Hello!
So although you may believe it was all a lie about me going to Dublin, Ireland...you're wrong!! I did go...I also procrastinate, so don't judge me :)
So where did I leave off? My friends and I flew out of London Stansted and arrived in Dublin just as planned; the bus driver was the picture of Irish niceness--when he dropped us off he told us how to find our hostel and we had no trouble! (Take note: yes, it is true, the Irish are SO much better at giving directions than the English :) Our hostel in London was nice, but the one in Dublin made us feel spoiled! The shower was in the room and the water was consistently hot (yay)! Once we arrived and got a little settled in we asked for the best close pub for a meal and made our way to O'Shea's where we had an amazing first meal in Ireland (I think I even took a picture of it). On the following day, we wandered to O'Conner street and admired the huge "spike" (our tour guide liked to call it 'the stiffy on the liffey' which replaced Nelson's Column after the IRA blew it up several years back (oh the Irish). We took in all the shops and crossed over the River Liffey that divides the town into a north and south side. We continued south and found Trinity College and also went to the Dublin Library and a museum. And no, Mindi, I never stopped thinking about the Fever books...
On the second day we slept in a bit before breakfast before meeting up for a free tour of the city. The tour was probably one of the highlights of the Dublin trip for me. We had an awesome tour guide, named Cillian, who was born and raised in Dublin. He took our group all over the city and told us all the interesting history (and believe me, there was a lot)! He took us to all the important landmarks including Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Temple Bar District (and pointed out the hotel there that Bono from U2 owns), as well as other important buildings and random facts. After the tour, we went to another cool museum and found some great souvenirs.
On our last day in Ireland, we decided we were going to venture outside of Dublin...We went on an awesome tour with a guide who had VERY red hair and lots of great stories and songs. We drove up to Trim Castle and actually got to go up inside it all the way to the battlements. Trim Castle was used in the filming of Braveheart for about 6 months yay! It was absolutely beautiful. We then went to the Hill of Tara, which was an important site for the Irish pagan religion. There was also a prison there where they would put important clan leaders in order to control the clans. We finally stopped to eat at an old thatched roof pub where we ate some more good Irish cooking before heading on to the Howth Peninsula! Our driver told us about the commercial fishing village of Howth and we got to see the beautiful Irish Sea! It was at this point in the trip when I learned the amazing 'rattlin bog' song and if you ever want me to sing it for you...just ask ;)
Welllll, that concludes my Ireland highlights, and if I ever see you in person and you want more details, let me know!
