Dublin Adventures!

So Dublin! This post is a little late in coming, but it's been quite a busy week.

Last Friday a group of a dozen EUSA kids ran from class to the airport via fast train to catch our .01 pence Ryanair flight to Dublin. Our airline turned out to be better than I expected for the price paid--security and check in was a mess, but we were also a bit hurried so that contributed to the fluster.

Upon arrival it was....(drumroll)....raining. No surprise there, but the rest of the weekend turned out to be a massive treat. Having such a large group wasn't as unwieldy as I expected, as everyone kind of split up to do their own thing with friends. The hostel was still a "hostel," but nicer than any I'd been to before. Jacob's Inn, right in the city centre: huge property, courteous check-in staff....the normal crowd of sketchy hostel-stayers, but it was cheap and we didn't require all that much in terms of creature comforts. :) I also found that a bottle of Johnson's baby shampoo is all one requires in the way of toiletries for an entire weekend. Plus toothpaste.

So Friday was marked by the opening round of visits to "traditional" Irish pubs (which cater to tourists--most of them) for food and drink...including some good Dublin Guinness--an acquired taste for me, but nice stuff once you realize you can't have it this good anywhere else. I ordered a beef stew that came served in a hollowed-out loaf of sourdough bread--gigantic. A group of Irishmen sitting next to us even asked me how I was going to eat it and I responded, expectedly, that I didn't really know. :) Dig in, I guess!

Saturday for me was spent on an amazing tour of the Irish countryside--up into an area called Wicklow, where there are some quaint villages, great scenery, rivers and lakes of Guinness (not really but you wouldn't know the difference just by looking!), ruins of old monasteries, and sheep. Lots of sheep. The sheer size and openness of the country (it just doesn't quit!) made me want to, like, frolic around in the moorlands or something. It was really great. Plus our tour group was small with a knowledgeable and entertaining guide, who loved his job and took special care to take us to some off-the-beaten-track sites.

In the evening we went to an Irish dinner/song/dance show, traditional all the way. I had lamb stew and some Irish coffee before the live music started, broken up by stints of Riverdance-esque performances from a small troupe. It was great, and then we went to explore the city nightlife a little more before heading back to the hostel.

Sunday started with an Irish breakfast before a tour of the city in the hop-on, hop-off the big bus fashion. Surprisingly informative and good transportation between tourist spots--I'm glad I spent a few euro on it. And then....the last tour stop was at the Guinness Factory. In addition to being, well, the Guinness Factory, it was really educational if you're interested in how beer is made...I didn't think I would be, but it's actually quite interesting. After an informative self-guided tour, your admission includes a free pint at the top in what they call the Gravity Bar, where you're in a glass-walled room with a 360-degree view of the city! Also glad I decided to invest in this tour--very, very worth it. :)

Then it was a whirlwind of bussing to the airport, waiting for delays, flying into whichever small London airport offers cheapest flight (Stansted--flew out of Luton), and getting home VERY late after not wanting to wait for the bus, walking for a bit and giving in to a cab.

Exhausting, fun-filled weekend that was worth every penny! (pence? euro?) :)