We took a 4 day tour of Southwest Ireland so to make this easier for me, I'm going to split it up by day and the whole thing will probably be 2 or 3 posts. Leggo.
TUESDAY
We got into Dublin around 10:30, only to find out that the shuttle didn't run again until 12. So we had a bit of time to kill in the airport. And right there, I basically fell in love with Ireland. Because, when looking for food, I found things like meat pies, sausage rolls and sweet chili sauce. It is so similar to Australia and I immediately felt at home and at ease. And really, their accents are super cute. So for lunch in the airport, I had a chicken sandwich with wedges (ahhhhh wedgesssssssss) and sweet chili sauce. Delicious.
We then got on the green bus that said Paddywagon Tours and prepared to go into Dublin itself. Also, it was snowing. It's funny, the only snow we encountered was in Dublin but it snowed intermittently throughout the day, sometimes turning into a blizzard.
Super cute bus driver
We got into our hostel, checked in no problem. Then, me and Jessica decided to go on a walking tour of Dublin (Liz stayed in the room and Alex hadn't arrived yet). And while it kept kind of snowing on us, the walking tour was really cool and I learned a lot about Dublin and saw a lot of it in a very short time. Which was good since we weren't sure how much time we would have in Dublin on Saturday and at that point, I wasn't sure I was going to be coming back.
Over the walking tour, I just kept falling more and more in love. It's kind of hard to explain, but the history and pride they have in their country reflects in their whole life and it just makes for the best atmosphere. And it was cool to learn about the Vikings.
After the walking tour, me and Jessica decided to walk back to the hostel down the main shopping street, which was really cool until it basically started blizzarding and we had to resort to darting into each store as we walked to get out of the snow. We did stop in a souvenir store where I got a 2CD set of Irish music, including almost all of my favorite drinking songs. Ehehehe. I think the roommates are tired of hearing me sing it but sucks for them.
Over the walking tour, I just kept falling more and more in love. It's kind of hard to explain, but the history and pride they have in their country reflects in their whole life and it just makes for the best atmosphere. And it was cool to learn about the Vikings.
Okay this is actually hilarious. So, for a long time, houses in Dublin didn't have numbers (don't ask me why). And apparently people would go out and get really drunk and accidentally walk into their neighbors houses. This became such a problem and the government issued a rule that you had to paint your door a different color than both of your neighbors' doors. So that's why Dublin is full of crazy colored doors.
Christ Church
Plan of a viking house they found while excavating
Silly photo with a statue of...someone important
Dining hall in Trinity College that was used to film Harry Potter!!
After the walking tour, me and Jessica decided to walk back to the hostel down the main shopping street, which was really cool until it basically started blizzarding and we had to resort to darting into each store as we walked to get out of the snow. We did stop in a souvenir store where I got a 2CD set of Irish music, including almost all of my favorite drinking songs. Ehehehe. I think the roommates are tired of hearing me sing it but sucks for them.
Grafton Street - main shopping street
Mickey dressed as a leprechaun
State of...someone (maybe Daniel O'Connell) with angels with bullet holes in them from the war for independence
Statue and Dublin Spire in the background
After we got back to the hostel, we showered (which took forever because the water was freezing and the showers had glass doors so you had to keep turning around whenever you heard footsteps) and decided to go on the Dublin Pub Crawl. So we decided to quickly grab dinner (I will unashamedly admit that I had Subway...and it was delicious) and meet the group at the first bar where I had my first pint of Guinness. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn't had to basically chug it because we were so late. Regardless, I drank a lot of Guinness in Ireland and can now say I like it with certainty.
From then on, the pub crawl was basically like any other pub crawl. Two things of note: I got this one drink at a bar called "Baux Jangles" which was iced tea liquer, sour mix and cola. It was actually delicious and I want it again. Kind of like a better Arnold Palmer because it was sour. Other thing of note: we went into a real traditional Irish pub with a live band playing and I heard and got to clap along to my favorite Irish song. My Spring Break was made and I officially loved Ireland.
