Overall impressions: touristy. The city was very urban but still had an old European feel with a river running through the center and old statues and building everywhere. After a four hour bus ride through the Irish countryside we arrives at our hostel (all 20 of us) and checked into our room. Our hostel was in the Temple Bar district, infamous for a vibrant nightlife, which we immediately took part in. We were starving, so the first thing we did after changing was go scavenging for food, which is easier said than done at 9 pm. Usually, the best and the cheapest option is eating at a pub, but by then all the kitchens had closed so we settled for Apache Pizza (because Native Americans are famous for their pizza?). The pizza was paper thin and we had some piss cider to wash it down with, not the best start for a night, but luckily things turned around. After dinner we wandered over to the main street, which was packed. Every pub we went to was fuller than the last. People filled every corner or every room transforming a simple walk from the door to the bar into an obstacle course. After stopping in at The Temple Bar, and quickly leaving because a drinks cost twice as much as they did back in Galway, we found a semi-quiet corner on the second floor of a pub. Dianna, Kristi, and I feeling the Irish spirit ordered shots of vodka chased by a Guinness. The night turned around after that. We ended up chatting with a football (soccer) team who was celebrating the end of their season. After enjoying a few drinks on them (including something called a baby Guinness: coffee liqueur topped with Irish cream, very tasty) they invited us to go to a club. Dianna and I agreed, and we went with them to some basement nightclub. The place was straight out of the first scene in Across the Universe, thick stone walls, a stage and very little lighting. But the loud music got old quick, and shortly after arriving we returned to our hostel...well, at least we tried to. I unfortunately got kicked out for making out in the stairwell, but once I got back in I deemed the night a success.
The next day we were going to be tourists. Our first stop was the Kilmainham Jail. A historic site that housed and executed many of the leaders of the Irish rebellion. We visited the cells that housed the men that fought and died for their country's independence. Our brief tour there proved the best way to get a sense of a country's past is to stand in it. After the tour our group split up; half of us went to the Guinness factory and the other half want to the Gay Pride Parade. We were starving waiting for the parade to start, so we decided to grab a quick lunch...you cant miss a parade right? WRONG. By the time we came back the parade was gone, no where is sight, and no chance of catching up to it. No point in letting a missed parade ruin our day, so what better to turn our stupidity induced funk around than the Guinness Factory: seven floors of a beer lovers paradise. First we learned how to make Guinness: the perfect blend of barley, hops, yeast and water. Then we learned about the brewing process which has been passed down unchanged for decades. On the next floor was information about the factory itself, which is one of the largest in the world, and will remain so because of a 9000 year lease. There was an exhibit about advertising and their different campaigns and products. Then the fun started when we learned how to pour our own pint and then enjoying another at the Gravity Bar; an all glass room at the top of the building with the best views in Dublin. Once our buzz wore off we had dinner at a pub (it was amazing, but mostly because any real meal not involving pasta or toast is a rare teat). We went out again that night, but the scene was getting tired; too many people and too expensive.
After getting about four hours of sleep we woke up the next morning and rode the tour bus around for a few hours. There is nothing more entertaining than a tiny Irish man singing to you about Dublin. Once our ride tickets expired, we hit the last few tourist spots including Trinity College. Apparently there is a very historic artifact there called the Book of Kells, too bad we are lazy and broke college students who refused to pay 6 euro to see it. So instead we sat in the quad until a bird simultaneously pooped on Dianna, Kristi, and me. Good job bird. After that it was time for Dublin and me to part ways.
Dingle:
I usually try to avoid cliches, but I can only describe the trip to dingle with one word: breathtaking. The ride along the coast and through the mountains solidified my opinion that Ireland is the most beautiful country I have ever been to. We arrived in the seaside town after a pit stop at a castle. The trip was sponsored by the summer school so it included a weekend full of being shuttled around on our bus and stopping at various forms of old buildings. I could describe each one but there are only so many ways to write about an old stone church, and if I hardly wanted to be there I'm sure you don't want to hear about it. Anyway, it was also the Fourth of July, and there is something just wrong about celebrating America's birthday in a pub. Although we did create my new favorite drinking game: there was a pasture filled with cows outside our window at the loge, and every time the cows would start humping each other we would drink. So overall, a good time, I would describe the trip in more details but this time I'm going to let a picture do all the work.
Aran Islands-Inis Mor:
"Now students after and hour long bus ride and a half hour ferry ride please ride these falling apart bikes for several miles, then climb up a mountain, hang off a cliff and ride back."
The bike ride, while exhausting, was also amazing. We rode along the coast of Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands. Our destination was the ruins of a stone fort on the top of a mountain. The forts were semi-circular against a 85 foot cliff, which we got to hang off of. It was one of the most terrifying things I have ever done; laying down staring at the water crashing against the rocks below, while the wind blew in my face. It was also one of the most exhilarating things I have ever done, like nature's roller coaster. And once again, like all of Ireland, it was beautiful.
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