Day 1 in Dublin

Top of ye morning to ya!

After taking an overnight flight, we finally arrived in Dublin around noon today. Before boarding, our group met up at the Chicago O’Hare airport and we were able to get acquainted and take some pre-flight pictures. Below is our group:

• Ray and Penny Richardson flew in from Broken Arrow, OK. Penny is a ’68 alumna. 
• Michael and Mary Beth Pacha came from Cedar Rapids, IA. Michael is a ’76 alumnus.
• Ray Wrubel and his friend Samantha were on the flight with me from Des Moines. Ray is a ’78 alumnus.
• My parents, Sam and Susie Wright of Farson, IA also joined us on the trip.

We all discussed our excitement to get there and what we might experience.

Once we finally arrived, we were greated with warm and sunny weather. The locals tell us not to get too excited because the sighting of the sun is a rare experience. We had a little time to freshen up and then it was back on the bus to travel to dinner.

Dinner was held at the Irish House Party restaurant. They had a large banquet room ready for us where we met many other tourists who joined our group. Over 50 people were there and we had time to socialze with all of them. We met up with several other people from Iowa. They were impressed with our alumni group!

Dinner was served and I must say...........IT WAS AWESOME! Authentic Irish Beef Stew was just one of the items being served tonight and it was fabulous. We also received hot tea served with brown sugar cubes and cream. Yummy!

After dinner, we were entertained by several musicians and dancers. We listened all the classic Irish favorites and watched what I could only imagine was some classic River Dance dances. The crowd even got into the spirit and alumnus, Ray Wrubel, sang with the band.

It's been a very long day, so after dinner and the show, we headed back to our elegant hotel to rest up for tomorrow. Speaking of our hotel, Trinity Capital Hotel, it has some of the largest antique furniture I have ever seen. See the William Penn University Alumni Association Facebook page at  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/William-Penn-University-Alumni-Association/153962729433 for additional photos.

I fare thee well tonight and look foward to blogging with ye tomorrah!

Jodi Greiner

Director of Alumni Relations, WPU

From L to R:

Sam Wright, Susie Wright, Ray Richardon, JodiGreiner, Ray Wrubel, Penny Richardson, Samantha Donnaley, Mary Beth Pacha and Michael Pacha.

Ray Wrubel getting his Irish groove on with the band!