I spent the entire day Saturday cleaning the apartment and napping in preparation for my evening of travel. I left the apartment around 4:30pm to get down to the train station in time to get a cup of tea and relax a bit before getting on the train. I had completely forgotten that the Australian Rugby team was in town for the day, as well as about 50,000 fans. The train station was overflowing with drunken idiots chanting "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaales Waaaaaaaaaaaaales Waaaaaaaaaaales" and "Oggi Oggi Oggi! Oy Oy Oy!" as they stumbled to the queues marked with their destinations.
I looked for one marked for Bristol and quickly took my place behind a group of blabbering idiots. Some young gentlemen took their place in the queue right behind me and, after I realized they were wearing Australia scarves, I started chatting them up. They were both originally from Sydney and were now living in Bristol and were quite upset with the Australian loss, although it had been a very close game. They asked about my trip and told me they thought the train was going to Parkway instead of Temple Meads, which was a severe inconvenience for me considering I had to catch a bus from Temple Meads to get to the airport. I panicked and then was reassured once I boarded the train that I was headed for Temple Meads.
My train got in just after 6 and I quickly exited the train in hopes that I wouldn't have to stand in the absolute freezing cold for more than 5 minutes. Much to my joy, the airport link bus pulled up just a few minutes after I sat my bags down at the stop. I boarded the bus and nestled in to the cozy little seat. The bus driver weaved through the narrow streets of Bristol and after a half hour's worth of twists, turns and tiny pubs passing by, we reached the airport.
My flight was due to leave just after 9pm and I grabbed a chair in a deserted part of the terminal to listen to music and work on my research for my paper. After about an hour or so, I walked over to check the status on my flight, which, just my luck, had been delayed for about an hour. I waited with the rest of the passengers as the uncertainty kept growing and finally we were able to board the plane. The fog that had rolled in was so thick you could barely see the end of the wing, and naturally, I was terrified that we'd be flying in this condition.
Much to my surprise, the take off and the flight went rather smoothly and the landing only jolted my adrenaline when we broke through the fog just a couple hundred feet above the ground. We landed and I rushed through the terminal to catch my bus into the center of Dublin. I arrived at my hostel around midnight and checked in. The lobby was bright and filled with chatty guests, some of which were boozing around a small bar. I got the key for my room and headed up to get ready for bed. I walked in to meet a woman from Spain, who was sifting through her suitcase. She immediately extended her hand to shake mine and introduced herself as Eva. We talked about where we were from, how long we were in Dublin and what we planned to do before both of us started yawning and decided to call it a night.
I climbed into my small bottom bunk and nestled down under the comforter with a shoddy red duvet to cover it. I immediately got the creepy crawlies, which I typically get the first time I sleep in a hotel bed. I grabbed my iPod and flicked on some Norah Jones to relax me. It wasn't long (around 2 am) when two girls burst through the door of the room and began rummaging through their belongings, clearly a bit intoxicated. I woke up and offered them the flashlight on my phone to sift through their bags, mostly because I wanted them to shut up. About an hour and a half later, a couple came through the door, obviously just arriving on a bus. The guy made a ton of noise as he selected his bunk and violently dropped his bags and climbed up the ladder. The girl used the toilet and left the light on as she shook my bed to climb the ladder to the top bunk. I finally settled back in after it appeared the two were done making noise and all the beds in the room were filled. Much to my horror, loud guy began snoring. And not like, a cute little snore, a snore that literally echoed off the walls. I covered my head with my thin pillow and cranked Norah up a bit. Somehow, I fell asleep around 5:30am. Great. 3 hours of sleep.
I woke up at 8:30, washed my face, brushed my teeth, got dressed and headed down to the kitchen for the continental breakfast the website reviews had boasted so much about. There was one kind of cereal (Corn Flakes) and a couple loaves of bread with a toaster. I made some tea using one of the smallest tea bags I have ever seen and chatted with two Australian women, a German woman and a man from Denmark who told of his travels in Afghanistan. I left the group and caught a bus back out to the airport to pick up my DublinPass so I could gain entrance to all the attractions.
