Travel Photos – Green Bay, WI

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I thought I would start my 2013 blogging with some pictures from our trip over the Christmas holidays to Green Bay, Wisconsin for a Packers game.  This was our Christmas present for myself and my wife from my dad and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I had wanted to get back to a Packers game since my family moved away from Green Bay in 1999 (did not miss the cold weather).

The game featured the Packers playing the Tennessee Titans and it was approximately 25 degrees F at kickoff.

Interior Shot of Lambeau Field

My wife and I at the game (can’t figure out why this picture is so small)

Exterior shot of Lambeau Field (Vince Lombardi statue in foreground)

My old house (wouldn’t look the same without the snow!)

Reviews and Recommendations:

Eating: We had dinner at Titletown Brewing Company the first night we were there and I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Green Bay. Set in the old train station it offered some uniquely Wisconsin dishes, I had Walleye and my wife had a spicy elk burger.  Prices are quite reasonable and the beer selection is fantastic.

Accomodations: We stayed at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center attached to the Oneida Casino.  It was pretty much what you expect from a hotel, clean and comfortable.  Nothing fancy.  They do offer a shuttle to Lambeau Field on gamedays which made the gameday experience much more pleasant.

Travel Photos – The Coliseum (Rome)

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I fully realize it has been too long since my previous post but I just haven’t made the time to do anything about it!  I am making a goal for myself going forward of no less than 1 new post every two weeks.  With that said, today I wanted to feature the Coliseum in Rome.  The Coliseum, to me, is one of the few ancient buildings where it is still quite easy to imagine what it looked like while in use, which makes it fascinating to walk around the arena.  Here are some of my favorite pictures of the Coliseum from my travels:

Coliseum Exterior

Coliseum Exterior

Coliseum Exterior

Coliseum Interior

Tip: To avoid waiting in the extremely long lines at the Coliseum, buy your ticket at the entrance of the Palatine Hill/Forum early in the morning and tour it first.  The exit of the Forum is right at the entrance to the Coliseum.

 

Travel Photos – The Pantheon (In Rome)

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The Pantheon is one of my favorite structures in the entire world.  The fact that it is so beautifully preserved, unique and FREE combine to make it an all-time favorite. During my three visits to Rome I felt like I wound up passing by the Pantheon multiple times and going in at least once or twice a day as the interior changes as the light changes. There really doesn’t need to be an introduction for each picture as they speak for themselves.

Miscellaneous Ireland Pictures

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As I have finished up my trip report from our recent trip to Ireland I still have some good pictures that didn’t make the final cut for the reports.  I still want to share these as some of them are pretty cool.  Enjoy:

Galway, Ireland

Cliffs of Moher

View from the top of Bunratty Castle, aka, the biggest waste of money in Ireland

The perfect Irish picture, a cathedral with a Guinness truck parked in front

Killarney, Ireland

Dingle, Ireland

Dingle, Ireland Harbor

Kenmare, Ireland (Great bar name, terrible bar with Turkish freedom fighters hanging out)

N71 Roadway towards coast away from Kenmare

Lone Sheep on N71 Roadway

A road in Bantry, Ireland not designed for two-way vehicular traffic

Tidal area near Kinsale, Ireland

Houses on a hillside in Kinsale, Ireland

Rock of Cashel Cemetary

Rock of Cashel Interior

Powerscourt Gardens

Powerscourt Gardens

Powerscourt Estate

Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Temple Bar Area, Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland with the spire in the background

Guinness – This sums up our trip

Trip Report: Ireland – Day 6 & 7: Powerscourt to Dublin

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After a wonderful stay at the Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt my wife and I departed around 8:30 AM for a quick trip to the Dublin airport to return our rental car.  While the experience of picking up the rental car was painful, our experience dropping it off at the SIXT off-site location was pretty easy. (As a tip there is a gas station about 1 KM past the SIXT drop-off location on the right hand side)  We returned the rental car and within about 10 minutes were back at the terminal catching a taxi into the city to our hotel, the Conrad Dublin.

The taxi ride took about 25 minutes and cost approximately 35 Euro plus a (small) tip to get to the Conrad Dublin.  We arrived at the hotel pretty early (10 AM) but we were allowed to go ahead and check-in since I am a Diamond member and they had already cleaned our room.  Here are a couple of pictures of the room:

Conrad Dublin ($$$$- We used HHonor’s Point for the 2 night stay)

Bathroom

Exterior of Hotel

Once we had thrown our stuff in the room we headed out to explore Dublin!  The city itself is lacking of truly “historical” sites like a London or Rome so we did not set out like we normally do to conquer a number of sites.  We set out with the purpose of relaxing for 2 days while walking around and drinking a pint every now and then.  It worked out well!  With that said, the one thing we did take the time to see was the Book of Kells at Trinity College (6-8 Euro admission, **** – worth it just for the library alone).

Since we didn’t do anything in particular I will let our pictures speak for themselves, enjoy:

St. Stephen’s Green (very close to Conrad Dublin, free entrance dawn to dusk)

Another

Grafton Street viewed from side street (Pedestrian shopping street with good street performers)

Trinity College (Home of the book of Kell’s discussed above)

Temple Bar (Good bar, even though it is touristy, for a drink) (Please note the guy in front with the women’s swimsuit on)

The Dublin Spire (right up there with any other weird monument I have seen)

Inside Temple Bar (sorry for getting out of order the with pictures) (This must be an Irish/British thing to have Stag parties where everyone wears matching shirts, see the guy in red)

Me with a Guinness inside Temple Bar courtyard

River Liffey in Dublin City Centre

That concludes my trip report for our 7 day trip (quick) trip through Ireland.  As I am sure you can tell if you have been following along we had absolutely fantastic, and unusual per the locals of Ireland, weather during our trip.  Seven straight days of cloudless sunny skies with high’s in the upper 60’s (F).  Look for a post tomorrow with some remaining pictures that didn’t make the initial cut for my trip report!  Cheer