Yesterday after arriving at the hostel, I immediately got settled in. The first thing I did was get a shower, I know that I probably should have been sight seeing but I start to feel really disgusting after 24 hours. - That's my limit! My hostel is really nice. I'm in a 14 bed room but it's very spacious and each of us have our own little area, it's very clean, and the beds are comfortable and warm! This hostel is supposed to be one of the top 10 in the world and from what I've seen so far I can understand why. The bathrooms are always sparkling clean, they have free wi-fi, free breakfast, a very social atmosphere, and the people at the front desk are great at giving advice and will even book tours for you!! They also have a elevator! I'm really happy I decided to stay here! I'm only paying 40 Euro for 3 nights, which is a really good deal! :D
So after I got ready I decided to talk to the people at the front desk about tours and then do some sight seeing. I really wanted to go to the Cliffs of Moher but the guy at the front desk discouraged me from doing the tour and gave me ample reasons to back up his statement. Instead he recommend this other tour through Wicklow and Glendalough. The other tours were almost 70 Euro and the one he suggested was only 25...so I took his advice because he seemed like he knew what he was talking about. So, I booked it! I was so excited! Next, I thought I should do as much sight seeing as possible since I was going to be on a tour all day Saturday and I would only have Sunday for seeing everything else. I went to see the Christ Church which is very close to where I'm staying. It was beautiful. Old yet well maintained. I got some great pictures and then I proceed to this cafe recommended in my travel book for some Fish and Chips! I have been craving them ever since I saw a sign for them in Amsterdam! This cafe was supposed to be a good value and some of the freshest in Dublin. It was almost 9 Euro but it was huge! It probably weighed more than 3 pounds! I couldn't finish all my fries but I finished all my fish! I had to pick out some bones towards the end and I accidentally swallowed one but Mom said that I'm going to live! haha After fish and chips I went inside the city hall which was pretty. All the attractions close early around 5 or 6 so I didn't a chance to see anything else so I just started walking around and before I knew it I was in Temple Bar!! This area is full of pubs, restaurants, and cafes. Great night scene. I wondered all around this area and then I found myself at O'Connell street so I started walking in that direction. O'Connell is the main street here in Dublin. They have everything, it's sorta the center. They have monuments galore as well as plenty of tourist shops, and other great stores to shop at. I walked all the way up it and then I turned down Henry street where they great shopping is located! Shockingly I didn't buy anything other than 2 pencils for my collection! I saw so many things that I liked and I wanted to buy them but I'm starting to run out of money and I'm trying to save some for Madrid and other things I want to do in Barcelona. I wish I could have an advance on my Christmas presents so that I could do a little bit of shopping without having to worry so much about every penny that I spend!! So after going in 100 shops I headed back to O'Connell and got a great juice smoothie at this juice bar! It was so good and the guy in the shop was really nice. It's a little strange to hear people speaking English on the streets here. To be honest, it's shocking how nice the people are! The guy at the juice bar was so nice and when someone runs into you in the street here they stop to give you a sincere apology! It's crazy! They are just so nice, it's totally different from Spain! I made my way back to my hostel and I got some great pictures of the city at night. The Liffey river splits the city in two so it's lined with bridges and at night they have green lights underneath all of the bridges and they are so pretty! After I got back I messed around on the internet and made friends with some of the girls here at the hostel. The majority of everyone is from the US, 5 girls are studying in Paris, 2 in London, and a couple more. We were all talking about going home soon and how we are all sad to leave! A couple of the girls are very excited to go back though....I went to bed around 1.
This morning I woke up around 8:30 to get ready for my trip to the Irish countryside! Our tour was leaving at 9:45 so I wanted to have ample time to get a shower, get ready, and eat a good breakfast. Five other girls from the hostel were also going on the trip, including a friend that I made last night named Melissa. I convinced her to go on the tour! lol So our tour guide arrives and he is an older man, average height with white hair, and his name was Ed. He said, "I'm Ed, that's an E and a D!" lol He was really funny and as soon as we got on the little bus he got acquainted with each one of us and when I told him I was from West Virginia he was very excited! He said that when he was in the navy and when they were getting close to the East Coast that the first radio station that they could pick up was WVVA or something out of Wheeling, West Virginia!! We shared a laugh and I thought that was pretty cool! lol We were all from the US except for 1 Australian and 2 Danish girls. We meet 4 other girls that were from New York that were staying in a different hostel. So after we all met each other the tour began. It was pouring the rain so the visibility was pretty much zero! I was a little skeptical at first, he took us down the coast which was pretty even in the rain. He also showed us where the rich people live in Dublin, they live in huge castles on cliffs that drop off to the sea! It's like something out of a movie. So after we go through this ritzy neighborhood we head into Wicklow where the scenery completely changed within a matter of 5 minutes! The Irish countryside is just absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen anything like it! It's just unbelievable! So lush, green, and full of sheep! Our first stop was on top of a mountain and the bus ride there was a little scary! It was raining so hard and there was water all over the road! It was also very bumpy and I was joking around with the girls on the bus that we were on an Irish Safari!! lol We all thought that it was fitting! So we pull into this little gravel lot and the tour guide turns around and asks if anyone is going to get