With little fan fare, my wife and I departed for Dublin on Wednesday. Originally meant to be a trip to Ireland and Germany, we found out less than 24 hrs before departure that our passports would not get us into Germany.

By itself this would have been quite the adventure. But for a full 48 hrs we were also dealing with death blows to our house's air conditioning. n the midst of calls and deliberations about buying a new unit, we scrambled to book new accommodations within Ireland.

I presently write on a bus headed towards Galway, Ireland (in fact the gentleman eating corn across the aisle just splashed me with corn juice). This new destination was added n the absence of Germany. A small city, we look forward to some relaxation and day tripping.

Our first day in Dublin was literally wheels down till we fell asleep. Neither Alaina nor I were able to sleep on the flight from Chicago. So when we landed at 7:55 local time (1:55 am "native time"), we were looking at a very long day. At some point between churches, the book of Kells, potato famine boat replicas, and the Guinness Factory, we entered the arena of 24 hrs without sleeping. After a stringent argument about the location of a craft beer pub we feel asleep having not eaten a full meal (though something near 5 large coffees were consumed). 10 miles had been walked and we had an early morning.

Day two consisted of day tripping south of Dublin to the Wicklow "Mountains." This countryside bus tour was pretty spectacular. The guide was funny. But the sights were amazing. The food was delicious and I got to meet a fellow craft beer enthusiast who had brewery experience (why hello Wicklow Wolf Brewing Company Wolf).

The day trip concluded with a trip to monastic ruins in the midst of a valley. Words cannot describe how beautiful the day had been and was for this portion of the trip. The settled home of a "Saint Kevin," the combination of non-raining clouds, lush green hill/mountains (not technically tall enough for mountains), and gravestones was pretty spectacular.

The day concluded with more beer and bridge walking. It has yet to rain on us and we're feeling only mildly cheated. There is still time.