For us, that point hit us full force with our arrival in Dublin. We were exhausted and while every tired bone in our body just wanted to veg out on the bed in front of bad Irish reality TV, Tourist Trooper Gail wanted to slap the real Gail in the face and be all, “Girl, RECOGNIZE…YOU ARE IN DUBLIN. Quit whining about wanting to go home and just get out there and ENJOY it already.”

With what little time we had there (and with our attention spans having been reduced to 3-year-olds—this is what 14 days straight of museum ventures and history hunting will do to you), that’s exactly what we did. Enjoyed it. Here are the sites we loved most:

Trinity College

This place is really, really beautiful. The perfect mix of Ivory Tower history mixed with the hustle and bustle of the streets of Dublin. It is smack-dab in the center of Dublin and even our short visit made it obvious it plays a pretty big role in the culture of this city.

Dublin Castle

These Crayola-color-esque buildings were part of the Dublin Castle. Who knew Dublin had a castle? I love how every European city had its own. Imagine if Washington, D.C. or New York had a castle. How come we didn’t bring that idea across the ocean with us? Dublin’s Doors

More than any other city I’ve ever visited, I was in LOVE with the street-level charm of Dublin’s storefronts and its doors. It’s kind of Dublin’s “thing”, you know? I noticed, as I was snapping away at all of these (annoying my husband) that tourist shops were selling posters of Dublin’s doors and playing cards too….what a quaint “thing” to be remembered for, eh? Those Irish….

Pubs

In America, bars are all neon beer signs and strip mall parking lots. Europe does it right and the pubs of London and Dublin were no exception. We need fewer BW-3s in the states and more Century-Gothic inspired Lord Edwards Christ Church Cathedral

Every building you want to venture into seems to charge for admission. Which explains why we opted not to see the interior of Dublin’s beautiful Christ Church Cathedral. At this point, we were suffering from that “Seen one, seen ‘em all, don’twannapayforanythingelse” vacation fatigue. So, I apologize to you, Christ Church. I’m sure you’re ever bit as lovely on the inside as you were the outside!

The Guinness Factory

Scratch everything I just said above about not paying for anything else on the tour circuit because we happily forked over the $22 a piece for an afternoon tour of the Guinness Factory. AND IT WAS SO WORTH IT.

(Note: Do you see us wearing sleeves here? We got off the plane from Rome and went from 95 to 62 degrees. It was heaven!)

A whole exhibit on how the barrels were made to hold the stout — a topic that should have been boring but not in this museum. We watched the entire 15 minute film!

Not only do I love Guinness stout (well, love is a strong word for someone who only occasionally drinks beer), but I LOVE Guinness’s branding. If you’re familiar with the whole “My Goodness, My Guinness” ads, then you would have loved the John Gilroy exhibit, dedicated to the cartoonist who popularized the animals featured in the ads. At the end of the tour, you head up to the top of the museum (which is shaped like a Guinness glass) to the Sky Bar, where you’re given two complimentary Guinnesses. And get to enjoy views of the city like this. There is something about this particular image — this red bike, that green trim– that makes me want to blow it up canvas-size. Temple Street and Temple Bar

This area is THE hip spot in Dublin. Where all the cool bars (including Dublin’s most famous, below) can be found. Where street musicians try to make it big (If you are obsessed with the movie “Once” like I am, then you should know this is the area where a lot of the movie was filmed). I booked us a room in the Temple Hotel because I thought, “How cool to be RIGHT where all the action is happening, right?” Well, cool during the day, sure. Not so cool at night as  we laid in bed at 2 a.m. and listened to yet another Irish version of a cover song belted out on the street below us. In one of those “not funny then but funny now” travel moments, I’ll never forget my husband’s muffled voice under his pillow saying, “Gail, this has GOT to be the last song. I mean, we’re in Dublin. It’s the Cranberries’ “Zombie”. It doesn’t get more Irish than that. It’s like THE song to end a set with. I’m sure of it.”

Five minutes later, we were treated to a cover of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” and all I could do was roll over and laugh.

That’s it folks. Our Euro 2010 adventures! If you missed any of the earlier sets, catch up with where all we visited by visiting these blog entries:

LONDON POST

PARIS POST

ROME POST

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

There was something about this city that grabbed hold of me and made me fall in love. In a MAJOR way. You know how, when you’re a kid, you picture a place in your mind? And then you get there and you’re like, “Oh, hello, not quite what I was expecting…”

London was EXACTLY what I was expecting. All red double decker buses and black cabs and white row houses. And pubs. And parks. And the Underground. Oh my GOODNESS do I love the way public transit in London is not just a mode of transportation. It IS London. The heart and veins of this city.