I looked at my GuideBook, and since it was Sunday, realized that I'd have to do a little walking around before I could go where I wanted. Normally, this would have bothered me, but the weather was so beautiful and the skies so clear that I didn't mind walking around the city for a couple hours.
This picture is taken just across the street from my hostel. It is the view of the O'Connell Street Bridge, one of the main bridges in Dublin.
Next, I walked past Temple College to find a small park surrounded by iron fences. I walked around and enjoyed the trees and bright green grass.I kept walking and then noticed that it was just about 12:30 - the time they can start serving alcohol on Sundays. I grabbed my GuideBook and checked my route to the Guinness Factory. I began the trek across the small city to the one place where I wouldn't mind being a factory worker - the Guinness Factory.
On the way, I saw a really beautiful church with a gorgeous little courtyard in front of it. Much to my surprise, there was an old sign above the door that had my last name on it. I was pretty excited about it.
I finally made it to the Guinness Factory and learned much about the construction of the world-famous beer. I could smell the barley and the hops almost a mile away from the brewery and picked up my pace as I imagined myself enjoying that complimentary pint on the top floor in Gravity Bar, a bar 7 stories up with a view that overlooks the entire city of Dublin. Lukily, it was GORGEOUS outside, so I could see for miles - even out to the mountains.
My next stop was the Jameson Distillery. Since most of the other attractions closed early on Sunday, I decided to make it my drinking day. I arrived at the Old Jameson Distillery being a little terrified of the complimentary whiskey I'd receive at the end of the tour - I'm not much for whiskey and I was nervous that I'd throw up or something in front of a bunch of people.
When we began the tour, our guide asked for 4 women and 4 men to be 'official whiskey taste testers' at the end of the tour. Being a good OU girl, I quickly raised my hand and was selected to sample a type of Scotch, some Jack Daniels, and of course, Jameson.
We took the tour and I learned a lot about the distilling process of Jameson and also the aging process of whiskeys. It was really interesting. When we arrived to the bar, there were 8 chairs set up at a table with three shots on a placemat in front of them. We all grabbed our chairs - I sat next to an American boy, Ariel, originally from Texas, who was visiting Dublin for the weekend from Holland, where he'd been studying for his law degree for a few months. We finished the whiskey testing (I ended up mixing my Jameson with some Coke) and our tour guide presented us with 'diplomas' that claimed we are official whiskey taste testers.
Ariel was staying at a hostel near mine and said he'd walk back with me since we were in a sketchy area of Dublin. We decided to stop off at "Ireland's Oldest Pub, The Brazen Head, established in 1198" and have a Guinness and some dinner. I had quite possibly the LARGEST serving of fish and chips I have ever had in my life.
He walked me back to my hostel and we decided to meet up at The Porter House, a microbrewery in Temple Bar, for a few beers later. Much to our surprise, they were showing American football and the two of us, so relieved to see it, knocked back a few pints of the microbrewery's specialties and enjoyed wonderful conversation.
I headed back to the hostel around midnight and went right to sleep. I woke only a few times during the night and got up around 9:30 the next morning. I set off for the Kilmainham Gaol, an old prison on the outskirts of Dublin, and took a lovely and informative tour.
The prison was so fabulous. Such an interesting place to visit and see the architecture and history stemming from a long time of Irish rebellions.
After the Gaol, I headed back into the center and went to the Dublin Castle and then through City Hall before heading to Henry Street to get some food and do some shopping. I grabbed a cup of tea at a coffeeshop inside of a bookstore and watched as Obama selected Hillary as his Secretary of State.
I caught a bus to the airport around 5:30 and waited for my plane. I made it back to Cardiff around midnight and went right to bed after such a long and exhausting weekend.
Next weekend, Jen England, a friend from school, will be arriving to London to take an Art History class through OU. I'll be going to London to get her and also see Toby one last time before leaving the country. Will update soon!!
Hope all is well!
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