Brooke & Marina Go to Europe: The Land of the Leprechauns (June 1-2, 2011)

On Wednesday, June 1st, we took an evening flight into Ireland where Marina's father and uncle Paul live. The flight was only supposed to take us about 2 hours, but due to high winds around the Frankfurt airport we had to board the plane late and ended up waiting on the plane for about an hour before take off. Once we finally arrived in Dublin, Marina's father, Jan met us at the airport and took us to his house in Balbriggian where we met Marina's step mother, Tara and one of her half-sisters, Katie. It was pretty late when we arrived so we just took a walk around the neighborhood and went down to see the beach.

Fun fact: Rats live at the beach here because they want the fish scraps from the fishermen and they are as big as rabbits. It's scary!

On Thursday, June 2nd, we went to visit Howth Harbor. The views here were really beautiful! The water is so blue and there were tons of boats and a lighthouse. There is a little village beside the harbor that has restaurants, shops, houses, and an ancient church that has been turned into a cemetery and crypt. We visited the old church and then had fish and chips from Beshoff Brothers. After this we went to see Ardgillan Castle which is located by the Irish Sea.

Fun fact: The seagulls here are bigger than ducks at home!

-Brooke