Elle Takes Europe 2026 - Day 4 - 7: The Dublin Diaries
Day 4 - June 22, 2026
We woke up bright and early this morning in Venice, Italy. The sun had just risen, and Elle was not thrilled to be awoken from her deep slumber. Fortunately, at 6:45 AM, we were down in the lobby, boarding a water taxi that turned all our moods around. It takes about 30 minutes to get from the Hilton to the airport, and it was glorious. Elle loved every second of it, clinging to her Mom, and loving every time the boat bounced or a bird flew by. We made the long walk from the docks to drop off our bags at the Ryanair desk after waiting in a mammoth line and grabbed breakfast near our gate.
The 2+ hour flight to Dublin was uneventful. We ordered some additional food, including a grilled cheese, to make sure Elle was well fed. Jenn and I took turns playing with Elle and keeping her occupied. She did amazing. She really loves playing with her sticker books, and every once in a while, we take out the Switch 2 and play Mario Kart or Mario. We arrived in Dublin, made it through security, and met our driver to take us to The Marker Dublin, the same hotel where Jenn and I stayed in 2022.
After dropping off our bags (our room wasn’t ready), we went and had a quick lunch at nearby Milano. Jenn had lasagna, Elle had pasta with red sauce, and I had a pizza. It was a perfect, quiet lunch and exactly what we were looking for after the early morning. From there, we walked over to Trinity College. We thought it would be a fun place for Elle to walk around, and it turned out better than we had hoped for. Elle gravitated towards a few grass fields where there was plenty of space to run and chase after birds. She loved it and was ready to go back to our room after an hour.
We decided to keep it light for the rest of the day. Elle only had a 20-minute nap on the plane, so we ordered room service when we got back to the hotel. Jenn had fish and chips, and I had a burger, and Elle had a little bit of both of our dinners before Jenn gave her a bath. When Elle was coming out of the bath, she slipped on the wet floor and hit her head. She cried for a bit but seemed fine afterward, and honestly wouldn’t have thought about it again had what happened the next day not happened.
Day 5 - June 23, 2026
Today was Jenn’s first of a three-day offsite. She woke up early and left the room at around 6 AM to go downstairs to the spa and do her hair. We both agreed to let Elle sleep in until at least 8 AM, and she didn’t make a peep until closer to 8:30 AM. When she did start to wake up, I picked her up from her crib, took her to our bed, and let her sleep on my chest for a bit. When she finally woke up, she spat up a bit. I didn’t think much of it other than maybe something didn’t agree with her last night, or that I got her up too fast. I cleaned her up, gave her some water, and let her rest some more. Over the next hour or so, she kept throwing up, probably 6-8 times.
I decided to take her to urgent care to have her examined. I had two hypotheses: either she caught something from the plane, or it was from her head. I called the concierge and was told there was an urgent care around the corner, and they took us right back. The doctor examined her and didn’t think it was her head; rather, she thought it was likely a virus. She told me to get her some hydration tablets and keep monitoring, but to let her stomach settle for a few hours. I texted Jenn to let her know what was happening. She immediately left her meeting, and we then took Elle to the Emergency Room. Jenn was convinced that it was a head injury, and so we made it to Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street. The cab driver was so kind that he comped us the drive and wished us well. Everyone warned us we could be waiting hours, but Elle got seen immediately, and they concluded it was unequivocally a minor concussion. She was monitored for a few hours, given electrolytes to drink, and several tests were performed, until we were eventually cleared to leave at close to 5 PM.
We took it easy for the evening. Elle was doing much better; she hadn’t thrown up since Jenn came back, and after a brief nap in the hospital seemed far more alert and cognizant. We had room service again, some pasta for Elle, a steak sandwich for me, and fish and chips again for Jenn. Although not fully out of the woods, we went to sleep tonight feeling much better about Elle. It was such a long, scary day, but we are grateful she is OK and seems to be on the road to recovery.
Day 6 - June 24, 2026
Yesterday was a scary day. Jenn and I both didn’t sleep well and woke up feeling terrible. Jenn somehow mustered the energy to get up, get herself ready, and head back to work. She gave me one job today: make sure Elle was OK and give her updates constantly. I let Elle sleep in, and could tell immediately she was feeling better. She was talkative, giggly, and ready for breakfast. We went downstairs to the hotel’s breakfast and got a booth towards the back. I ordered the English breakfast and got Elle a side of pancakes. We’ve found on this trip that Elle loves juice, especially cranberry juice, so when I saw they had it, I got her a few cups. The other good sign was that her appetite was back. Part way through our breakfast one of Jenn’s colleagues joined Elle and I for breakfast and kept us company.
After breakfast, we made our way outside. We were immediately stopped by the hotel concierge, who checked on Elle and made sure there was nothing that she or our family needed. He was incredible and very kind to us throughout our visit. From there, Elle and I spent over an hour walking around at the river’s edge watching the birds fly by, the people on tour boats wave to her, and the kayaks push on by. It was exactly what I wanted to do: give her the freedom to get her sea legs back without overdoing it. We grabbed a small lunch bowl at a nearby health food store, bought some cranberry juice at the grocery store, and went back to the room for lunch and a nap.
After her nap, I strapped her into her stroller, and we made a nice hour loop around Temple Bar. We stopped by several street musicians, went into a few shops, and let Elle take in the beautiful, warm afternoon. We grabbed a few burgers and fries at Handsome Burgers and brought them back home, buying some cookies for dessert on the way home. It was the perfect quiet day with Elle. She seemed like nothing had happened, even though her parents were far worse for wear.
Day 6 - June 24, 2026
With Elle on the mend and Jenn wrapping up her last day of her offsite, Elle and I had a day to go out and explore Dublin. We went down for breakfast at 9 AM and had a table overlooking a jam packed breakfast area. The hotel was hosting a conference that day and the crowd quickly dispersed when we got there. We got the same breakfast order as yesterday, and Elle ate most of my eggs and all of my mushrooms. She was such a happy kid this morning, it was one of the most fun breakfasts we’ve had in recent memory.
From breakfast we made the walk to the National Gallery of Ireland a stunning art museum in the heart of Dublin. The walk only took us fifteen minutes and we made our way in. Its hard to compare taking Elle to an art museum this year, versus last year in Barcelona. Elle now obviously can speak and walk, and having her light up at certain works of art and express what she likes or doesn’t like about them is incredible. Some paintings she found scary, others she liked the kids or the dogs, and others the colors. We didn’t spend, but were thrilled to find a kids area that had tons of art supplies. Elle chose to color on every available open piece of paper with a mixture of crayons and colored pencils.
After the museum, we walked across the street to a nearby park. I took her out of the stroller, and we walked all over the park, running after birds, picking up leaves, and even posing for me in a big chair. The park was packed with small food vendors, families, and school groups. It was cutting it close with Elle’s nap, so I made a quick path back to our hotel, grabbed another health bowl, and put her to sleep a little after noon.
We only had an hour between Elle waking up from her nap and Jenn getting back from work. There’s nothing better than Elle’s reaction any day that Jenn comes home from work, but today was priceless. She was so excited to see her and ran and screamed as she came to her. It was the best. We left the hotel and walked 10 minutes to The Cow Pub and Kitchen. Both Jenn and I had good news for our jobs (nothing concrete, but good news nonetheless), and we got to celebrate with a great last meal in Dublin. We started with bread and some corn ribblettes, and I had a nice fresh Guinness. Elle had buttered pasta for dinner, I had fish and chips, and Jenn had halibut. From there, we walked back to our hotel, packed up our bags, and got ready for an early morning flight to Zurich.
