The Hermitage, Bayreuth, Germany

It has really been a beautiful April, so we decided on a really pretty, warm, sunny day to head up to Bayreuth and visit the Hermitage.  The Hermitage (or Eremitage in German) is the home and seat of the (former) Margrave of Brandenberg-Bayreuth.

I'm sure you're wondering what exactly a Hermitage is because I was wondering the same thing!  It's basically a small retreat, typically purchased by and used by the aristocracy.  It was a beautiful day - but I think if we could have visited a few weeks later and the greenery and flowers would have been even more beautiful!

There are two main buildings at the Hermitage - the Old Palace and the New Palace. The Old Palace was originally built in 1715 by the Margrave Georg Wilhelm.  The New Palace (shown above and below) was built in around 1750.  The tile work, which is really more like colored rock work is striking. 

Isn't this something?????  I just couldn't get over it!

The flowers were in full bloom at the Hermitage!

I love catching them in their own little worlds.  I could watch him for days.

Strolling through a trellis without any greenery.

Two sets of glasses twinsies at the Hermitage in Bayreuth.  A few weeks later, the fountains would be running!

A nice panorama of the New Palace at The Hermitage.  The Orangery and the Sun Temple (in the middle) were severely damaged in April 1945 by American troops.  We did not visit the inside of either the Old or the New Palace because the day was too nice and we only had a few hours to explore.  We thought we would save the palaces for a cold winter day.

Back in the 1700s when the Hermitage was built, there really weren't any of these types of gardens in Germany.  It was one of the first of it's kind in the country (although in the 1700s, Germany wasn't really Germany- it was a bunch of really small territories sitting amid the Holy Roman Empire.)

There was a peaceful man-made waterfall among the trees.  When the Hermitage was built by Margrave Georg Wilhelm, it had originally been a zoo owned by his father as far back as the mid 1600s.

Unfortunately, the Lower Grotto was under construction with some renovations going on.  It was originally built in the 1740s.  The building on the left in the background is actually the real Hermitage of the Margrave Friedrich.  He took over the property in the 1730s and really built it up for his wife Wilhelmine.  The biggest expansion happened during his reign.

He's a stud, what can I say?  I've always enjoyed those biceps!  Notice the tree to the left - it looks like it's flexing an arm, so he decided to do the same!

The gardens were in full bloom!  Ich liebe Blumen!

It's a rainbow of fruit flavors, folks.

Among the tree hedges in the portico at the Hermitage.  I'm not sure what kind of trees these are, but I have one at my house that similarly must be cut WAY back every few years because they overgrow too quickly.

There's a little restaurant on the grounds and it was lunchtime, so why not?  It's also time for beer.  Which is pretty much anytime in Germany.

The Water Tower and a pretty flowering tree behind me in the sunshine.  Sunshine makes me happy.

After an extensive lunch, we went for a hike in the woods.

The sunshine was warm through not-fully-filled-in leaves.

On our hike, we came across some stinging nettle.  Todd was pointing out that it wasn't the leaves that get you, but the thorns beneath the leaves.  When you get stung, it feels like an electric shock (or pins and needles) down your arm for hours afterward.  He should know. He got into a patch of it in our garden!

It was so quiet and lovely among the trees of the Hermitage.

A lovers walk among the sparse trees of early spring.

The Chinese Tower was built on a little mound.  It was originally built in the late 18th century but this one was installed in the 20th century.

You can circle the Chinese Tower as you climb to the top.  You can probably guess one half of my offspring complained about this. (But mommy, there are BEES!!!!)

This is the lovely Schloss Monplaisir.

So many shapes and colors!

Triangular trees and flowers in the gardens at Schloss Monplaisir.  Interestingly, I think this building might have been offices or something more private because there were jackets hanging in the doorway that we were peering in.  It weirded me out as I felt like I was peeping into someone's house!  But that's not possible because it's managed by the Bavarian Administration of State Castles, Gardens and Lakes.

Auf Wiedersehen, Hermitage!  We really enjoyed your gardens!  What a great, quick little trip to a neat little palace!  Next time, we will definitely check out the inside of both the Old and the New Palaces!

Dublin, Ireland

After our pit stop in Athlone to see (possibly) the world's oldest bar and (definitely) the oldest bar in Ireland, we continued on to Dublin.

 We checked in at our hotel, which was near the airport and not really anywhere near the city, but we had an early morning flight home on Sunday so it was good to be near the airport. Todd returned the rental car (because you really don't need a rental car in Dublin!) while the kids and I had lunch near our hotel.  We finally caught the bus into the city at around 2 pm.  Above is the Spire of Dublin, aka The Monument of Light on O'Connell Street. 

A James Joyce talking statue! The author of Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake will actually speak to you!

