Ireland

This place is everything I thought it would be, which is awesome! Right from the get go, I've had a smile on my face in Ireland. That is partially because I get a smirk on my face everytime I hear their accents!

After a really long wait in the airport in Paris, we arrived to rainy Ireland. The weather is much like home - 4 seasons in day. The fact that they speak english has made it that much easier for me. I caught the right bus and was dropped off within a 2 minute walk from where I was staying. Unfortunately no one in Dublin knows the names of streets, lol, so I was a stones throw from the address I needed but I had to get a taxi to get there. He thought I said Cork st not Cook st, so it cost me 10 euros when it fact it was a 2 minute walk away. It was my one and only experience with taxis here in the city.

I arrived at Pauls and was welcomed with open arms. He is really wicked and a great host. He was born in South Africa, was raised in the UK and now has lived in Dublin for 3 years. He has a 2 bedroom place to himself so I got my own room in a sweet location - 3 minute walk from Temple bar! I got showered up and then we went out to Temple Bar to see an art exhibit, then for a drink at the Czech Inn. Great casual place!

Day 2 I wandered around Dublin all day. It is an incredible city. Some streets are just for pedestrians (mostly in Temple Bar, which is the name of an area not a specific bar). The culture is everywhere, the people are friendly, and there are always tons of people in the streets! It feels very safe and friendly everywhere you go.

Saturday night I went out to a restaurant called La Med. I had an awesome pizza and ended up with a super friendly wait staff. It started off with me ordering my pizza, and to drink I ordered water. Javier said "Really? You are in Temple Bar on a saturday night" I said yeah really... so Baldo walked over with this wine glass with a pink drink.. so I looked at him funny and he said, Did you not order Rose? I said no, then javier walked down the stairs and said don't worry about it, its on me. So that was my first experience with wine! They closed up the restaurant but I stayed behind to have a few drinks with them before we all went out to the Porterhouse. Baldo and Javier are from Spain, Anya is from Poland and Shakeel is from an island that he calls paradise but I don't know the name of it. We went to the Porterhouse which is a place that has a microbrewery on site and their own flavours. The boys asked what I wanted and I said I would stick with the sweet rose... they told me I can't order that at a place that makes its own beer. I said I don't drink beer either so try to order it. They did, the bartender looked at them, and then poured me a glass of water and put it on the bar! Haha - this city is opposite! You order water and get wine, order wine and get water. Shakeel didn't come with us to the Porterhouse. He is moving to Quebec in the next 2 months so he wanted to chat with me about Canada, which we did on Sunday.

I booked a 3 day Paddywagon tour called Ireland South. We left monday morning at 8 am and arrived back on wednesday afternoon at 4. It was packed, but such a blast and I was with an awesome group of travellers!

Monday night was spent in Galway. It is such a beautiful little town. I think if I moved to Ireland, that would be my choice of places to live. I do like Dublin a lot also. The main street there also is just for pedestrians. Everyone went out that night but I was tired from the day of touring so I crashed early. We stayed in a hostel so in my room were 2 girls from PEI who are working in Oxford UK, 1 girl from Vancouver and 1 from Portland who are on vacation, and then the 3 girls from upstate New York. It was a good group.

During Tuesday the weather was great. We went to the world famous Cliffs of Moher which are unbelievable in person. A girl named Courtenay and I decided to hike passed the sign that said it was dangerous to go beyond this point lol. Everyone else was doing it but if you are scared of heights, then its not for you. It is the part where there are no fences separating you from the cliffs. They are breathtaking, and it helped that the weather was so nice. It was quite possibly the first time I took my jacket off since I arrived in Ireland!

Tuesday night was spent in Killarney. We relaxed for a while before heading out for some quick food and then to a place called the Grand Hotel. First they had some traditional Irish Music, then an awesome cover band, and in the same building was a night club. We had a blast and danced ourselves silly until closing at 2:30 am. Needless to say the 7 am wake up on Wednesday was an early one! A very awesome night with a good crowd in Killarney, and so much fun considering it was a Tuesday!

Wednesday we went through Cork and visited the Blarney Castle. It had recently rained there so everything was a vibrant green, but we had sunshine during out visit. There are caves under the castle that Terry, Chris and I decided to climb through. Then we went up to the very top and kissed the Blarney Stone! The view was great from up there, hopefully my pictures turn out well!

Wednesday night when we arrived back, a group of us from the tour met up at their hostel. We shared some drinks then went for a night on the town! We drank through the Irish dancing lol so we ended up just hopping from bar to bar. I left at midnight when the dancing started, I was very tired from such a late tuesday night. I hear the party carried on well into the wee hours of the morning.

Thursday I went to Bray (seaside village) with Shakeel. It is very quaint and peaceful there. We had a great afternoon and then went back to La Med for pizza. It's so good! Thursday night I went to Irish dancing with Christian (who I met on the tour) from Louisiana.

Thursday night I went to see live Irish Dancing with Christian who is from Louisiana. They dancers were fantastic! It really is like river dancing you see on tv where only the lower half of their bodies move lol. We met a really nice girl there from Wisconsin named Laura who I hope to go to Beerfest with in Germany!

Today is friday and it's my last full day in Ireland. I really really love this place! The city makes you feel at home, it is very safe here. Everyone is nice, their accents rock. The tour of Ireland was also wicked, I have nothing negative to say here except that they smoke cigarettes right beside the doors and the air pushes all the smoke inside. Other than that super annoying thing, everything has been unreal. I wanted to buy a bunch of souvenirs but I'm on a budget and don't have enough room in my bag to carry things home!

I'm off to Portugal early Saturday morning. I hope they let me stay longer than 1 week there, lol. From there I'll head through the south of Spain and then up to the north where I'll be in Santader for three months!

And also, no one from home is updating me with what is going on except Mom. So all you slackers need to start saying Hi to me! :)