WEDNESDAY (DAY 1)
We woke up this morning bright and early to meet our tour group. I think we left about 8 in the morning. And we met our tour guide. His name was Shaun, he was Irish and he had a gap in his teeth. He was just kind of doofy. Our group had some interesting characters. We had several people from New Zealand and Australia (got to show off my knowledge of the two for a bit), some super nice girls that were studying in Florence, but the best was this couple from South Africa. They were both so funny and outgoing and the best part was the man could do all this different accents, including a pretty good American one. So we got to hear some funny accents along the way.
Days 1 and 2 basically consisted of seeing small towns, churches, abbeys, castles and staying in bigger towns for the night. Which was fine with me but it might seem a little repetitive to you. But now you're trapped. Ehehe.
Our first stop was a small town called Cong. It was beautiful and adorable, much like the rest of Ireland. Everything was green and it just had that awesome small town feel. And there was a super old church in ruins that was cool to walk around in. And we got lunch there and I got this incredible wrap - bacon, brie and cranberry spread. Phwoar.
From then on, the pub crawl was basically like any other pub crawl. Two things of note: I got this one drink at a bar called "Baux Jangles" which was iced tea liquer, sour mix and cola. It was actually delicious and I want it again. Kind of like a better Arnold Palmer because it was sour. Other thing of note: we went into a real traditional Irish pub with a live band playing and I heard and got to clap along to my favorite Irish song. My Spring Break was made and I officially loved Ireland.
WEDNESDAY (DAY 1)
We woke up this morning bright and early to meet our tour group. I think we left about 8 in the morning. And we met our tour guide. His name was Shaun, he was Irish and he had a gap in his teeth. He was just kind of doofy. Our group had some interesting characters. We had several people from New Zealand and Australia (got to show off my knowledge of the two for a bit), some super nice girls that were studying in Florence, but the best was this couple from South Africa. They were both so funny and outgoing and the best part was the man could do all this different accents, including a pretty good American one. So we got to hear some funny accents along the way.
Days 1 and 2 basically consisted of seeing small towns, churches, abbeys, castles and staying in bigger towns for the night. Which was fine with me but it might seem a little repetitive to you. But now you're trapped. Ehehe.
Our first stop was a small town called Cong. It was beautiful and adorable, much like the rest of Ireland. Everything was green and it just had that awesome small town feel. And there was a super old church in ruins that was cool to walk around in. And we got lunch there and I got this incredible wrap - bacon, brie and cranberry spread. Phwoar.
They weren't lying about the green
Ooh archway
The water is so clear, those yellow things are coins that are easily four feet down
This is basically every Irish town - small, cute and pastels!
Look at that church
But more importantly, look my my wrap
Our next stop was at a lookout point over Connemara Harbor (I think...I got a lot of the names confused and often I would sleep on the bus only waking up after we had stopped). Regardless, it was mountains, sea and green. Yay!
Ooh a lake
Me!
Okay I remember we also stopped briefly at Killary, Ireland's only fjord. Yay more water and more green!
A tree that people tie stuff on...yeah.
Ooh landscape
Look at that photography
Our tour guide seriously went on for about 20 minutes about the peat that grows in the bogs of Ireland. He even stopped the bus to steal a piece of it. So here's some peat.
Okay, our next stop was pretty cool. It was as this place called Kylemore Abbey which had a legit castle that looked like the Biltmore House. We couldn't go in (money and time) but we could take pictures outside. Oh yeah.
Castle and water
Have to have proof
After that, we went into Galway which we where we were staying for the night. Got settled into our hostel (nothing special but fine) and we decided to walk around Galway as the sun was setting before we met up with our group for dinner. Galway was beautiful and we didn't have enough time to explore before it got dark and such but it was still beautiful.
Marvel at my photography skills
People actually live here
Really though...cut it out Galway
We think this is "the" photo for Galway but we're not sure
Look at all the lights!
We then met up with our group for dinner where we went to a restaurant. I got chicken curry which was actually pretty darn good. I had forgotten that the British and Irish have an influx of Indian cuisine - but I'm happy I remembered it. After dinner, we went to a pub where we got a pint of Guinness and listened to some live music for quite awhile. After which, we just crashed in our hostel and prepared ourselves for the next day.
Yum yum
All over Ireland they had liquor on tap...these people know how to party right
Live Irish music...sob sob
Finished with part 1. Geez. This could take awhile.
Ciao!!
Easy to see why you fell in love with Ireland! That wrap sounds really wonderful, maybe we can try to recreate it here.
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