Dublin Weekend Trip

     Over the weekend I went to Dublin with Kirsty, Michelle and Anna. We left on Friday night and arrived in Dublin quite late. One thing we noticed right away was how friendly people were. Some guys on the bus must have guessed we were tourists and weren't 100% sure of where we were going, so when we got off the bus they asked if they could direct us to our hostel. We told them the address and they actually had no idea where it was and they were so sad they couldn't help us haha. They did show us where we could get a cab though, and we thought that was a good option because we didn't particularly want to walk 20 mins to our hostel so late at night. By the time we arrived at our hostel it was nearly midnight and we got to bed pretty quickly because we had a long day ahead.

     We woke up on Saturday morning around 8, had breakfast at the hostel, then headed out to explore the city. On our way into the city center we got to see St. Patrick's cathedral and Trinity College. We also checked out the Temple Bar district before going to the National History Museum of Ireland. The museum was interesting but I get bored quickly at museums so I was glad we only spend like an hour and a half there. We decided to have lunch at a pub called Nancy Hands (weird name), then made our way to the Guinness Storehouse. The Storehouse was pretty cool -- we got to learn about all the ingredients in Guinness, its history, and how its brewed. Our tickets included a pint of Guinness so after looking around the Storehouse we went up to the Gravity Bar and got our pints. I'm surprised at how much I actually like Guinness; it seems to have a reputation for being gross (that's what most people I've talked to have said anyway). By the time we left the storehouse it was around 4pm and we decided to go back to our hostel to rest for a bit before going for dinner. We ended up having dinner at a pub called The Banker (or something like that, I can't remember) and we all had Irish stew with Guinness bread and a pint of Guinness. It was SO good. Not sure what was in it, I think it was like beef, vegetables, potatoes, etc. haha.

      After dinner we wanted to listen to some live Irish music so we wandered around Temple Bar for a while trying to find a pub with a band playing. We came across a band playing in the street and they were fantastic. They were called Mutefish, and they consisted of a guitar player, flute/Irish whistle player (he alternated), a couple of percussionists, and a bassist. We stayed and listened to them for 20 minutes or so, then went to a pub called the Stag's Head because they had a sign outside advertising live music downstairs. We ended up having to wait about 45 minutes for the band to play, but it was worth it because they were great. They were three guys -- a drummer, a mandolin player, and another guy who would play the guitar or Irish whistle. It was hilarious because there was a hen party going on at that pub, and there was a life-sized cardboard cutout of the woman's fiancé, and at one point some guy in a creepy Donnie Darko mask was dancing with the cardboard cutout. It was so ridiculous haha we were cracking up the whole time. Michelle and I were tired and wanted to head back to the hostel, so we went back at around 11 and Kirsty and Anna stayed a while longer.

     The next morning Anna left us to go to Cork (she was going back to Glasgow Tuesday morning so she had time for an overnight trip) and Kirsty, Michelle and I went to Howth. Howth is a small fishing village 17 km north of Dublin, and it took a 30 min train ride to get there. When we arrived, we noticed a market so we went over to check it out and we ended up buying fudge and macarons. They were so tasty! One of the big reasons I wanted to go to Howth is because I read about a really nice cliff walk there. We did some of it (the whole thing was like 6km and we didn't have enough time to do that) and it was gorgeous! The sun came out and the views from the cliffs were amazing. The water was a beautiful light blue colour and the landscape was so green. It was probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Since Howth is fishing village, we wanted to have seafood for lunch. We got lunch from a cart selling seafood and chips. I got seafood chowder with chips and it was sooo good! I can't get over how amazing all the meals we had were in Ireland. After lunch we caught the train back into Dublin and shopped around a bit. At around 6 we decided to head back to the hostel because we were so exhausted and we had a super early flight in the morning. We picked up some dinner at a supermarket to eat back at the hostel. When we got back, we borrowed one of the DVDs from the lounge to watch in our room (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) but sadly the TV in our room didn't work! That was very disappointing haha. Instead we played board games in the lounge and ate the fudge we had bought in Howth earlier. We went to bed so early that night -- around 8:30 I think, which was good because we had to wake up at 5:45 to catch a cab to the airport for our 8am flight. We got back into Glasgow just after 10am and I got to relax a bit before heading to my classes. Dublin was such a cool city and I definitely want to go back to Ireland at some point and see the countryside/small towns. I'm hoping to go back after my exams are finished.

 

 

 

 

     This week I've mostly just been working on papers that are due in the next few weeks. I'm trying to get lots done because I have a busy week-and-a-half ahead of me. Tomorrow I'm going on a Student Tours Scotland day trip to the Isle of Bute, and Sunday I'm going to London to meet up with my family (yay!) until Wednesday. On Wednesday evening my parents are coming back to Glasgow with me and staying until Saturday morning, which is when we're going to Paris! I can't believe I'll have done two Paris trips in under two months. It's so crazy but I'm really excited. I'll be in Paris with my parents from Saturday-Monday. I'll get to see my brother in both London and Paris because he's going on a school trip there. We're going to the same performance of Les Mis in London as his class and hopefully going for dinner with them as well.

     In other news, I've become obsessed with the HBO show Girls and I've been watching it almost every night with Kirsty and Anna. Last night the girls and I also watched PS. I Love You which was randomly on TV, and I seriously cried about four times. It was embarrassing. That movie makes me so emotional haha.

     I'll hopefully make another blog post either when I get back from London or from Paris. I'm sure I'll have lots of stuff to write about :)