"Isn't that relaxing? It's called CELTIC MOODS!
When I'm lonely or feeling dejected
I play this and it never fails
I pretend like I'm in Ireland
With Enya and the whales
When my telephone gets disconnected
Or I spend every night alone
I pretend like I'm in Ireland
Where the Irish bagpipes drone
In Ireland they know how to love you
You embrace in the misty Irish breeze
And if your Irish boy tires of you
You're allowed to shoot him in the knees
The Irish fear nothing and no one
They keep fightin' 'til everyone's dead
You go out there and you get some Ireland
The country of whiskey and love"
Woohoo okay so I wasn't listening to Enya the whole time and I didn't see any whales, but I still enjoyed my time immensely. 18 of us from the group took a flight on Thursday night after our classes. We found a cheap airlines that could fly us to Dublin for less than 50pounds called RyanAir. NEVER will I take RyanAir again. They. Are. Crazy. If you miss one step, one stamp, one thing in your check in process, than you're screwed and too bad. Where is the customer service in Europe?? But it was fine, we all got there okay, some more stressfully than others. Jackson drew me a picture of Irish penguins, MaryRuth and I gazed at clouds, and we took our first picture of Katie sleeping over this weekend (we had multiple, that girl can sleep anywhere). Upon arriving at Dublin, we took a bus into the city center, but since it was dark, we couldn't really see anything yet. We were all staying in the same hostel this time, unlike Paris, called Jacob's Inn, and it was a really great place. We had a room of ten, and the bathrooms were WAY better. Wasn't in the most safest areas but it was still convenient. We were a bit tired, but we went out anyways to a pub for a bit, and tried an amazing drink that tasted like butterscotch:)
On Friday, we had a mini breakfast at the hostel, then went on a 3+ hour walking tour of the city. Our tour guide's name was Fiona, and she REALLY loved Dublin. She was very animated and told plenty of stories which was nice, but sometimes a bit overdone. The first thing was saw was City Hall then Dublin Castle, which only had a 5th of what the original castle was. The rest was rebuilt, and it looked like odd, mashed up legos. The old part was pretty though, and that circular section to the right was a prison with 4.6 meter thick walls. Yikes. Next we saw a giant helicopter pad that was decorated in Irish River Eels and Jonathan Swift's (Gulliver's Travels writer) birthplace. Apparently they are coming out with a new movie of GT, the lead played by Jack Black. Hmm. Next we saw Christ Church, which was another pretty church full of fun stories about mummified cats and such. Other things we saw:
~remains of a Viking settlement (aka rocks)
~Temple Bar area (where U2 was discovered and the nightlife center)
~Rory Gallagher's guitar
~the Dublin Wall of Fame
~Trinity College (wanted to see the Book of Kells but not enough time)
~St. Stephen's Green
This park is where we ended the tour. It was like Dublin's Central Park, and it was gorgeous. The Katie's and I waited around in here so that Sarah could catch up with us. She was spending an interesting weekend with her aunt, who seems slightly crazy. From there we went on a leisurely walk, stopping only to grab some souvenirs, to St. Patrick's Cathedral. We didn't want to pay to go inside, so we viewed the beautiful church from the outside on the lawn, and took a mini nap in the Irish sunshine.
That night, I went on my very first pub crawl. We got a discount on our entrance free since we had gone on the tour earlier! We started out at the Purdy Kitchen, then went to a really awesome bar called the Porterhouse. It had five levels and Strawberry beer that was surprisingly good. I also met a guy from Conroe there! Small world. The third and fourth bar were fun too, but Katie and I bailed on the club since we had a long day still to go. We couldn't stop laughing while we were brushing our teeth and woke a few people up:) Saturday we went to this cute little breakfast place we found the day before and had delicious breakfast bagels. Then Sarah, the Katie's, and I took the train out to the coast of Ireland, to a town called Bray. It was soooo gorgeous! I was initially upset I wouldn't get to see much of the countryside while we were there, since none of us had a car, but the coast definitely made up for it. As soon as we got there we went onto the ferris wheel (there was a mini carnival on the beach) to get a full view.
There was this beautiful mountain just down the coast with a large white cross on the top, and we really wanted to climb it, but we didn't have enough time. So we climbed onto the rocks on the beach and took a bunch of cool pictures, then laid on the beach. I read
"The Time Travelers Wife" and it was so relaxing! We stayed there for about 2 hours before we walked to get some lunch at Katie's (seemed appropriate since the two girls I was with were Katie). Katie T and I had Ireland's version of fish and chips, which is basically the same thing except mashed potatoes, not chips. While we were eating, there was this trick plane that was flying around doing a whole bunch of stunts. It went upside down, straight up into the sky, flipped, and at one point looked like it was headed straight for the ferris wheel, but changed course at the last minute. It was really cool to watch, even though the policemen nearby looked a little annoyed.
One the train back to the beach, we took picture #4 of Katie T sleeping. I'll put up one, just don't tell her:)
Anyways, after those fun times, we got back to O'Connell street and began our trek across the city to the heart and soul of Dublin, the Guinness Factory. The actual factory was alright, but a bit boring. But at the top of the factory, which has the shape of a giant Guinness glass on the inside, is the Gravity Bar, which gives a breathtaking, panoramic view of the city. We each got a complimentary glass of Guinness, but I must confess, I'm not a huge fan of the dark beer. For dinner, we grabbed some quick pizza, than headed off to Arlington Hotel. We got to listen to an Irish band (two guitars and one accordion), and watch some Irish dancers perform. All while drinking some Bailey's traditional Irish cream. It was a nice closing night in Ireland.
In the morning, we had a traditional Irish breakfast from these really nice old Irishmen down the street (Katie was a bit freaked out by the 'pudding'). Then it was back to the airport to fly home. Sarah and I split a bag of peanut m&m's to hold us over. It was now the LAST WEEK IN LONDON. I can't believe it's already here.
Fun fact: St. Patrick scaring all of the snakes out of Ireland? It's a myth. There were never any snakes in Ireland, too cold. They think the myth might have been a mistranslation, since the word snake and pagan are very similar in Gaelic. St. Patrick was trying to rid the country of paganism, and he was successful in that, no snakes involved.
Oh and Ireland? Give my love to the leprechauns.
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