What happens in Ireland, doesn't stay in Ireland. It ends up on my blog...
11 of us went to Ireland this past weekend. Here's a day by day breakdown:
Saturday: Our flight was at 9:40 in the morning, so I had to wake up at 5:45 in order to get to the airport on time. The plus side of waking up so early: I could sleep on the plane.
After landing and heading to the hostel, we went out for lunch. Though the hostel itself was nice, the surrounding area was not. We asked a local where a good place to get some food is, and he told us to cross the river, s we were probably going to get mugged here (nobody did, but that didn't mean the Jewish mother in me was worried al weekend about it).
So we ate, and then Francisco and I explored the city. We found a cute little market in a part of the city called Temple Bar (I know, how fitting!), and then met up with the others at the Guinness Brewery. The price of admission gets you one free pint, so of course we were going to take advantage of that! I'm not a fan of darker beers, stouts, etc... I enjoyed the pint (but let's be honest, I probably enjoyed it because it was free!). The 7th floor, the top floor of the building, was the Gravity Bar, and it over looked the entire city. What a view!
The view from the Gravity Bar
After leaving the brewery and getting dinner, we headed out for a night on the town! Not sure where to go, but knowing we wanted to hit up the Temple Bar area, we stumbled upon The Porterhouse Bar. Kelly said that her friend recommended this place, so we headed inside. The place was packed and by some miracle we were able to find seats at the bar. This place had over 300 ales, lagers, beers, stouts, everything from all over the world. Except the ginger beer that I wanted. No matter, because the beers that they have on tap they make (no Guinness or bands like that).
At the hostel that night, there was a person who was snoring like a truck driver. Needless to say I was not happy, but I survived.
Kelly and I at the Porterhouse Bar
Sunday: We woke up at the crack of dawn to take a day trip to Glendalough, Wicklow, and Kilkenny. I couldn't have asked for a better day trip. The only thing that would have been better was if I didn't fall alseep everytime we were on the bus, since there was a tour guide detailing the history of the country. Glendalough, meaning Valley between Two Lakes, was one of the locations where P.S. I Love You was shot. It included two lakes (duh) and a bunch of walking trails. I've never loved nature more. The view, the smell, and the quiet was something only a city girl could appreciate. Then we went to Wicklow. I'm not too sure what this was, or even if it was Wicklow that we went to, but it was just a bunch of rocks. We weren't sure what it marked, but I think it was for a burial ground. After that we headed to Kilkenny, which is a city. However, it is more of a large town, and is only considered a city because it has a city charter from years and years ago. A lot of the stores were closed, I guess because it was Sunday, but we still enjoyed walking around and getting candy from the candy shop!
The lake and mountains of Glendalough
On the trials at Glendalough
When we got back from the day trip we headed out for dinner and drinks. We had to settle for a Johnny Rocket's type restaurant, since by the time we decided to eat, the pubs had closed their kitchens. I was less than impressed with the food and the service.
After dinner, while the others went to a pub, Kelly, Francisco, and I went to The George, a gay bar. Best night. There was a drag show, and the talent that the three drag queens had was amazing. The one had better legs than me! They performed songs from The Little Mermaid, Cabaret, Kelly Clarkson, and Whitney Housten, to name a few. Easily the highlight of the trip. Because the bar closed at 11:30pm, we headed over to The Temple Bar (an actual bar in the Temple Bar area) to meet up with the others. It was a chill place with live music. I asked the bartender what were some good things on tap. He pointed to Guinness, but not in the mood for it and excited to see Smithwick's (pronounced Smittick's), I decided to listen to my Dad's advice and try that. It was pretty good; nothing special, but worth a half pint.
At The Temple Bar
Francisco and I, who roomed together at the hostel, didn't have any roommate's this night! No snoring!
Monday: Kelly, Fransico, Liam, Nicole and I decided to take a free walking tour today while the others ventured out into the city. Our tour was with Sandeman's, a company that is all over Europe, and our tour guide was Robby, who was fan-frickin-tastic! He was the #1 tour guide with his company a few months ago. What was supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour tour turned into a 4 1/2 hour tour, but it didn't feel that long. During the tour, Robby told us that hundreds of years ago Christchurch Cathedral used to have a bar and a brothel in the building. An employee of the church just happened to be walking by, and stopped Robby to say that he needs to be respectful because this is still a working church and people use it for worship. He was just spiting out facts and was not responsible for the actions of the church 400 years ago! We all got a chuckle out of this.
We also learned that in 1916 (maybe it was 1919? not too sure) Ireland planned a rebellion, and they asked Germany to send them weaponry. The Germans showed up on time, but the Irish showed up a day late! They were late to their own rebellion! So, they staged the attack the next day; 19 people showed up- 10 men and 9 women. They're equal opportunity rebels. They lost, but, at least they tried!
Another interesting fact was when they decided to commemorate the Easter Rising (the rebellion that they showed up late for), the IRA, a terrorist organization, successfully blew up Nelson's Pillar. The government then asked the army to blow up the remaining part of the statue. The army's explosion caused all the windows the area to shatter. A terrorist organization was able to blow up exactly what they wanted to, but the army couldn't control the explosion! That is crazy!
The tour was wonderful, and I'm glad I did it.
After that we walked around a bit, ate lunch, then headed for the airport.
The weekend went by too fast, but I enjoyed every minute of it!
-B
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