Dublin

I've decided it will be easiest to divided my week long trip to 3 different countries into three different blogposts. Not sure when I'll get around to doing them all, but hopefully I'll have them all finished by this week!

Dublin was the first part of our trip, and I can't tell you how nice it was to go to a country where English is everyone's first language (although, thinking back on it, we have yet to go to a country where we had a hard time finding people who speak English). I was surprised by how difficult it was to understand Irish people though. Their accents are incredibly thick and they have a million little colloquialisms I had never heard of.

When we arrived in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, we took the city bus (which just so happened to be a double decker bus) to our hostel. In comparison to Italy, I really feel like Colleen and I did a fantastic job in planning everything out. Considering that we went to 3 different countries and had no serious problems in getting around, I was impressed. I had researched all the information about how to get from the airports to hostels and to train stations so we never had to spend more than 2 euros on transportation. Then together we had made a basic outline of what to do in each city on each day (which was necessary since we only had 2 or 3 days in each city). I don't mean to toot my own horn here or anything, I just feel proud of myself. You never really realize how much planning goes into travelling, but I feel as though I've gotten a really good handle on things. Add that to the list of things I'm learning over here!

Anyways we spent our first day in Dublin settling in. We went to the grocery store to stock up on food to save money by cooking our own meals and did some shopping around O'Connell Street. The four of us then cooked some delicious gnocchi and brocolli salad while enjoying some wine. 

Dinner the first night

With full stomachs, we went out in search of good drink prices. As it turns out, although the Irish drink a lot, Dublin’s prices on beer are pretty steep. We were told by a local that 5 euros is the average price of a pint, and anything less than that is a good deal. So when we saw that the hotel bar next door had pints for 3.50 we couldn’t resist…little did we know we would be the only people in the bar. The bartender was super friendly though and suggested a beer called “Smithwicks” for us. Now I don’t know much about good beers, but this one is one of the best I had ever had. Apparently they sell it in the US, so if you see it, I highly recommend! Our friendly bartender, Mossy, gave us a tour of his bar and insisted we take pictures sitting at every table in the place. It was hilarious! It turns out it was his birthday and he ended up giving us a free drink on him. 

One of the 20 pictures he took of us in the bar

Our bartender friend, "Mossy"

From there we went to the famous Temple Bar area and went into the bar called Temple Bar. We were told by one guy at the door that we had to be 21 to come in. Not sure why that was the rule, but we just went to the next door and got right in. There was live music and an overall great environment. After spending a while bar hopping in the area, we went to what we were told was a “proper” night club with some locals. This is perhaps my only regret of the entire trip because Colleen and I got sucked into paying a 10 euro cover not wanting to look cheap. Then when we got into the “proper” club, it was nothing special. Plus drinks were 6 euros or more. So we just decided to cut our loses and head back home. We got a little lost (of course) but found some friendly Dubliners who told us we were very far away (which to them is a 20 minute walk) and that we should either take a taxi or prepare ourselves for a long hike home. Well of course we weren’t going to take a taxi, but we did prepare ourselves by stopping and getting some cheeseburgers halfway through. Overall, a very good night. I just wish I had had my ten euros for some fries too!

The next day we did almost all the touristy things to do in Dublin. We walked first around Trinity College. I must say I was quite envious of the green quads and it made me miss good ole Chapel Hill. Sevilla is beautiful, but I often find myself missing UNC’s campus. After that we walked around the Temple Bar area in the daylight and then headed over to the Dublin Castle. I must say, though, that I was thoroughly unimpressed with Dublin’s Castle. It was nothing special. At all. From there we walked over to the Guinness Storehouse and did the self guided tour. I’m not sure whether or not this is common knowledge, but I had never realized that the “Guinness Book of World Records” is the same Guinness. Apparently the book was started to settle pub disputes. The tour itself was very cool and the storehouse is enormous (7 stories total). At the end you get to sit on at a bar and enjoy a 360 degree view of Dublin with a free pint of Guinness. I must admit though that I really don’t think I like Guinness. It’s so filling that I couldn’t imagine drinking more than one pint in one sitting.

Trinity College

Trinity College. So green, right?

The anticlimactic Dublin Castle

Outside the Guinness Storehouse!

After eating our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we had brought from home (which were absolutely delicious—who knew I’d miss PB&Js of all things?), we headed over to the Kilmainham Gaol, a no longer used jail. The tour was only supposed to be 2 euros so naturally we were interested. When we got there though, the man at the door said all tickets were sold out for the day. I felt very much like Dorothy when she gets to the Wizard of Oz and is told to go away. We had walked to the very edge of the map and refused to be turned down after coming all that way. So with a little convincing and four very sad faces, the man changed his mind and let us join. Jails to me are always interesting in a creepy sort of way. The history behind this particular jail was quite interesting, but I won’t bore you with tons of facts.

In one of the yards at Kilmainham Gaol

After our tour, we were exhausted and all agreed that taking a bus back to the hostel was a great idea. Once there, we made some chicken stir fry and fell into a blissful food coma….only to be disturbed by a late night run to the grocery store for ice cream and chocolates.

On Monday, we took a day trip to a fishing village called Howth. It was only about 25 minutes away by train and the train fare cost less than 5 euro. I must admit that I think this trip was probably my favorite part of Ireland. Everything was green. It was exactly what I picture in my head when I think of Ireland.  We spent the whole day hiking around the summit and enjoyed a nice picnic in the city. While hiking up the summit, we made a canine friend who I named Toto...since he looked like Toto from the Wizard of Oz (2nd Wizard of Oz reference in one blogpost!). He lead us up the entire way and would even stop and wait for us when we took pictures. He was quite the companion!

Group shot at on the summit

Loved the sailboats!

On the way up the summit!

Our guide dog, Toto

Even though we got rained on a little bit, it was still a fantastic day. We all enjoyed a sweet at an Irish coffee shop before going out for dinner (the only time we ate out in Ireland). The little restaurant we ate at had some of the freshest and most delicious seafood I’ve ever had. We split two platters of calamari, crayfish, fish cakes and smoked salmon. Absolutely delicious!

We went back to Dublin after that and had a nice relaxing night in the hostel. To top it all off, Gabi and Rachel were in the kitchen when a family threw out half a pizza. The pizza was still in the box (had never touched the actual trash), so when the family went back upstairs, Gabi and Rachel jumped on it. Pizza out of the trashcan had never tasted so good! We went to bed pretty early to wake up in time for our flight to Amsterdam. More on that to come!