The Land of Guinness and Jameson...OK and Wilde, Joyce, Yeats and LOTS more!

So, you may be surprised that I am ALREADY writing about yet another trip, since it seems like I just got back from Mallorca and since Alaina was just visiting last weekend. Well, I do indeed have another trip to write about- Christina, Cassandra, and I had found a good deal on flights to Dublin a few months ago for this past weekend, so we decided to go! I think we would all agree that this was a great decision! None of us had ever been to Ireland before, so this was a a new and unique trip for all of us.

Some general observations about Dublin: there was an enormous concentration of both churches and pubs...take from that information what you may, not sure if that is ironic or if it makes perfect sense ;) Either way, we enjoyed both types of sites!! Also, we found many Irish people to be extremely friendly (with the exception of a few rude bartenders or people working in bus/train stations); people were quite interesting and welcoming. Also- one must carry an umbrella at all times when walking around Dublin. Although it doesn't always rain, you never know when it may start drizzling. We actually were relatively lucky with the weather- it was a bit chilly and drizzled at times, but most of the time it was relatively clear and we were able to spend lots of time outside, exploring the city.

We arrived on Thursday night, checked into our hostel (located across from the Custom House and just a few minutes walk from the hopping Temple Bar district), and found a pub where we had some dinner and beer (to celebrate our arrival in Dublin!) Even though I'm not a big beer fan, I ordered one anyway, just because i figured...when in Dublin, right? Cassandra ordered a Guinness, so I tried that (I must say, I didn't like it at all), but I at least I completed by duty of having Guinness in Ireland! We were a little nervous when we first arrived, because several people told as that where we were staying wasn't a very safe area (there were apparently drug problems), but it turned out to be just fine. We saw a little bit of sketchy activity that first night, but after that..no problems at all!

Friday we had a VERY full day....started out with breakfast at the hostel, and then began to explore the city. We walked around and saw some of the MANY beautiful and famous churches (including Christ Church and St. Patricks Cathedral). We also wandered around a pretty park and took some pictures. We then ended up at a restaurant called The Queen of Tarts, which was highly recommended by friends, as well as every tour book imaginable. It was sooo good that we even went back on Saturday. They had amazing, creative desserts, but also some great lunch dishes as well. (for example- a crab, goat cheese, and spinach quiche; a sweet potato soup; Bailey's chocolate chip cheescake...etc etc). We also went to the National Museum, where we learned about Ireland's archeological history (from as far back as 2000 BC), and some of the history of the Vikings in Ireland. We also walked around the campus of Trinity College, which reminded me a bit of Duke, and made me a little nostalgic for college (a coincidence that Duke's original name was Trinity?) Then, we went back to the hostel and met some other travellers, from Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands. Next, we went out for some traditional fish and chips, and went to an Irish pub where we heard live Irish music ;)

On Saturday, we went to one of the oldest churches in Ireland (St Michan's), where they have a crypt with mummies dating back to the 11th century. We had a tour of the crypt with a very eccentric tour guide, which made the experience very memorable. Then, we went to the Dublin Writers Museum, which displayed the history of all of the famous Irish authors (Joyce, Yeats, Beckett, Wilde etc etc). It was really interesting and made us all really want to read some of these books! Then, we wandered a bit more and went back to Queen of Tarts for some more delicious food. That afternoon, we took a short train to Howth, a town right along the water, outside the city. We wandered along the boardwalk, past lots of boats and seafood restaurants. We saw some seals in the water, as well as beautiful views of the mountains and the water. We really enjoyed seeing some countryside, without having to travel too far. We even went to a bar and enjoyed some Irish coffee/ Coffee with Baileys (another drink we felt we needed to try during our short stay), and chatted with an older Irish couple, who were extremely friendly. We headed back to Dublin in time for dinner (we wanted to eat in a traditional, well-known pub and most of those places stop serving food at nine or ten...very different from the Spanish schedule we are used to!) We then went to another fun pub with live music...ended the night on a high note! At the pub, we tried some Jameson whiskey, which for me seemed particulalry appropriate, since my mom's maiden name is Jameson, and since the Jameson whiskey brand is so famous and present in Dublin. This was actually kind of funny because a few people in Dublin toldl me that I kind of looked Irish...which is ironic since I don't actually have any Irish blood, but my mom's side of the family does have an Irish-sounding name!

On Sunday, we had breakfast at the hotel and walked around for about an hour, seeing a few other sites that we still wanted to visit. Then, we headed back to the airport and said bye to Dublin....we arrived back in Madrid, ready to have some warm, sunny weather again!!