It was week three of my Spring Holiday and with my trip to
the Stansted Airport going much smoother than last time Tricia and I set out
for Dublin, Ireland, the homeland of my ancestors. This had to be one of the
most exciting trips I’ve had. It’s always been a dream of mine to visit and
finally having the chance was amazing.
Dublin
itself was like any other city tall buildings, old antique looking windows as
well as the statues to show their battles they’ve been through, but it was the
people who lived in this great city that made it extra special, all the Gingers
mulling about didn’t help the situation my love for them is endless ;). I have
never met more people who seemed to be genuinely nice because that’s just who
they are then what I found here. Just making a purchase at a local shop brought
massive amounts of conversations over anything and everything, they seemed to
care what I had to say. Even asking locals for directions, which was a task
because no one had any idea where anything was, showed that they were more than
willing to help us find our way.
We
happened to be staying in a Hostel right off of O’Connell Street, and this
place could make for a story all by itself. Once inside this hostel it did not
seem as though it was going to be that bad, but after not being able to check
in until 12 and carrying my suitcase up three flights of stairs I was a bit apprehensive
as to what this endeavor would cause. Our roommates consisted of two other
females who spoke basically no English, which in all honesty was not that big
of a deal. The room I had no problems with, it was the toilets, which will
forever haunt my dreams. Two showers, looked as though they haven’t been
cleaned since before Ireland was discovered as well as two toilets. These facilities were to be used by all females on this floor and that never ends well. The showers were a complete nightmare, only produced
cold water and in order to turn them on a button had to be pressed and
held in. When the water shot out you had better ducked for cover unless you
wanted to feel as though you were being stung by a bee multiple times over.
Let’s just say I gave up and did not believe showering was that necessary while
I was in Dublin, believe me you would have felt the same.
During the first day, we decided to
purchase a sightseeing bus ticket, touristy to the max, but proved to be the
best decision. Able to hop on and off of the bus was beneficial seeing as there
was quite a bit to see. Our first stop was the Guinness Factory, the best part
of this tour was the free pint that I was able to consume in a gravity bar some
7 stories up. Shockingly enough the Guinness was quite delicious and the sight
before me was beautiful. After the factory we hopped back on the bus and took a
ride along the city, seeing a beautiful park in which the deer roamed freely
and did not bother with people. This was pretty cool to witness seeing as back
home they’d be frigid and scared half to death.
Once
we made it back to the hostel we decided to call it a night and finally got a
decent nights sleep. The next day brought some souvenir shopping, a visit to Oscar
Wilde’s statue, a walk around Dublin Castle and a shop to find our family crest’s,
sadly my name is listed nowhere. We also had the chance to see Christ’s Church
where a lot of the awesome show the Tudors was filmed. Sadly we couldn’t tour the
church but the reason behind it was pretty amazing for the creator of The
Tudors is working on a new show called The Stuarts and they were filming on location.
This was really cool to find out because we were able to see some of the actors
in their costumes and such.
When we were done with our
sightseeing bit we finally took time out to act in true Irish fashion and visit
some pubs. In our adventure we visited the Oldest Pub in Ireland, The Brazen Head
(1198). It was a cute little place and I was shocked to see $ bills all over
the wall, messages written in sharpie. We took to also visiting a few more
pubs, hearing traditional Irish music and tasting some great cider. When we
finally settled on the ending pub I must say we made the right choice. The
atmosphere was amazing, the people happy and very friendly. There was a guy in
the front doing cover songs and when Zombie by the Cranberries came on I almost
lost it. It was already one of my favorite songs, but to hear it in an Irish
pub has now given it more meaning with a great memory attached to it. It was
the perfect ending to my time in Dublin, but I’m counting the days until I can
go back and see the beautiful green hills.
Once
we left Ireland, our next stop was Liverpool, the birthplace of the legendary
Beatles. This was an amazing experience as well, four people who changed the
face of music grew up here and I was lucky enough to get the chance to see.
Although Liverpool itself isn’t the prettiest (no offence), Albert Dock was
quite charming. Nice little boats in the water and the Beatles Story museum up
a head. This was a nice treat, being able to see some of the instruments they
used to record items as well as John Lennon’s shades proved to be most
exciting. If you do happen to decide to take a trip to Liverpool plan to stay
longer than a night, there is a lot more to do. The past two weeks have been
some of the best, and hold so many memories that I’ll never forget. Sadly now, it’s back to
classes and preparations for my final essay. Before I know it, it’ll be time to
go home, so here’s to making the most with what I’ve got left.
Till next time.
Cheers
xx
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