The Luck of the Irish

Last week was my official last week of work. It was really busy and I definitely have things I need to finish so I'm going in for a half day tomorrow to wrap up what I can. My work people and I are supposed to be doing something fun this week for my going away but I have a group dinner tomorrow and Friday night and Wednesday I definitely need to stay in because I have two finals (well, essays) due the next day. Yikes. What a way to spend my last week in London. Writing papers. Great. I probably wouldn't have to if I didn't have a SUPER AWESOME TIME IN IRELAND this weekend!!!

We left Thursday evening on a flight to Dublin. The process of getting to Gatwick airport and onto the plane was kinda crazy. We had to take a 30 minute express train to the airport (which I happen to buy the wrong ticket for) then go through the line, get a visa check stamp and on through security. We flew Ryanair (which is probably the worst airline ever but it's also the cheapest, hence the reason 20-something college students chose it) so we knew security would be ridiculous. The reason it can afford to be so cheap is because they hit you with so many regulations and very large fees if you mess them up. God forbid your bag won't fit in the little box measure-er thing. It's like a 35 GBP fee, which is more than the ticket to fly. Anyway, they took my facewash because apparently it was too big. I was upset but stressed to the max so I didn't care. Plus, it's the last week and I was going to leave it here anyway.

The flight was super fast and we landed in Dublin about 20 minutes early. We caught a bus the the City Centre in Dublin where our hostel was conveniently located just a few blocks away.

Jacobs Inn is the most legit hostel ever. It was everything you could ever want. Lounge area, movies playing all the time, free breakfast, big rooms, a game room and theme nights! We got a room for 10 for just 50 euro for three nights! That's awesome. By the time we got there it was like midnight and I'd had such a long day so Mary, Bennett, Jackson, Rob and I planned out the weekend and hit the hay.

Friday we got up to go on a free walking tour of the city. We hadn't really planned it with anyone else but most of the group ended p showing up for it. The weekend was nice because we weren't forced into doing large group things the whole time. I didn't see much of anyone besides those 4 all weekend but it wasn't like anyone was secluding anyone. It was so chill. Just like a "if you want to come then come" kind of thing.

But anyway, the tour was super long and it basically went through the entire history of Dublin. Our tour guide was really fun and cute. She clearly knew what she was talking about too. After that, we had an amazing lunch at some pub with a discount from the tour that consisted of a huge bowl of beef stew with cabbage and carrots and mashed potatoes. Oh my goodness it was delicious. Then we headed over to the Guinness Factory (of course) to see how the world famous beer is made. Along the way, we stopped and made reservations for a three course meal/live music/Irish step dancing show for just 29.95 euro.

The Guinness Factory was so cool! It's been brewing in Dublin since before America was even born and they have the original lease which is for like 900 years. Who signs a lease for 900 years!?! Arthur Guinness, that's who. They had these huge rooms with tons of ingredients and videos and stuff. We were just getting to the tasting room when all of a sudden the power went out!!!! No one knew why, we were just herded out of the museum and outside. We decided to just stick around because we didn't have anything to do until our 7:30 dinner reservation. Fortunately, we were allowed back in shortly but none of the video screens were working right away. Whatever, we headed straight back to the tasting room to observe how the head of the beer is formed when you pour it properly. There is a very specific way of pouring a pint of Guinness- you start at a 45 degree angle and slowly straighten as it fills up to an=bout 3/4 of the way. Then, you let it sit for a while while the color saturates and the head forms. You put it back under the tap, push the tap away from you and finish it off. Impressive, I know. I could have put my new skills to the test in the Pour your own Pint room but Mary and I opted to have our free with admission pint in the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor with a bird's eye view of Dublin.

After that, we went straight to dinner. We got a table that had it's own tap of Guinness (duh) and Carlsburg on it. The boys had so much fun pouring their own pints, but I was so beer'd out. I wasn't even hungry for our amazing dinner but I couldn't help but eat it. I had a starter of some weird vegetable soup and then Fish and Chips. For dessert I had the best chocolate mousse ever. It was dark chocolate on a layer of white chocolate all of a really rich layer of milk chocolate sponge cake. ugh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The band was really good and played traditional Irish tunes for the majority of the night. They even had request forms but we didn't get ours played. They probably wouldn't do Flogging Molly anyway. The step dancing was insane-I'll never know how they move their legs so fast. It was three girls and a guy on a tiny little stage but it was quite entertaining. After a few more pints and a round of Irish Car Bombs for the boys we headed back to the hostel to hit the sack.