out. We all look at him like, "well of course we are." However, after going out of the bus I soon realized why he looked at us the way he did! He made us coffee and hot tea while us crazy students went out the the edge of this cliff! As soon as I got out of the van I was immediately pelted with rain. It was so windy!! It was also very muddy and slippery. Once I had made it out the edge I was literally almost blown off the mountain! I've felt (I think 50 or 70 mph) winds at a science museum before and these winds were much stronger. I couldn't even take a step without the wind moving me four steps! I was a little scared because we were all really close to the edge and the gusts were definitely strong enough to blow someone over the edge. On a couple occasions I felt like the wind was picking me up! I decided that I wasn't going to go any further and started to turn around but then I was pelted in the face with rain. When it hit my face and my ears it stung, it was very painful! It was not a good feeling and by the time I had made it back to the bus my face hurt pretty bad and I was soaking wet! I looked like I had just taken a shower! The fog on the mountain was so heavy that you couldn't even see the lake below you or the old Georgian main that the Guinness family owns! So, I was a little disappointed but I ended up getting a view of the lake while driving down the other side of the mountain. We had wonderful hot tea and coffee on the bus along with a biscuit! It was lovely! After we had left the mountain he took us to the sights where they filmed the movies, "P.S. I Love You," "Braveheart," and "The Reign or Ring of Fire." He said that many movies are filmed in Ireland because there is no tax for artists here. So, that's why "Braveheart" was filmed here even though the actual setting was Scotland, only 10% of the whole movie was filmed there. (I learned many interesting facts on this tour!) After seeing the movie sights we stopped at this amazing waterfall!! Again, breathtaking! It was huge and the rain had finally let up so it was much more pleasurable getting out of the bus this time! lol We took some pictures even though it was really windy and then we walked down the mountain where our guide picked us up and then we headed for lunch in this cute little Irish town! We ate at Anna's cafe and I had a vegetarian panini with red peppers, onions, and goat cheese. Mmmm...it was so good and then I followed it up with a Cadbury bar! Perfecto! It was nice to order my food in English for once also! :) They also had a little hotel there as well as a gift shop so I looked around a little bit before we had to be back on the bus. After lunch we headed to Glendalough where St. Kevin's 6th century monastery is located. Very impressive. Irish ruins are not at all like Roman ruins. They are so much prettier, covered with moss, stoney, and everything has a celtic cross! Don't get me wrong, I love me some Roman ruins BUT, it was interesting to see some other ruins! I got some great photos here and learn some interesting facts about the crucifixion of Christ as well as some Irish history. After seeing the monastic ruins our tour guide left us to walk through the woods, past two lakes, and told us that he would pick us up in the parking lot at the other end. Glendalough means "Glen of two lakes" and that it was. The forest was gorgeous and I took so many pictures! Ireland has so many waterfalls and I'm glad that I came during the fall because the forest was very colorful and it made for a nice walk! We got a little lost in the forest, no one was really listening when our tour guide was giving us directions on where to go. We thought we had taken the wrong path so we walked back to this little fork in the road and went the other way. This path was basically like a bridge because it was crossing a river that was flowing out of the lake, well we all started walking across the bridge and then in the middle of this river, halfway across the bridge, the other side of the bridge was flooded and water was halfway up the side of the bridge! There was really no way for us to get across so we had to turn around and go back. We asked a guy for directions and he told us that we could also go the other way. Still, we were a little shocked to see a bridge like that, I mean, I've seen stuff like that on T.V. when there are floods but to see something like that in person kinda makes you panic at first. It's a little scary because water can be a very powerful force at times and the bridge could have broken! We made it to the parking lot just fine on the other path and it turns out that that was the right way to go anyways! We got back on the bus and made one other stop to look at the Dublin reservoir and the hydrowater plant. It was interesting to learn about both. I was looking at the window pretty much the whole trip back, it was so beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes off of the scenery! I started feeling sleepy when it started getting dark outside and I took a nice little nap until we had made it back to the hostel. After we got back Melissa and I debated on wether or not to do a pub-crawl. We couldn't find one with a free T-Shirt so we decided that we would just grab something to eat and maybe go to a pub instead. We walked over to Temple Bar and had dinner at this Gourmet Burger place. It was really good and affordable. We ended up staying there for almost 3 hours just talking about everything from boys, school, boys, our lives, boys, being independent, boys, life experiences, boys (you get the idea)!! We have sooooo much in common it's crazy! She's from California and she's studying in London right now. I'm excited to have made a new friend! She's coming to Barcelona this upcoming weekend and I told her that I would show her around! I'm anxious to show someone around the place that I have been living for 3 months ya know!? I've already told her so much about Barcelona, my roommates, and the other people there. So, it was a great day! I've made a good friend and I saw the countryside of Ireland! (this is why I like staying in hostels) What could be better!?? When I see such beautiful places like this, I know there must be a God to have made something so breathtaking! I'm a very lucky girl, not just today, everyday!! :D
I must get some rest now, I'm exhausted, it was a full day today and I have to see all of Dublin tomorrow!!
Goodnight!
1 comment:
Oh, I am so happy for you! Seizing every day!
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