Thursday 23rd:
Thursday we
left Regents around 615pm to catch the tube to the airport. The tube was an hour and a half long ride
because it was rush hour and it was absolutely packed. When we finally got to the airport we got our
tickets, went through security and waiting in the common room. They don’t give you a gate until right before
you are about to board. We had about an
hour until it was time to board so the girls went to Giraffe (a restaurant/bar)
to grab a drink. After we paid, we
realized our gate was the furthest away (20 mins) so we quickly rushed to the
gate and got on the plane. The plane
ride wasn’t bad except that I’ve had this sinus stuff and I literally thought
my ears were going to explode everywhere on the plane coming down. It was the worst pain I’ve had in a long
time. But I ended up surviving and
couldn’t wait to get off the plane. We
went through customs and grabbed some taxis to head to the Aaron House Tourist
Hostel. Tracy came out and met us and
was so helpful with giving us information and showing us to our rooms. 8 of us
were in one room, and then 3 other people were separated. We stayed up til about 2am talking before we
finally fell asleep.
Friday 24th:
We got up
Friday morning at 630am so we could eat breakfast and catch a bus to the Cliffs
of Moher at 8am. The bus ride took about
3 hours to get there (with one stop for a bathroom/coffee break and Sudafed at
the pharmacy for me!) and then we finally reached the cliffs. They were absolutely breathtaking! I stood in
awe wondering how I had the opportunity to be in such a beautiful place. We only had an hour and a half here but we
all took the time to walk around and see the cliffs from every spot! It was
beautiful.
Watchtower
Cliffs of Moher
We left the
Cliffs and stopped for lunch at Fitzpatrick’s.
Here we got an old fashion Irish meal (some had lamb, I had chicken)
with some mash and carrots. It was
really good but we only had about 45 minutes so we were rushed! After lunch we went to a smaller cliffs (also gorgeous with really neat rocks), a
castle and some other short stops along the way home.
Me, Tyler, Matt & Brett
Smaller cliffs
We got back to Cork around 730 and went to
the hostel to shower and get ready for the night. Even though I was exhausted, I went to dinner
and out to a bar for a little bit because it was one of the guy’s birthday. We
ate at a Mexican restaurant because all the pubs stop serving at 8 and it was
almost 9 by this time. Afterwards we
walked around to find a pub and found some scary local places. The local pubs are definitely not the ones to
visit, but luckily we found a larger pub with good music and better people! I
stayed until about 12 and then headed back to the hostel to crash for the
night.
Saturday 25th:
Today was
disappointing because I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to. We got up at 5am to go to the train station
for our 615 train to Dublin. We got
there around 845 and grabbed a bus to the city centre. First we went to the tourist office to get a
map and a plan for what we wanted to do for the day. Then we split into two groups: I went with 3
other girls to shop, while the rest of the group went to the Jameson whiskey
factory. We ran out of shopping streets
near the factory; there were hardly any souvenir shops! Very strange… so we
decided to grab a drink at a pub until the rest of the group was finished with
their tour. After they shopped through
the gift shop we all went to lunch at a local pub across the street. Then we headed towards the Guiness factory! The factory was really neat and we were able
to have a taste test on the 3rd floor. On the 4th floor you could
actually pour your own draft and you got a certificate saying you did it
“perfectly.” There were 7 floors in
total and we skipped ahead to the 7th floor to see the gorgeous view
from the top.
Pouring a draft!
After we spent some time
there we went down to the gift shop to look around and wait for the
others. We ended up waiting a freaking
HOUR until everyone met back up. But we
couldn’t leave them because none of them had a phone for us to tell them we
were leaving. So when they finally came
down, we went ahead to the Saint Patricks cathedral. Granted it was 5 til 5 and the gardens were
closing and the cathedral was about to as well.
No one wanted to go in because it cost 5 euros, so we just got the view
from the outside. By this time it was
too late to head to the other Christ church or trinity college to see the book
of kells… so we just went to find one other girl that had ventured off
alone. It took us another hour to find
her… outside a bar that apparently “PS I love you” was filmed in.. the inside
was super creepy and not what I remember from the movie though so I’m not sure
if they used the outside and filmed the inside in an studio or what. But
anyways, by now we were all hungry and headed to find food.
Bar PS I Love You was filmed at
Food was
also a disaster because the pubs were crowded for soccer and rugby games. We ended up splitting into two groups and
grabbed pizza before heading back to the train station for our 9pm train
home. We went back and all crashed at
midnight because it was a long day of walking and traveling. The day was very frustrating and lots of
waiting but I’m glad I at least saw it.
Dublin was nothing like I expected…no grassy countryside; mostly big
business buildings and high-end shopping areas.
It was an interesting experience.
Two creepy
stories though from this day: First on the way back to the train station we had
to grab a shuttle. We were waiting outside for it to get there and across the
street Emily pointed out this guy laying on the ground. Police were surrounding
him and pushing him a bit and he did not move. I think he was dead and it was
literally the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.
It was just really creepy and sad and weird all at the same time. So then we finally get the bus and get to the
station and the girls head to the bathroom.
Im in the back and everyone just stops. So I said whats wrong? Then a
guy answers and says nothing is wrong.
So I kept walking and realized a guy was in the first stall…bathroom
door open…pants down…going to the bathroom.
I walked on and was like this is the girls restroom… and he said no this
is the guys. You all are in the wrong bathroom. Then another girls in and I was
like no we are right see… another girl is in here. Then he was like I sense an
American accent, and we all went silent and said we were from Canada, then an
older lady walked in and was yelling at him to get out.. Basically it was a
pedophile and it was really creepy. He
just kept arguing saying didn’t we see the tomahawk on the door and it was the
mens restroom and all this. It was just weird and very uncomfortable. I quickly
headed out to where one of our guy friends was sitting & sat next to
him.
Sunday 26th:
Sunday we
slept in until 830 and then left an hour later.
We got a bus downtown to go see the Blarney Castle & stone. Everyone wanted to eat breakfast at
mcdonalds, but I went to a nearby coffee shop to get a muffin instead. When we got to the castle, the lands were
gorgeous. This was the first castle I
have actually seen a stream running around it similar to a mote/system. There were daffodils everywhere and bright
green grass! We climbed inside the castle up a steep, circular staircase, I
thought I was going to throw up I was so dizzy and closterphobic. But we reached the top and could see the
grounds from a higher perspective. We
walked around to the other side where the stone was and it was absolutely
nothing I expected! Granted I had never heard of this place before we went but
I was expecting a big stone everyone would be around trying to take pictures
with. No…you had to lay on the ground,
lean backwards and kiss this thing upside down looking down to the ground…It
was scary, definitely not something someone would want to do if they were
afraid of heights. But we all did it so
I expect some luck coming my way these next few years!
Castle
Kissing the stone!
steps!
We climbed
back down the stairs and walked around the grounds some more. We saw the poisonous garden and the Blarney
home. Around 140 we jumped back on the
bus to head into Cork to find a local pub for lunch. We found a great spot and sat down for drinks
and lunch. Before we knew it, it was already 4 and we were all exhausted! We
had to get a taxi at 6 to go back to the airport for our flight at 8. So I headed back to the hostel with half the
group, while the others shopped around some more. I took an hour nap and then we headed to the
airport.
The plane
ride home was a lot better (more bumpy) but my ears didn’t feel like they would
explode so that was definitely nice! We got back to Regents around 1030 and I
was so happy to shower, lay in bed and catch up with people back at home. It was a great weekend but very exhausting!
Ireland is a gorgeous place though, so I definitely recommend going!
"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
- John Lennon
Y.O.L.O -- Court :)
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