorderweidenthal hike.  I think you can understand Toni and Warren's theory by now!

Another weekend highlight from the last few months was the Wine Walk in Bad Durkheim.  We live in the "Napa Valley of Germany" so these events occur pretty frequently.  This event was a tasting festival where they had a bunch of stands set up throughout the vineyards just outside the town.  There were 13 tents that had two or three different companies serving samples of their wine.  We were given 15 tickets at the beginning, and were able to turn 1 ticket in for a sample at any of the booths!  We had a blast wandering around and trying some delicious wines from the region.   We already have our sites set on a return trip to Bad Durkheim to build up our wine supply.

Growing up, I (Brandon) never saw myself as a soccer fan at all.  I really never gave the sport a chance to be quite honest, but "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".  Kaiserslautern has a soccer team that is in the Bundesliga II.  It is basically the minor leagues of German soccer.  A co-worker of mine has season tickets and wasn't able to go to some games, so he offered his tickets to me for a couple games and I thought I would give it a chance.  Let me start off by saying that these people are nuts when it comes to soccer.  The perception that I had is completely true when it comes to Europeans and soccer.  THEY LOVE IT!  I have really started to enjoy it, and look forward to following FCK for the remainder of their season.  The way that the German leagues is set up is pretty cool.  The top two teams in the Bundesliga II automatically advance to the Bundesliga I for next year's season, while the bottom two teams in the higher league, get demoted to the minors.  Along with that, the 3rd place team in the minors plays the 3rd from last placed team in the majors to see who gets to play in the Bundesliga I next year.  FCK is having a pretty good year and is currently in 3rd place in the lower league, so there is a good chance that they will make it into that playoff game to possibly get promoted.  Here are some pics from the games that we have gone to so far:  

That almost catches us up....one more post about Dublin will be coming your way soon!