The next morning (Saturday) we got up bright and early, seriously, to take a day trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. I woke up at 6:30 to be at the bus at 7. As 6:40 approached Mary, Jackson and I started to get worried about Rob and Bennett. Mary went p to check on them only to find out they weren't even awake yet!!! We were all freaking out because we dropped 40 euro on this thing and we were not going to have it go to waste. As they rushed to get ready, I had the hostel call us a cab because I knew we wouldn't make it if we tried to walk. Though Dublin is a very small city, it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the Temple Bar area where just about everything of interest is located. We piled into the cab at 7:45 and arrived with time to spare-thank God! As the bus pulled away, we all drifted to sleep, knowing we had a few hours until we got to Galway where we'd switch drivers.

We stopped at a convenience store along the way for breakfast and snacks. The driver gave us all pamphlets for Galway in case anyone ever wanted to visit. I was shocked to open it up to the map and realize we had literally just driven across the country! It only took like 3 hours. It was crazy. The ride from Galway to the cliffs was fun. Everyone was semi-awake and our tour guide/driver was hilarious. He pointed out all this stuff to us and we made a few stops along the way to check out a fairy circle (a naturally formed circle of trees that are said to be where fairies live. You aren't supposed to mess with them) and a really old burial tomb. We stopped at a little restarant for luch and had a delicious bowl of potato and leek soup with Irish brown bread. We finally made it to the cliffs and took in the breathtaking sight. It's like the Grand Canyon. Pictures can't do it justice-it's just amazing. We walked along the edge, past the "Do not go past this point" sign (don't worry Mom, there was an actual trail, tons of people were walking it). It was incredible but really cold and windy.

We hopped back on the bus after a few hours and made the long journey back to Dublin. We stopped in Galway again for dinner (Subway). There were a bunch of really loud and annoying Spanish kids at the back of the bus with us which made sleeping a bit difficult but believe me, I managed. We got back to Dublin around 9:30 and decided the night was still young. After freshening up at the hostel, Mary, Rob, Jackson and I went out to Temple Bar. Temple Bar is just this general area of bars, pubs, restaurants and shops that are so much fun! We walked around for a bit, unsure of where to tuck into and finally decided on a awesome-looking place called the Porterhouse. Though it's Ireland's largest genuine brewery, I stuck with the 5 euro margaritas :) They run about 7 GBP back in London which is ridiculous (essentially, a $12 cocktail). I started out with the best G&T of my life (sorry mom) and then made the switch. I need to go back to sample some of the beers though. They had a whole row of original brews. It was a really fun night of just sitting around talking and then an amazing American cover band came on and played some Hendrix, Bad Company and the like.

Sunday, the majority of the group woke up early and headed back to London. Rob, Mary and I scheduled 7:30 flights so we could get an extra day in. We all went to mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was surprised that the service was really similar to my regular mass at home, but Mary said that wasn't how they do it. I think she's more Roman Catholic and I suppose we are more Episcopalian (?). I don't know, but it was a really great experience.

The rest of the day was filled with stress because Mary and I let Rob go off to see some memorial in Phoenix Park while we did some gift shopping. He had no money and no phone. Bad idea. Long story short, he was late to where we said we'd meet him and then it was just a series of misses while we tried to find each other. Mary and I ended up getting some weird enchilada/lasagna at a Tapas restaurant that was so delicious! Then we met Rob back at the hostel and headed to the airport early.

Everyone was freaking out abut bag size/weight. They threw out more of my stuff. My toothpaste and face lotion which I was mad about. I don't get how it got into the country but I can't take it back out. It's not my fault they messed up the first time. Since we got there early, I decided to study some Media & Politics for my exam. I made an outline of what I would talk about in my essay. The flight back was short again. The train ride and tube ride was not.

After we got back we sat around studying until the wee hours of the night. The exam went well I suppose. I don't really know, it's over now. Over it.

Tomorrow I'm bringing in Oatmeal Raisin cookies for work... I just have to wake up in the morning and make them. I can't believe it's my last week here. I'm so bummed!!!