Weekend Four (July 22-July 24): Ireland
We left early Friday morning, or late Thursday night for the airport. The bus left at 1:45AM. After going out to the Perch and Eagle and Child I napped for an hour and then got up to go to the bus station. The bus ride was three hours long (I got about two hours of sleep) and we got to the airport at 5AM. By 9AM I was in Dublin. We took the shuttle to Brown’s hostel and left our stuff there and left to go explore Dublin. By this point I had gotten about 3.5 hours of not very solid sleep.
We stopped at a sandwich shop to get breakfast. From there we headed over to the Guinness museum. It was a good 20 minute walk over there. The tour itself was kind of interesting. They had made the museum a lot more dramatic than it needed to be. The museum was very large and ended at the top in the Gravity bar where they served a Guinness to everyone as a part of the tour. Then we went down to the gift shop and fooled around for a little bit.
After we left the Guinness museum we went in search to Riverdance tickets for that night. We ended up going to the wrong ticket office, but we soon found a place to get tickets. Then we went to the bus station to figure out a place we could take a bus out to so that we could see the Irish country side. We decided that we were going to take the 8AM bus on Saturday out to Galway, all the way on the western coast. Then we went back to the hostel to check in. By this time it was pretty late in the day. We decided to split up and meet back up for dinner. Alissa, Laura, Daniel, and I decided to go shopping along Henry Street.
We met up with the rest of them at 6 o’clock by the Liffey Bridge. From there we headed over to the Temple Bar area and ate dinner in an Indian restaurant. I ordered sag paneer and I was waiting in excitement for it to come. For some reason the paneer they used was not real paneer. Instead it was like mozzarella cheese. It was very strange. The waiter said that is what they use over there for paneer. I’m kind of skeptical about that.
After dinner we went to see Riverdance. It was amazing! I loved everything about it! They used amazing formations and they were all very into it… especially the two main dancers. They even did some stunts! It was so amazing that I want to learn how to do the Irish step! I’m totally taking one of the stunts and using it for Junoon this fall! The entire show was great-even the singers they had in between the dancers. After the show was over we headed back to the hostel to call it an early night.
The next morning we got up bright and early and took the 8AM bus out to Galway, a city on the western coast of Ireland. The bus ride was three hours long. There was beautiful scenery along the way. Once we got there we found out that the Cliffs of Moher, that we had gone to see, are not actually in Galway. So we decided to rent bikes for the day and bike along the western coast. About 10 minutes into our bike ride it started to pour and about 5 minutes later I was drenched! Since we had already rented the bikes and everyone wanted to see the Irish coast we continued biking regardless. The scenery was gorgeous!
About perhaps 30 minutes into the bike ride I took a massive spill and my hand got some pretty nasty cuts on it. Some Scottish men stopped to help me and an Irish man who was tending his front lawn across the street came over to see if I was ok. The Irish man’s wife helped me clean myself off and gave me bandages for my hand. When I was in her house I almost blacked out from the shock I had just had. The Scottish men offered to drive me and Daniel back into town.
We went back to the bike rental place and told them about the messed up chain on the bike. Then we went to a café and drank hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up (we were both drenched still). The two Scottish men happened to come into the same café as us (it’s weird how stuff like that tends to happen). Then we went to the mall in an attempt to find some cheap warm clothes that could keep us warm on the three hour bus ride back to Dublin. I got a pair of linen pants and some really cute sandals!
Then we headed over to the bus station and caught the 5:30 bus back into Dublin. Once we got back to Dublin we went to the hostel and got ready to go out to dinner. We ate at Burger King as an alternative to pub food. Then we went back to the hostel to meet up with people to go out. I decided that I was exhausted and I got ready for bed. Everyone was pre-gaming in our hostel room. I had fun messing with drunk people.
The next morning we got to sleep in because since it was Sunday and Ireland is very catholic nothing was open until noon. We got up late and ate breakfast in the hostel. Then I went to Trinity College where the Book of Kells is located. The Book of Kells is a beautiful manuscript that was written in 800AD by Scottish monks. The library in Trinity College was really pretty too. Then we went to Christ Church which was built by the Vikings and was later converted to a Roman Catholic church and then a Anglican Church and it moved back and forth for many years. There was a really nice crypt underneath the church and old Viking ruins next to the church.
