Erin Go Braugh!

So I loved Ireland! It definitely was only a taste of the country- and there's a lot more that I would like to do and enjoy.

We traveled about all day on Thursday. It took about 3 hours to get to our airport right outside of London, and only 1 hour to get to Ireland. But, ya know, it happens. We flew the very famous RyanAir, and had the bumpiest landing ever! It was pretty late when we got to the hotel, but it was so great to finally get there. One of the girls had found a 4.8 star hotel where we could split the cost of 2 rooms between 4 girls for 3 nights (following so far?) at only 42 pounds- which is less than a hostel per person would cost! We figured out pretty fast why it could possibly be a good price... it was in one would call the 'dodgy' part of Dublin. Well, quite honestly, almost all of Dublin is dodgy, but this part was even more so. But the rooms were amazing, we had a FULL shower, and soft beds; so it was even a nice vacay from our rooms here in Dublin! I first knew I had arrived in Ireland when on our bus ride to the hotel we almost saw a drunken fight before 4 young lads. As one Irishman we talked to said "almost all of the stereotypes you've heard about the Irish are going to be true."

That Friday we were there we began our tour of the country. We went on a tour all the way up to the famous Wicklow mountainside of Ireland, where many movies have been filmed and such. Our tour guide was hilarious too, which made the trip even better. The hillside really was gorgeous, so green and luscious. We stopped by an amazing cliff, which was kinda scary since it was a bit windy, but we all got to take photos next to it. It reminded me a little bit of Pichincha in Ecuador, except for it was greener, windier, and colder! When we got back on to our bus, our guide had something to help get us warm- a drop of Irish Whiskey. Thinking, this could be my only tim in Ireland, I joined a few of the other girls in trying it out. I did choke it down (definitely not a coke!), and sure enough, we all did notice a certain warmth afterwards! We also stopped as a tour and hung out for a bit with some 9th century Irish monasteries for a bit, which was really cool to see. They sure did look old too. The tour was more than 8 hours, so that was really the only thing we did for that day.

Saturday we accidentally got a later start than planned... We went first to the Dublin Writer's Center where I have a certain urge to all of a sudden read a couple of books. I actually feel kinda dumb for not realizing some authors were famous Irish writers, Bram Stoker? Really? Hmm... We then wandered over to the James Joyce Center, but didn't go in. Quite honestly I find Joyce a bit pompous and pretentious and I think that his work is all for show and not for real art... So, needless to say, I didn't pay the 5 euros to get in. But, one of the girls went off on her own on a guided tour around Dublin to see the famous places in the Dubliners by the Joyce, and she had an amazing time! We then stopped by Temple College to see the beautiful architecture and layout!

After a quick lunch, a couple of us went to the Guinness Storehouse. It's the biggest attraction in Dublin, and as you can easily pick up just walking around town, one of the things they are the most proud about. So I decided why not- when's the next time I know I'm going to be in Dublin! I honestly have to admit that I don't know too much about brewing beer, but they went all in to the process of how they make it and how Guinness differentiates themselves from every other beer. Fun fact for you- the founder of Guinness was so confident in his creation that he actually signed a 9,000 year lease for the brewery! Guess it's worked out pretty well for his family... It turns out that at the end of the Guinness tour everybody (over the age of 18 at least) receives a free pint of Guinness! No, unfortunately, you don't get to keep the glasses... Well, we all decided that we at least wanted a photo of us holding a pint of Guinness so we went to the top of the Storehouse and received our pint. The view of Dublin from the top of the bar was worth the entire amount of money we paid for the tour. It was absolutely gorgeous up there! You could see all of the bustling city down below, and it was just really green. Oh yeah, back to Guinness. So, I've never tried Guinness before, but I decided to go ahead and man up and take a sip! First sip was a failure. I only got the foam. But, I was given a lessen on how to drink Guinness (tip it so that your lips go beneath the foam) and I tried it out! Be proud dad. I hardly put any damage in the pint before we went to go to dinner.

At this point in our trip we're all craving American food. I'm dying for some chips and queso (hint mom...) along with a lemonade. So we decided to go eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Never before have I been happier to see potato skins! Others got cheeseburgers, nachos, hot wings, and Caesar salads. It may have cost a pretty penny, but it was definitely worth it! Plus, we got free refills on our drinks, which was amazing! We were in the heart of Dublin, so we stopped by Temple Bar to take a couple of photos. Apparently it's a really famous bar in Dublin, although I've never heard of it so I can't tell you why. We then mozied down to a bar not too far away that our waiter at the Hard Rock recommended for live music. So we stopped by and there was a band playing some more traditional Irish music, which was really fun to watch! They then had a little break in music and then the next band came on and played 'Brown Eyed Girl' by Van Morrison- not very Irish so we decided to call it a night.

We woke up Sunday not wanting to say good-bye to Dublin. It was pretty interesting, there was a rugby game in the stadium across from our hotel, so there was lots of action going on in the morning. Almost everybody was dressed in Red and White (for Cork) or Green and Yellow (for Kerry?). It would've been amazing to have seen the game, but I'm pretty sure it was already sold out and we were leaving for hooooome.

Well, I'm back here in my cozy little Oxfordian room. A lot has happened in these past 2 days, so I'll try to update tomorrow night, depending on how tired I am when I get back in to Oxford.

This weekend- SCOTLAND!