A weekend in Ireland

BEST. CITY. EVER.

Even though I had less than 72 hours in Dublin, I feel in love! The people were welcoming and friendly; the weather was perfect (for a New Englander!), and the countryside was everything I imagined it would be; green, lush, and peaceful.

Ireland from up above.

Emma and I flew into the Dublin airport around noon on Friday afternoon, after taking a two and a half hour bus ride from Salamanca to Madrid and then taking a roughly three hour flight from Madrid to Dublin. As we flew in and saw the Irish countryside down below, it brought a smile to my face seeing the green fields and open countryside. It reminded me so much of flying home to Vermont...except that our stewardess told us to fasten our seat belts and put our chairs in the upright and locked positions in an Irish accent!

After taking a bus for 2 euro into the center of Dublin, we stepped off the bus and couldn't believe how COOL it was! There were young people everywhere, the streets were clean and busy, and everybody was speaking in English, which I didn't realize how much I had missed! It was a weird change; whenever we went into restaurants or stores, I prepared what I wanted to say in Spanish, and kept having to remind myself that I didn't need to anymore. We wandered around for a few minutes, thrilled at the prospect of taking on this new challenge and ready to experience Dublin.  We spoke to a friendly policeman who directed us in the direction of our hostel, Abby Court (note: if you ever visit Dublin on a budget, stay here!).  Located right on the River Liffey, it is right in the middle of the city.

Cameras in hand, we did a loop of the downtown.  On Dublin's equivalent of Wall Street, we encountered some peaceful protesters, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Set up outside of a large banking institution, they had an array of signs and posters on display.  But what really caught the public's attention were all the tents; these people had been living here for what looked like weeks.  This was the first time I had seen protesters, and it was fascinating reading their posters and understanding their frustration and anger directed at the EU, big businesses, and corruption.   I was glad I didn't have to sleep outside in the cold in a tent, but I hope these people find what they're seeking.



Tired, we headed back and took naps in our bunk beds in the 24-person room we stayed in (like I said: I'm on a budget), woke up around 5 pm, found our friend Amos, and wandered the streets some more.  For dinner, we found a traditional Irish pub in Temple Bar, an area full of restaurants and pubs nestled close together along old and narrow cobblestone streets.  For dinner, of course I ordered a Guinness with a beef stew. The food here is much heavier and heartier than in Spain; more like traditional New England food.  And my Guinness? Delicious.

Afterwards, the three of us wandered around until we found a pub with live music.  Packed full of people (happy people!) it was only around 9:30, but it was packed.  We were so relieved; if we had been in Spain, the bars would still be empty as everybody would still be at home eating dinner. The nightlife here doesn't get going until 11 pm or later, so in that regard, Dublin felt a little bit more like home. The bartender asked us where we were from and made smalltalk we heard "Build Me Up Buttercup" being played by a man on his guitar and a woman on a tambourine. Maybe it's because of the language barrier, but I found that people were much friendlier in Ireland than in Spain; simply put, Ireland is less foreign than Spain is to an American.

It's all relative though, because at dinner, Emma, Amos and I struggled to understand the conversation at the table next to us between 5 or 6 Irish natives; their thick accent and slang was sometimes impossible to decipher!

I was in bed by 10:30 since, wanting to rest up for Saturday's adventure: a tour of the Irish countryside with Dublin Tour Company. I won't go into detail about every little thing we saw, but here's some pictures; a pictures are worth 1,000 words, right?

Basically, we drove from Dublin west towards Galway (in the fog!):

From Galway we slowly made our way to the Cliffs of Moher, stopping along the way at an old castle:

The Irish countryside:

And saw a prehistoric ruin in the stony, Irish hills:

Did you know that they still make signs in Gallic?

Then we finally made it to THE CLIFFS OF MOHER!

The day was perfect; sunny and cool with a crisp breeze. The cliffs were grand and magnificent, towering above the water and plunging into the deep blue ocean, with perfect little white waves crashing against the base, in some places splashing mist all the way up to the top. Lush, velvety green grass covered any surface it could, inviting you to go lie down and roll around and curl up and just listen to the sound of the waves and gaze out into the distance at the grey mountains in the distance. Small dirt paths wove their way around the edge of the cliffs, without any fence for protection of falling to your death.  I felt so free.

Shall I reiterate how DU study abroad students are taking over Europe? Well, as I was walking around, I ran into a fellow DU-er, Nichole, who was on my floor freshman year and is studying abroad in Rome, Italy. It is such a small world!

Trinity Campus

Got back late to Dublin after a 4 hour bus ride; hit a couple pubs with our new German & American friends we met in the hostel, and made it back to bed by 2 am. Woke up early to tour around the city in hopes of hitting as many of the free museums that I possibly could before departing for the airport.  So with roughly 5 hours to see Dublin (it's a very walkable city) I set off after a typical hostel breakfast of toast and instant coffee.  I stumbled upon a big park, busy with young couples and babies, and old men with newspapers;  I walked through the Trinity Campus (I want to go there!) and 20 minutes later found the national anthropology museum; realized that on Sunday's the museums don't open until 2 pm. So instead, aimlessly wandering around Dublin, I found my way into a Catholic church called St. Ann's; the pastor was quite friendly and invited me stay for the 11:00 service. So with nothing else to do, I stayed, and quite enjoyed it! The music and singing were beautiful, and afterwards the people were very warm and welcoming.

Sadly, I said goodbye and, after checking out a couple other landmarks, met up with Emma at the hostel to catch a bus to the airport and head back to Spain.

SO SAD TO SAY GOODBYE! Someday, I shall return! Ireland, thanks for being awesome.