The General Post Office of Dublin is historic in that it was the headquarters for the Republican's in the Easter Uprising in 1916.  If you're following along in this blog, you'll know the significance of that!

Continuing down O'Connell Street, we crossed the O'Connell Street Bridge over the River Liffey.

I couldn't resist! I think this could be EITHER Husband Daycare or Wife Daycare in our family!

Our next stop was St. Stephen's Green.  Sir Arthur Guinness grew up in a house in this park!

Grant and Natalie at the pond in St Stephen's Green. 

Two things I'm a sucker for:  Sparkly things and colorful things!

After we strolled through the park, we moseyed on over to Grafton Street (queue the Ed Sheeran song!)  Grant was a rock star in this hat!

Kids: "Mommy can we PLEASE go into the Disney Store?"  Me:  "Ok but we are NOT buying anything!"  But silly pictures with Avengers are FREE!

Don't hurt him, Iron Man!  (Oh my goodness we are such dorks ha ha!)

We tried to hit up a Kehoe's for some dinner and drinks, but it was super packed because it was Friday evening.  However, directly across the street, we spotted this on Anne's Lane!

I call this one, "Reflection of Umbrellas in a Puddle."  You'll find it in my display at the Met in New York, coming soon. 

Whoa!  An unexpected find for a former Radio Broadcast Meteorologist!  Ireland's first radio broadcast was transmitted from here back in 1916!  April 25, 1916 was in the middle of the Easter Rising.

We grabbed some burritos on our way back to the hotel (Grant was craving them and they seem to have burrito places everywhere in Dublin, so we caved.) Back at the hotel, we (naturally) went down to the hotel bar to have a nightcap after the kids were in bed.  We came back to find this.  Total sleeping chaos!

Our only full day in Dublin meant two things:  The Guinness Factory in the morning and the Jameson Factory in the afternoon!

Todd had really been looking forward to another tour of the Guinness Factory.  It never disappoints!  You can really learn a lot about the brew making process here.

Let's party.

They have a funny little mock display of a Guinness themed man cave that Natalie was pretending she was standing in. You could enter a contest and win all of this!

This is the 9,000 year lease signed by Arthur Guinness in 1759.  There's gonna be some drama when that lease is up.

One of the most important ingredients of a really good beer is really good water.  Despite what everyone thinks, the water used to make Guinness is NOT from the River Liffey!

The color of the barley at different temperatures.  Because Guinness roasts their barley at 232 degrees Celsius, that's what gives it the dark color.  Any hotter, and the barley catches fire!

I doubt there are many kids in the world as experienced and knowledgeable about the beer brewing process as my kids.

Help!  I'm in a state of nitrogenation!  

This is one of the old wooden vats from 1860.

I prooooobably should know the answer to this one!

They had the funniest story on one of the panels in this room.  A new cooper (or a maker of cask barrels) would make a cask by hand and then fire it.  When it was still hot, the new cooper was placed INSIDE of the new cask, along with Guinness, wood shavings, stout, water, and whatever else they could find. Then they rolled him around the cooperage and down the street until the other coopers decided he had had enough!

This was super cool.  They had a video of how this was formed.  It was all made by hand, carved from wood.  We found both Germany and Massachusetts/Florida on it!

Next, we went to the Guinness tasting!  You get to use all of your sense and smell the different ingredients used to make Guinness.  I don't know why, but this picture kind of disturbs me ha ha.  Like are my family members getting high on Guinness!?!  (No worries, it's just dry ice with a scent!)

Then we got to enjoy a very small glass of Guinness.  Somehow I framed this shot to make it look like our glasses were much bigger than they actually were.  However, these glasses were only about the size of a shot glass.

I really enjoyed the marketing section of the Guinness tour.  It features all of the fun advertisements they have used to promote Guinness over the years. 

Nice try, little buddy.  Nice try.  Only 13 more years for you!

That's some old skool Guinness right there!

A fish.  Riding a bicycle. Like for real.  The pedals were moving and everything.  The original ad was from 1996.

I believe this means you have to go up 7 levels to get to the Gravity Bar to get your pint of Guinness.  I'm not sure.  But I waited a long time and it was divine.

We finally made it up to the Gravity Bar!  I finally got my free Guinness!  

Panorama of the Gravity Bar.  It has nearly 360 degree views of Dublin.

There are little facts about the distant landmarks on the windows.  The windows are floor to ceiling so there's never a bad view.  Unless it's foggy and rainy, of course.

Two of Dublin's most famous landmarks can be seen from Gravity Bar - St. Patrick's Cathedral (on the right) and Christ Church Cathedral (on the left.)

After they finished their Fanta, they found a seat at the window facing south toward the Wicklow Mountains.

After our pint, we left St. James's Gate and headed to get some lunch before our afternoon tour of... what else?  The Jameson Factory!

