Driving on the left side of the road, and I love the Irish. That could basically sum up my weekend but I will give you a little more detail just to be nice.
We got to Dublin late Thursday night and hopped in a cab to our hostel. The hostel was so nice (at least compared to the others we had stayed in.... me and Ivanhoe which I raved about in my last post no longer have a good relationship). It was really late but the guy at the desk was super nice helping us check in. And we found out there was laundry service where they wash and dry! So I washed my jeans and was very excited about it. Anyone in Europe understands the rarity of dryers and the need to dry jeans sometimes. So anyway, we headed out to grab a drink (i mean we were in Ireland for the first time we had to!) and found a cool pub and I got my first Irish Guiness and Justin ordered a Coors Light and I am still very disappointed in him for that. When we got back to the hostel we met some of the people in our room and hung out for a bit, then went to bed so we could have some energy for the next day.
Friday we got up and explored Dublin city a bit while we waited for Alison to get to Dublin because she flew a day later. So Justin, Adrianne, and I saw Christ's Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Trinity College, and a few other monuments and cathedrals. When Alison got to town we grabbed lunch at a place called Bull & Castle then headed to the Guiness Factory. The factory was really cool, it showed you how they made the beer and about the history in a theatrical way and the building (on the inside) was shaped like a pint glass. We got to pour our own Guiness the drink it, and hang out in the famous Gravity Bar on top of the factory which has amazing views of the city. After Guiness we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night.
We started Friday night at a Irish dance show at one of the hotels (while enjoying another Guiness), the went to the Temple Bar area where most tourists go and went pub hopping. We stopped for dinner at an American diner, which would be taboo but Ireland doesn't have the best quick food that is traditional Irish. Plus we miss that kind of food. We ended back up at the place we had lunch which was like a German beer hall almost and had the liter drinks. We met some fun Irish people there and had the flipping coasters game going. I flipped 17 on my first try. Not to brag though. After that place closed we went back to the place we were the first night and met a lot more interesting people and some Welsh ones too (there was a big rugby game the next day). Overall a successful night and made for some good stories.
Saturday morning we went on a tour of the countryside with an amazing guide Eamonn. There is not a whole lot of story to tell from the tour but the countryside was amazing and the green was just starting to peak through from the winter and we saw where the opening scenes of Braveheart were filmed and where some scene from P.S. I love you was filmed. There was a lake they called Guiness Lake because the Guiness family owns it and imported sand so the beach of the lake looks like the head of a Guiness beer. We stopped in a little town for lunch and most of us got this beef stew and mashed potatoes which was absolutely delicious, and I got an Irish Coffee to complete the meal. After lunch we walked around an old ruin of a monastery and I found a headstone that has McDonald on it (the other side of my fam). Later on the drive our guide Eamonn sang an old Irish folk song which was soo amazing and adorable.
After getting back we had decided to go on a pub crawl and headed out for that. I still don't know why we decided to do one in Dublin of all places but we did and it was a complete let down, but we did meet some cool people and had an overall fun night.
Sunday we had to fly back in the late afternoon so we made sure to take advantage of our time and we went to the Jameson Distillery right when it opened. Its amazing how much pride there is in Irish whisky. The tour was really cool and in the end there was a taste test that Justin and I got picked for so I got to basically start my day with 4 shots of whisky. After the distillery we grabbed some breakfast (I got a bagel and cream cheese! I swear they don't have bagels anywhere in spain), and headed to a St. Patrick's Day festival where there were rides and dancing and it was just a fun place to hang out. After doing a little souvenir shopping we had to head to the airport and back to Spain.
But in the week since then (it being St. Patrick's Day and all) we have held up the Irish sprit and spent the holiday in the Irish Pubs of Barcelona!
Side note: why I hate Ivahnoe (Rome hostel) so much is because apparently they have bed bugs and I have about 100 bites on my hands, arms, legs, and neck, and it is completely disgusting. I guess it was bound to happen soon with all the traveling I was doing, and its all part of the experience I suppose...
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