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Ireland Trip!

My trip to Dublin, not this past weekend but the one before (I'm SO behind on updating this thing, sorry!) was amazing. It was a very long, but wonderful, weekend. We left Exeter LATE Friday night on a 2:15am bus to Bristol to catch a 6am flight the next morning. Our bus was delayed at one of the stops because the driver didn't show up, and we had to rush a bit once we got to the airport (story of every RyanAir flight so far - their terminals are always a million miles away!), and there was no one at the desk to check our visas because apparently the desk doesn't open till 6, but fortunately we found someone at a nearby desk who was able to do it for us. I still wonder what they usually do for early morning flights like that though! What if someone needs their visa checked (like we did) and there's no one there to do it?! Anyway, we made it to our terminal just in time and boarded our plane. We had our pick of seats so the flight was quite nice, and we got into Dublin about 7:30am.

After checking into our hostel, we headed to Trinity College, which has some lovely, albeit eclectic, architecture, and we had an Irish student for a tour guide so it was quite fun to enjoy listening to his accent. The tour was pretty brief but led into the Old Library and the viewing area for the Book of Kells, which is a beautiful, illustrated copy of the four gospels, originally from somewhere in either Scotland or Ireland. It was really interesting to read about all the history behind it and to see the manuscript itself. From there we headed into the Long Room, which is the oldest part of the library, in which the books are organised not by author or subject but by size. It was absolutely beautiful, but it can't possibly be a very efficient system! The library's still in use and our tour guide said that if you need a book from it, you have to look it up by its dimensions in a catalogue they have on hand. The room has long wooden benches all down the middle of it where you can sit and just look at all the beautiful books. We sat there for quite awhile because it was a really nice place to sit... and also because we were exhausted!

After touring Trinity, we went and found lunch - I had fish & chips at Leo Burdock, Dublin's oldest fish & chips place, which they make a point of noting has been visited by the likes of "Iron Man Chef Bobby Flay". That was funny. Robin got some yummy Greek food and potatoes, and we split. The food was really good, and there was a lot of it, which was great because we were really hungry. After lunch we checked into our hostel, which was cute and was affiliated with the adjoining hotel, so it was really nice - we were able to use the hotel's wireless internet and their full Irish breakfast was included, even for hostel guests! We actually took a quick nap at the hostel in the early afternoon after checking in because we were so incredibly exhausted. I was a bit reluctant to do this but it meant we were able to really enjoy the evening (and really, the night life is the best part in Dublin!) so I'm glad we did.

Next up was the Guinness Storehouse tour! It was really far away so we walked for quite awhile and got to see more of the city, and eventually we found it. It was over by the jail (Gaol) which we were told was really cool and gave a lot of history, but we didn't have time to do that tour, unfortunately. At the Guinness Storehouse, we saw how Guinness is made, which was interesting, but the best part by far was that we got to pour our own pint from the tap! A free pint is included with admission, so everyone gets one, but most people head up to the bar on the top level where they just serve it to you like in any bar. When we got up there, though, it was really crowded so we headed back down to a lower level where we'd heard you could also get your pint, and when we got there we found out that they let you get it yourself! It was really cool. They show you how to tilt the glass in order to do it correctly and everything, and they give you a certificate saying that you crafted the perfect pint of Guinness. We were the last people they let in, because this area was about to close, so we got our pints and then actually ended up taking them back up to the Gravity Bar after all! By this point it had cleared out a bit and we were able to find seats and enjoy the view of Dublin lit up at night, because the bar was surrounded by windows on all sides. We also bumped into some other Americans, one of whom was living in Dublin, so they were able to give us some ideas of what to see the next day.

From the Guinness factory, we headed to a pub called O'Shea's for dinner, where we ordered traditional Irish lamb stew. It was delicious, the portions were huge, and the pub was nice and cozy! We sat at the bar and talked, with a football match on the television in the background, and as we left the Irishman at the bar told us to take care.

We headed to another pub, the Cobblestone, after dinner, and i must say this ranks among the coolest experiences of my life, because when we walked in the door, we were immediately greeted by the sound of traditional Irish music being played live in the pub! The Cobblestone is known for its music and it was really cool to just sit and take it all in! The guys sit at the front end of the pub and there are signs that say "Please respect the musicians - Thank you". We just sat and listened for the longest time, and then eventually I went up to the bar to get a drink. I couldn't get the bartender;s attention so a friendly Irishman helped me out ("You just gotta [mimes pounding on bar with fist]!") and I chatted with him for a bit while I waited for my drink - Bailey's Irish Cream, which is DELICIOUS. Then I took it back to where Robin and I were sitting. Right as I was finishing my drink and we were getting ready to leave, one of the guys at the bar started singing. It was so Irish... and SO COOL! As the song went on, other people began to join in, and it was just incredible. Definitely the perfect note to end the night on. When the song was over, we headed out and went back to our hostel, where we slept pretty soundly because the beds were surprisingly comfortable.

The next morning, we decided to take the girls' advice from the night before and rather than staying in Dublin for another day, we took a train to the coast, to the nearby little town of Howth, to see natural, green Ireland! I'm so glad we did. It was only about a 20 minute train ride and cost a handful of Euros for the ticket, and it was so worth it. We figured we'd spent a lot of time in cities so far in all our travels, so it was really nice to see some countryside! We hiked up along the top of the cliffs that line the coast of Ireland, and I wish I had the words to describe it to do it justice, but I really don't. It was so green and so beautiful! There were sunbeams streaming through the clouds and the water was clear and almost green and the landscape was gorgeous. I was in awe. It was breathtakingly lovely.

We got back into Dublin at about 12:30 and had an hour and a half or so before we had to catch a bus back to the airport. We spent it doing a bit of souvenir shopping, walking around one of the main stretches one more time, and finally grabbing some pastries for a mini-lunch and sitting at the base of a statue of James Joyce to eat them. Then it was (unfortunately!) time to leave Dublin, so we made out way to the airport and flew back into Bristol.

We actually got another little mini bonus trip out of this as well, because we had some time to kill before we needed to catch our train back to Exeter, so we went into the city centre in Bristol and got some dinner. It was nice to get to see Bristol because it's quite a cute little city, and the shawarma type food we got for dinner was very good as well. We then went back to the Bristol Temple Meads train station, which is really pretty and was lit up purple for some reason, so it looked really cool. Once our train arrived, we headed back to Exeter and that was it! What a weekend! :)

#19-11-11 #20-11-11 #dublin #ireland #travels and adventures #november

what is your favorite girl?

Well, i love many girls but especially three. My main girl idol is Selena Gomez, i love everything about her... (And i don't found hit the lights music video T_T) my second is Miley cyrus because i really love her! and finally, and almost the most important is Anna Paquin, because she is a fucking lucky for work (And 'fuck') with my fucking hot husband! D:

#ask #19-11-11

One of my favourites blogs removed her tumblr, i'm so sad :/

#things.#19-11-11

What is the thing you most embarrassed to admit in front of your friends?

They know my obsession with vampires (especially Eric Northman and of course Alexander S <3) but they always look at me like crazy ... and I always talk a little bit ashamed of this addiction that I have x).

#things.#19-11-11

Today I'll see Breaking dawn! *_*

#Oh Robert come to me baby #things.#19-11-11

I miss my computer ... I do not know anything until next Monday! Sorry for not having reblogged anything.

#things.#19-11-11