Hole up, hole up, hole up.  I beg to differ!  I'm pretty sure Sean's Pub has already claimed this superlative, and Guinness themselves have agreed that Sean's is the oldest pub in Ireland and maybe the world.  Who do they think they are?!?

OK, well, whatever.  Let's go in and get something to eat anyway!  They first got their license to sell beer back in 1661, so I'm not sure where this idea that they date back to 1198 came from.

But it really was a nice little pub!  Hey look!  Only 4,089 kilometers to the North Pole!

And Buenos Aires is only 11,005 kilometers away!  I knew that Galway was only 219 kilometers since I had just done that drive the day before!

He's definitely the Original!  This picture would have been awesome if we had named Grant Jameson like we were seriously considering doing back in 2009.

It's like the traffic light of buildings!  Every set of two door entrances had different colors on this building.

We have officially entered Mommy territory.  Also:  There's a horse head in my picture.

I love these uniquely painted cask tops!

The Jameson tour is actually led by a guide (as opposed to the self-guided Guinness tour.)  It's not very long-- about 45 minutes, but still full of facts about the whiskey making process.  You get to go into a hands-on, all-senses-go room at a station with a partner and taste (if you want) and smell the different ingredients that go into making Jameson.

I really enjoy Jameson, but there's nothing like my Makers Mark bourbon!

The last room is a dimly lit tasting room.  You get to taste three different whiskys - one from America (Jack Daniels), Jameson from Ireland and Johnnie Walker from Scotland. By tasting them back to back, you can really tell a huge difference.

I am definitely the most interesting woman in the world.

I like Jameson ok, but we really enjoyed the Jameson Black Barrel.  We were super happy to find it back where we live, too!  Unfortunately, they did not serve the Black Barrel at the tasting!

This would be better if you had a halfway decent scotch and a bourbon.  But then you might not like the Jameson as much!  Smart move by the marketing department.  Let's let them try the grossest scotch and American whiskey and then they'll think our product is the best!

After the tour, you get more!  A free mixed drink!  I had the Jameson and ginger, Todd had it on the rocks.

I wouldn't mind a Makers Mark light fixture like this one!  Todd already made me a Makers Mark lamp... I think I'll assign him a new project! 

After the Jameson tour, we wanted to make one final stop to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  The flowers were blooming all around Dublin!

My children dancing with some very flexible copper children.

Ah, isn't St. Patrick's lovely?  St. Patrick himself baptized people here way back in 450 AD, although there wasn't a church here until close to 900.  Construction didn't begin on the current building until the mid 1200s. 

Believe it or not, this became an Anglican church in 1537.  I naturally assumed it was a Catholic church, but it's actually the Cathedral for the Church of Ireland, which is a subset of the Anglican church.  Did you know Handel's Messiah was played for the first time ever here in 1742?

In the 1860's, Benjamin Guinness (Arthur's grandson) gave money for extensive renovations to the Cathedral.  At the time, the Cathedral was in such disrepair that they thought it would be better and less expensive if they tore the Cathedral down and started over.  Thankfully the Guinness family saved the Cathedral from its demise.  Naturally though, the Guinness family wanted creative control of the renovations. Over the years, they have continued to donate to the church, including the tile floor and the stained glass windows.

Puzzles are always fun, especially when they are of beautiful stained glass!

This cross slab is from the 10th or 11th century.  Six of them were discovered during renovations, some of which were grave stones and another stone was covering an ancient well that they believe St. Patrick himself used to baptize people from.

Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels was elected Dean of the Cathedral in 1713.  He was a really interesting character.  In a time when people rarely washed, he was obsessed with cleanliness.  he also exercised regularly, running up and down the stairs inside when the weather was bad outside.  He also founded a hospital for the mentally ill after he was the head of a hospital in London which put insane patients on display for the public's entertainment, which upset him greatly. 

The flowers outside of St. Patrick's were really blooming and smelled extraordinary.

GAH!  All the smells and colors! ALL OF THEM!

Even the sun started to peek through at one point and we were able to get some really great shots of St. Patrick's.

One of the best reasons to travel to Ireland in April is because the crowds are much smaller.  Ok, ok... I promise this is my last picture of St. Patrick's!

After dinner at The Hairy Lemon, we stopped at Scoop for some scoops for Natalie.  It also started POURING, so we were able to get out of the rain a bit.  Grant had to wait on his dessert because there was peanut butter in one of the ice creams.  Poor kiddo.  No worries, because he got dessert back in the hotel room.  I don't remember what they were laughing about but I just love this picture!

FINALLY!  I finally saw a leprechaun in Ireland!  I've been waiting for years!  What a way to end a phenomenal trip to Ireland!

Until next time, Ireland!