The five of us headed to Gatwick for our flight on Aer Lingus. We grabbed dinner at the airport, where I had forgotten how much I missed Mac and Cheese. Surprisingly good meal at the airport. We made the flight and couldn't help but laugh when the airplane had shamrocks on the outside. When the short flight was over, we were welcomed to lovely rain. Our hostel was just as we expected; plain but suitable. We had a 6 female room, meaning there might be one random in the room. We soon met our lovely roommate, a young girl from Germany travelling all summer. Because of the rain, we didn't even bother to get ready before we headed out to the Temple Bar area, which our hostel was conveniently in. We started at The Quay's Bar (Quay is pronounced like Key) which had some amazing live music. It was here I tried my first Guinness! We were all scared to try it for the first time and especially didn't want to our embarrass ourselves. Luckily, the bartender gave us a little sample before we paid for a pint. I really enjoyed it so we grabbed our pints and sat down to enjoy the music. Almost every bar in Dublin has live music every night so it makes for a very fun atmosphere. We relaxed and talked to all kinds of people there before going to meet my friend Brooke who is doing the same program as I am, but in Dublin. We met them at Fitzsimmon's which had a younger crowd because of the club downstairs. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not been wearing rainboots in the bar. Regardless, it was great to see Brooke and meet the other KU students on her program. We went down to the 'club' part for a little but we knew we had a big day ahead of us so we went home relatively early.
Hostel
The Quay's Bar
Kansan Reunion
Saturday morning we had scheduled a day trip to Cork. We barely made our train at 7am but our tour guide was nice about it. We took a two hour train through Ireland to Cork which was beautiful. Ireland really is very very green. Since it wasn't raining in Dublin, I opted not to wear my rainboots so I was in for an unfortunate surprise when it was pouring in Cork. We arrived at Blarney Castle and we were relieved to find shelter from the rain. We walked through the castle built in the 1400s and began our climb to the top on the steepest spiral staircase I've ever been on. It's so steep that there is a rope to hold onto on the way up. All this just to kiss the most unhygienic tourist site, The Blarney Stone. The view from the top of the castle was beautiful and we enjoyed it as we waited to kiss the stone. In order to kiss it, you have to lay on your back and someone holds your legs, and drops you upside down. Sounds pretty bad, and it was scary but so fun at the same town. Kissing the Blarney Stone is said to give you 'The Gift of Gab.' We had lunch at a pub in Blarney that was amazing. I had traditional Irish Stew and a variety of potatoes as it is only fitting. We finished the meal with delicious Irish coffee (coffee + Bailey's).
Blarney Castle
Kissing the Stone
Yum
From here, our day trip took us to Cobh (aka Cove, or Queenstown). First we stopped at a historic cathedral, St. Coleman's on the coast. The steeple is so high it was once used by the Irish Navy because you can see it from so far away on the sea. The tour also drove by a mass grave for the Lusitania which was torpedoed by Germany, killing more than 1,000 Irish, and bringing the U.S. into the first World War. Our last stop was a museum about the city, which was the last port of call for the Titanic before it sunk. The museum had a lot of artifacts and exhibits about the famine in Ireland and about the vast emigration away from Ireland. It's hard to imagine that in just three years, the population of Ireland went from eight million to less than four million.
View of St. Coleman's
Titanic:
Molly had an especially fun time finding her 'clan' postcards, plaques, keychains etc. Someone even asked her later that day if she was Irish before she had ever met them!
The tour was so much fun and I'm glad we got to do it. We had planned on doing the Backpacker's Bar Crawl but we got back a bit too late. Luckily, our friends from London were on the crawl and so we were able to meet up with them at the second stop. The bar crawl guide was very nice and just told us to tag along. The crawl offers free shots at every bar, drink specials, and of course the fact that a guide is taking you around and knows everything about Dublin! We started off at Four Dame Lane, then to three bars I never got the name of, and ended at The Purty Kitchen. The bars were all very different, the first being trendy and cool, the second had a Bob Marley vibe, the third with a very traditional Irish live music and beer pong downstairs. The fourth bar was packed and with a rocker kind of vibe (posters for The Rolling Stones, The Doors etc.) and the final bar was a three story night club. Somehow it ended up that everyone I knew in Dublin (friends from London and friends from KU in Dublin) were on the bar crawl! It was such a fun night and I can't imagine a better night in Dublin.
On the bar crawl, London Kids
I spy someone with red hair...
Sunday morning we checked out of the hostel and enjoyed a mediocre free breakfast. Since we really hadn't seen much of Dublin in daylight, we figured doing the most touristy things possible would be a good way to spend the day. We got on a hop on hop off bus tour that picked up near our hostel and went to all the sights. It was actually sunny on Sunday which was a pleasant change from Saturday. Our first stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral. The most famous saint in Ireland, this cathedral is a huge tourist attraction but with good reason. It was very beautiful and historic. We got back on the bus and saw a bit more of the city before hopping off at the Guinness Storehouse. No trip to Dublin would be complete without a stop here. Inside is a 7 story museum that takes you through the brewing process, the history, advertising, and at the top there is a 360 degree Gravity Bar where you can get your complimentary pint of Guinness. We spent several hours at the storehouse checking everything out, and grabbing lunch and souvenirs. We hopped on our bus and got off again at Kilmainham Gaol, a world famous jail. The jail held many famous politicians in Ireland, and several prisoners who were revolutionaries against the British. Every single Irish rebel fighting for Irish freedom there was executed either by public hanging or firing squad. The jail has been out of use for many years, but it has appeared in many famous movies such as The Italian Job (the original), episodes of The Tudors, a U2 music video, and more. We really enjoyed it and afterwards we were exhausted.
Inside St. Patrick's
Guinness
Kilmainham Gaol
Our trip to Dublin was sadly over but I really think we did everything we wanted to do and had an amazing time! I would definitely go back to Ireland for a vacation if I could.
Bye Dublin!
Fun Facts about Dublin and Ireland:
-40% of Dublin is under 26
-Ireland gives more money to food and hunger charities than any other country because of the Potato Famine
-Everyone is nice...really nice
-Everyone goes out at night, from 18-60
-Jokes about gingers aside, so much red hair it's unbelievable.
This week the roomies and I are going to see Eclipse :), attempt to get into a very 'posh' nightclub that is Prince Harry's fave in our neighborhood, and Saturday is Canterbury day trip! It's our second to last weekend so I'm sure we'll pack in lots of fun activities.
cb
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