After we were done seeing all the sights we grabbed lunch at a pub and everyone got Irish coffee. I thought it was absolutely gross. I got to try Heinz ‘brown sauce’ which tasted a lot like chutney. Then we headed back to the hostel to pick up our stuff and leave for the airport. The journey back was relatively uneventful. For once nothing went wrong with my journey!
We stopped at a sandwich shop to get breakfast. From there we headed over to the Guinness museum. It was a good 20 minute walk over there. The tour itself was kind of interesting. They had made the museum a lot more dramatic than it needed to be. The museum was very large and ended at the top in the Gravity bar where they served a Guinness to everyone as a part of the tour. Then we went down to the gift shop and fooled around for a little bit.
After we left the Guinness museum we went in search to Riverdance tickets for that night. We ended up going to the wrong ticket office, but we soon found a place to get tickets. Then we went to the bus station to figure out a place we could take a bus out to so that we could see the Irish country side. We decided that we were going to take the 8AM bus on Saturday out to Galway, all the way on the western coast. Then we went back to the hostel to check in. By this time it was pretty late in the day. We decided to split up and meet back up for dinner. Alissa, Laura, Daniel, and I decided to go shopping along Henry Street.
We met up with the rest of them at 6 o’clock by the Liffey Bridge. From there we headed over to the Temple Bar area and ate dinner in an Indian restaurant. I ordered sag paneer and I was waiting in excitement for it to come. For some reason the paneer they used was not real paneer. Instead it was like mozzarella cheese. It was very strange. The waiter said that is what they use over there for paneer. I’m kind of skeptical about that.
After dinner we went to see Riverdance. It was amazing! I loved everything about it! They used amazing formations and they were all very into it… especially the two main dancers. They even did some stunts! It was so amazing that I want to learn how to do the Irish step! I’m totally taking one of the stunts and using it for Junoon this fall! The entire show was great-even the singers they had in between the dancers. After the show was over we headed back to the hostel to call it an early night.
The next morning we got up bright and early and took the 8AM bus out to Galway, a city on the western coast of Ireland. The bus ride was three hours long. There was beautiful scenery along the way. Once we got there we found out that the Cliffs of Moher, that we had gone to see, are not actually in Galway. So we decided to rent bikes for the day and bike along the western coast. About 10 minutes into our bike ride it started to pour and about 5 minutes later I was drenched! Since we had already rented the bikes and everyone wanted to see the Irish coast we continued biking regardless. The scenery was gorgeous!
About perhaps 30 minutes into the bike ride I took a massive spill and my hand got some pretty nasty cuts on it. Some Scottish men stopped to help me and an Irish man who was tending his front lawn across the street came over to see if I was ok. The Irish man’s wife helped me clean myself off and gave me bandages for my hand. When I was in her house I almost blacked out from the shock I had just had. The Scottish men offered to drive me and Daniel back into town.
We went back to the bike rental place and told them about the messed up chain on the bike. Then we went to a café and drank hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up (we were both drenched still). The two Scottish men happened to come into the same café as us (it’s weird how stuff like that tends to happen). Then we went to the mall in an attempt to find some cheap warm clothes that could keep us warm on the three hour bus ride back to Dublin. I got a pair of linen pants and some really cute sandals!
Then we headed over to the bus station and caught the 5:30 bus back into Dublin. Once we got back to Dublin we went to the hostel and got ready to go out to dinner. We ate at Burger King as an alternative to pub food. Then we went back to the hostel to meet up with people to go out. I decided that I was exhausted and I got ready for bed. Everyone was pre-gaming in our hostel room. I had fun messing with drunk people.
The next morning we got to sleep in because since it was Sunday and Ireland is very catholic nothing was open until noon. We got up late and ate breakfast in the hostel. Then I went to Trinity College where the Book of Kells is located. The Book of Kells is a beautiful manuscript that was written in 800AD by Scottish monks. The library in Trinity College was really pretty too. Then we went to Christ Church which was built by the Vikings and was later converted to a Roman Catholic church and then a Anglican Church and it moved back and forth for many years. There was a really nice crypt underneath the church and old Viking ruins next to the church.
After we were done seeing all the sights we grabbed lunch at a pub and everyone got Irish coffee. I thought it was absolutely gross. I got to try Heinz ‘brown sauce’ which tasted a lot like chutney. Then we headed back to the hostel to pick up our stuff and leave for the airport. The journey back was relatively uneventful. For once nothing went wrong with my journey!