Yesterday was magical. Probably I want to stay here forever. I took a day trip to the western side of the island to see the Cliffs of Moher. Also I really like tour guides. Our driver was James (he was also our guide) he grew up in a little Irish town called Boston (the original one) and he knew so much about Ireland! I'm such a nerd that I took notes. He even told us how the trace the ancestry of sheep and I took notes on that. I sat next to a woman from Ireland who was traveling with friends from Italy who didn't speak English. Guess what, I never got her name so we'll just refer to her as Donna (because she was a woman who had been living in Italy, also she had red hair-so Doctor Who. I wouldn't be surprised if her real name is Donna) Donna supplemented the driver's commentary so I got extra Irish information. She also helped me spell names of towns for my notes. Donna seemed a little shy, but I really liked sitting next to her. Got a little taste of Irish hospitality. On our way back to Dublin we stopped at a town called Bunratty. There Donna met up with her sister and two nieces who she hadn't seen in a year. I think she was a little anxious before we got there. Anyway... We started our day by driving an hour and taking a pit stop in Athlone, which apparently is smack dab in the middle of Ireland. It wasn't a charming little Irish town, we just stopped at a gas station. Luckily we did get to see charming little Irish towns later. Our second stop was in Canvaragh which was much more charming. It had its own castle and rocky shores, and you best believe I took pictures. I took pictures like nobody's business yesterday. The castle has an interesting legend around it too. We stopped for lunch in Doolin and ate at a pub called Fitzpatrick's. Every tour bus on the way to the cliffs stops there. It was delicious though. And afterwards I bought my first souvenir. After lunch I had a few extra minutes so I walked up the lane and took more pictures. Doolin is most definitely a charming little town When I try to add pictures here they won't post. It might be my wifi... I'll attempt later. According to Donna, Doolin is pretty famous for musicians that eat at some of their small town pubs. The day was so gorgeous yesterday that we took a boat out on the water to see the cliffs from there first. That was also magical. Normally the water is too choppy or it's foggy- but we got perfect weather yesterday. Afterwards we drove around and hiked along the tops of the cliffs. I gotta say I really liked exploring the cliffs solo. They were breathtaking. Like they took my breath away. They had a little underground visitor's center, but I didn't spend much time there. The souvenir I got from the cliffs was an ice cream cone. Ah the memories! On on the drive back we stopped in Bunratty, I leaned up against the castle, which weirdly enough no one else wanted to go see... Everyone went to Durty Nelly's, the pub across the street. What an Irish name! We we got back around 8:30. 'Twas a good day. Back at the hostel I had new hostel mates- I met Sarah. That's her real name. She told it to me. She lived in Virginia most of her life, but she's from California. I also took took some more notes on the Irish accent based on James' commentary. He told us a story about his muhdder's bruhhder. I like people, places, and things. Well I should probably finish packing and head out. I fly to Brussels today. I get to come back to Dublin at the end of my trip though! Cheers everyone!
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Today was amazing! I think I got a much better taste of Ireland today than I did yesterday. I took a train from Dublin to Belfast, which is about 2.5 hours away.
I better warn you before you read this, I'm going to gush over the train ride. Train is definitely the best way to see Europe. There were these four older Irish ladies in front of me and they were hilarious. Secondly the seats were pretty comfortable and the train was fairly empty. Thirdly the the countryside of Ireland is gorgeous. Every field is green and is surrounded by trees, shrubs, and white flower bushes. The fields were all different shapes too. Some had cows and sheep. There were a lot of those short stone fences too. I also listened to the P.S. I LOVE YOU soundtrack most of the way. Dang I love that movie. Seriously if you travel Europe go by train. I couldn't stop smiling. I spent a lot on the train pass, but 6 more trips like that would make it totally worth the price. In Belfast I went up to Belfast Castle. It took me a minute to figure out the bus system. The buses in Belfast are called 'metros' (talk about a confusing name). Everyone in Belfast seemed really friendly. I was trying to read a map at one of the bus stations and a lady said 'you look like I need help'. She told me what bus I needed to get on, and what stop the castle was at. Then she became my personal tour guide. She was so nice! Probably my favorite part of the day was meeting her. We we sat on the upper level of the bus and she pointed out the main attractions of Belfast. She told me about her children; one was an architect and one married a girl from Belgium. I told her I was from Utah, she didn't know where that was so I explained it to her. She had heard of Salt Lake City and then she mentioned she'd heard of a religion that started there. So I told her I was Mormon and then I told her a little bit about it. She said she thought Tom Cruise was Mormon, I straightened her out letting her know that he was a member of the