How I Became Famous

Here we are leaving Berlin on our way to Dresden for the most fun we had in Germany.

Yesterday was one of the most fun days I have had yet on this crazy European adventure.  My friends and I went to the Women's FIFA World Cup Game Round 1: USA vs. North Korea and it was the BEST EVER. We won and our seats were front and center.  It was easily one of my best memories from Europe so far.  The pictures speak for themselves.

This was the America train....with the flag we bought. :)

Here I am getting ready for the game.  GO USA!!

Braden's face paint.

Walking to the game, getting the crowd pumped up!

Pretty bad ass.

Me and Yvonne

My 1 Euro soccer ball glasses. 

READY FOR THE GAME TO START!!

GO AMERICA!!!

Hey, Guess What...?

I come home in 10 days.  10.

AHHHHHH!!!!!! FREAKING OUT!!!!

Ireland with the Natives

We got to Galway and Mandy (friend from Oslo) picked us up.  She runs a dog kennel and races sled dog across the world.  She lives in a tine town called Ballygar in between Galway and Athlone.  When we got there we went out with her husband, her Au Pair, and her friend.

I drank a lot of cider. :)

The next day we had a traditional Irish breakfast and off we were to go exploring.  Mandy took us with her to a meeting of her club in Sligo and we BBQed and got to do a bit more sight seeing!

Strandhill on the Northern Coast

The view from the house we were at.

Queen Mauve. (that's Mandy!)

Roscommon Castle

We went to bed soon after getting home after a full day and the next day we went back to Dublin to round out the trip.  We caught the bus in Athlone, and while we were waiting, we saw two horses completely free from wherever they were supposed to be walking down the street...

We caught the bus just in time and had to run from the car to get it barely able to even say goodbye!  We got into Dublin and did some quick sight-seeing and then flew home.

The "You're the Size of a Leprechaun" Room

Ohhh, so cute.

All of the pictures of me are on Braden's camera.....sigh. Here they are!

Ireland One Last Time (in 2011 at least)

There was not a ton that happened on this trip.  It was a lot of driving and site seeing.  We stayed with a woman we met at a hostel in Oslo, Norway for a few days and that was an experience!  We were able to see a lot of the country and Braden even got some rain that he very much wanted (because it's supposed to be rainy in Ireland).

We started off with a quick stay over in Dublin.  The hostel we were in was in the basement below the entrance and we could hear every footstep, but we were tired and I slept pretty well.  I left my sunglasses (on my head below) at the restaurant.  I also got to drink Bulmer's Irish Cider again!  :)

From Dublin, we went on Braden's part of the vacation and took Bus Eireanne down to Waterford to see the Crystal factory.

From there we had a layover in Cork and then we got into Killarney in time for some supper at an Irish pub and then off to bed.  In our room was a couple from Washington (recent grads) and a boy from Lakeville who now goes to Bradley University in Illinois.  Crazy small world.  We had a convo with them for a few hours and then went to bed. 

The next day we went on an adventure into the Dingle Peninsula.  We had a tour guide who sang to us and it was a beautiful day.  So many pretty pictures and of course excitement in Ireland!

I also took a quick video:

We stopped int he cute town of Dingle that kinda reminded me of Grand Marais.  We walked around with some other people from our tour group.

There is a town dolphin named Funghi...I guess he shows up and tourists like him.  I rode on his statue.

That was the end of our trip to the peninsula, after that we went to Mandy's house from Killarney to Galway!