There was a look, a feel to London that struck a chord with me. To say we had a good time there would be a slight understatement. We saw a lot, did a lot and left wore out, but we made the most of it. So yeah, I could be London. I just might, you know, every now and then raid the refrigerators of Paris and Rome

It’s PURE luck we got this close to the guards at Buckingham Palace. It’s a total crap shoot knowing where to stand with the bajillion other tourists who join you for a glimpse of these fellas, but we were close enough to one of the gates that we scored with this view! Talk about pomp…A visit to the Tower of London was a definite must. Our Beefeater (on the left) was bit moody as far as tour guides go, but I’m pretty sure it was all an act . For those not in the know: The Tower is the place you can see the Crown Jewels. But apparently, not take pictures of them (though they were awesome). It’s also where you learn a LOT about Henry VIII—oohhh what a devil he was. (Confession: Nick and I may add The Tudors to our Netflix queue after this trip…I just said “queue”…am I still in London? Next thing you know, my cell will become my mobile )

Red buses and black cabs. They are everywhere. And yes, they are exactly as you imagine them. Drivers on the right side and all Tower Bridge (not to be confused with London Bridge. Which is not, contrary to popular belief, falling down). The City of London (aka The Financial District). That big tall building on the right? That’s the Gherkin. You better believe I had to name drop that one the whole trip. Like, wherever we were, I was all “Look, Nick, we can still see the Gherkin!” Cool in architecture AND in name. One of our favorite places to visit was St. Paul’s Cathedral. A gorgeous church and a fixture to London’s skyline. We actually climbed to the tippy top of that dome and the view left me breathless (not to mention clutching the sides of the wall—comfortable with heights, I am not). And this shot of Nick? Paying homage to all the outdoor cafes where we’d grab a bite or a latte on this trip. Collectively, it’s these moments that might be my favorite part of this whole vacation.

Months ago, I saw a segment on “CBS Sunday Morning” about a public art project where pianos were set up in London for anyone to come play. I was giddy to discover—by way of finding this gentleman banging away on the instrument set up off the Millennium Bridge—that it was still going on. Cool right?

View of St. John’s Cathedral from Millenium Bridge, outside of the Tate Modern. Isn’t the sky UNREAL? I was expecting London to be 100 percent overcast but we got nothing but blue skies. And perfect 75 degree weather. Which, apparently was a bit too warm for some in this country. We overheard a guy on the tube telling his companion (in this proper British voice, mind you), “You must get an electric fan. You shouldn’t tolerate this insufferable heat one more minute.” Obviously this person had never been to Rome. Or Indiana. I loved spotting British-isms. Like “Give Way” instead of “Yield.” For some reason, that’s just more polite to me   BTW: That’s Nick walking into our hotel, Base2Stay, in Kensington on the left. Loved that hotel. Loved that neighborhood.We also loved the British Museum. By far one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to. Want to get up close and personal with the Rosetta Stone, mummies and the Lindow Man? Here’s the place to do it. Ridiculously cool interior too.

I can cross “Seeing a musical in London’s West End” off the proverbial bucket list We took a day trip outside of the city and hit up Warwick Castle. There were mannequins and kids in uniforms on school field trips and a ridiculous amount of tacky tourist garb, but you know what? Seeing a castle was the one thing Nick asked we do on this trip. And being here made my husband happy. Which, in turn, made me happy. The English countryside and the grounds of Oxford University. Both so so pretty. Where Oxford students and Harry Potter (at least, for the first two films) eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner Back in London. An afternoon in Hyde Park. Perfection. A spot of tea? Well, when you’re in Britain, how could you not?! And a tour of Harrod’s is a must on the London list as well. This place BLEW OUR MINDS. The food halls alone will put you in a coma, but if that’s not enough, a tour of the lavish goods you can buy on the rest of this luxury store’s floors ought to do it. And finally, I have to give a shout-out to my British friend and fellow photographer, Emma Biskupski. Emma found my Web site and blog thanks to ShowIt creator David Jay (thankyouDavidJay!!!!) and shortly before we left for this trip, she sent me THE COOLEST CARE PACKAGE EVER. We worked out a meet-up and Nick and I spent our last night in London at a pub with Emma, sharing a few pints and getting to know one another better. I couldn’t think of a better way for this leg of our trip to come to an end! On to Paris next!!!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

And it is everything I thought it would be.

It’s more.