Church of Scientology. Thank goodness I know random facts about celebrities :) So she pointed out cemeteries and churches and explained the history behind them. I'm not kidding she acted as my personal tour guide. She was the best! Usually I'm a little stressed when riding public transportation because I'm worried about when I need to get off.. But she knew exactly where to go. I heard more traditional Irish lingo today... A lot from the sassy ladies in front of me on the train :) here are a few sayings I heard; Cheers It's grand Do you have your wee pass? Give yourself a chance girl And my personal favorite is when people say 'thanks love' to me. I could totally get used to that 😍 Tomorrow I'm going to the Cliffs of Moher! Ttfn So it's officially June 1, 2016 and I am in Dublin! I feel like May 31st and June 1st are the same day, because I lost 7 hours in there somewhere. I flew out from Las Vegas on Tuesday morning and then had a layover in North Carolina. So the real question is... Can I now say I've been to North Carolina? I've only been to the airport and I only breathed their air for a few seconds. On our flight to Dublin we (me and the strangers on the airplane) sat in the runway for about 1.5 hrs because we were waiting for the lightening to clear. Cool fact: the airport (at least that one) has a rule that they can't have people out directing airplanes if there has been a lightening strike within 3 miles of the airport in the last 15 minutes. The pilot told us that. I actually didn't get too impatient because I chatted with the lady next to me. She told me she lived In Georgia but commuted to Jacksonville for law school. If I had to guess I would've said she's about my age. Then I found out later she has 4 kids and the oldest is 13. She hadn't ever been out of the country before. It was nice getting to know her. I didn't say any words on the flight to North Carolina because I was in the middle of a big group who didn't speak English. I would guess they were speaking Mandarin? Our flight attendant got a little frustrated with them. I was planning on sleeping on the plane, the flight was 7 hrs. But I seem to always forget how terrible it is to sleep on a plane. Also when you don't know the person next to you well enough to lean on them (when they're not strong). Well now that you know all about my flights.... DUBLIN. we (me and everybody on the airplane :) got in around 8:30 and then I had to get my passport checked. As I walked outside and voila- the bus I needed to take pulled up in that same minute. The stop I was supposed to get off at was changed, so I got off the bus and I started walking, and it turns out I ran right into my hostel! Dang, traveling is too easy! *Knock on wood* I didn't expect things to go that smoothly. I'm hoping that continues to happen. So I check into the hostel and the guy gives me a tourist map which has turned out to be super handy today. I've been in kind of a cheap$$ mood all day. So far I'm doing pretty good on my spending though! We (me and the people on the airplane who I don't know) had dinner and breakfast on the plane so the only meal I paid for today was.... WICKLOW LAMB SHEPHERD'S PIE. Sounds Irish right? It was. I won't lie- it wasn't the best shepherd's pie I've ever had. But it was traditional. I've already seen a lot of things that I wanted to see today, but I skipped going inside because I thought they charged way too much for admission to places. Like I went to Trinity College and wanted to see the BOOK OF KELLS but it was 12€ to get in. St. Patrick's Cathedral AND Christ's Church both had admission fees over 10€ that I didn't pay. Dublin Castle was like 26€! So I didn't go in, but I did see the outside of all of those places :) I don't think I'll regret missing any of those, I've seen a lot of churches and cathedrals, I really like looking at them, but not for 10€. Norte Dame was free, come on Dublin! Speaking of Paris... I'll definitely talk about my love of Paris later- but I wasn't expecting French touristy things in Ireland. You know how in the USA people buy shirts that say things in French or how French cafes are everywhere? I've been a little surprised how much they have of that here in Dublin. I was trying to find an Irish pub for lunch and I kept running into French cafes! I found a few French themed souvenir shops too. The wall paper I'm looking at right in my hostel now is even French-themed. So to sum-up it's 5:30pm (10:30am Utah time) and this is what I've done: -Trinity College / almost Book of Kells -walked along the River Liffey -walked down Grafton Street, which is a cool tourist market street with street performers -St Stephen's Green which is a cute little park. I went about an hour ago and it was packed, the walkways weren't packed the grass was. I've never seen people sitting so crammed on the grass before just to sunbathe and talk with friends. It was like Woodstock. -St. Patrick's Cathedral (kind of) -Christchurch Cathedral (kind of) and I got pretty familiar with the streets south of Liffey River. Not too shabby right? I'm planning on taking a train to Northern Ireland tomorrow. For those of you who don't know.... or who weren't my Geography students this year.... (they shouldn't be mutually exclusive but I've discovered that my students don't remember everything I say) Northern Ireland is a different country, and part of the U.K. (Ireland isn't) In Northern Ireland they have the £. Here they have the €. Until tomorrow! |
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