Dublin: First day + 1

What is up, our first two days in Dublin have been pretty busy to say the least. After having arrived in Dublin, we quickly came to find that Dublin does not label their streets or bus stops like the rest of the civilized world making what should have been a relatively straight-forward bus ride into a logistical nightmare! Finding that we were two hours early for check in, EJ and I decided to acquaint ourselves with the city in true Dubliner fashion...needless to say, this primarily involved familiarizing ourselves with the local pubs around the Temple Bar area (a five minute walk from our hostel). Arriving at the world famous "Temple Bar", we were shockingly surprised to find that a pint of Guiness in this area would cost about six euros...undeterred, we decided that the best way to overcome was to power (drink) through the pain in the pocket book. While patroning the most famous bar in Dublin we took many gay touristy pictures and shared a pint with a man from Newcastle England. In fact, one pint turned into about five as he talked about his surprising love for America and his passion for AFC west football! Needless to say we were immediate friends until he said his favorite team was the raiders. Still tolerable, he told us about how he was an engineer and a rugby couch in Newcastle, and also about how just last week he tarred and feathered his friend after and old English style bacholer party! Building on the momentum from this, we ventured further into the heart of the Temple Bar district, further exposing ourselves to extortionist prices, in order to experience true Irish "craic". Our expectations more than fulfilled, we were still surprised to find locals drinking Coronas and singing Journey songs (are you kidding me?!). On Tuesday (Dublin time), it was strictly business...after eating what can only be described as a "hostel breakfast" we stumbled upon St. Patirck's Cathedral on our way to a two hour historical walking tour around Dublin. Familiarizing ourselves with the city landmarks, we ventured further into the city in order to find the Irish National Museum, Kilmainhaim Jail, and Guinness Storehouse. After walking literally about 9 miles, we accomplished our goals impressed with the first two sights although we were disappointed with the Guinness factory (basically one huge advertisment...it sucked ass). Tired but thirsty, we entered one of the numerous pubs outside of the city center where EJ promptly got his ass kicked in a Guinness drinking contest with a local Irishman...Having endured our first two days in this city we still are having a hard time realizing that we are in Europe due to the fact that this city is very much a cross between Boston, San Francisco, and the Gaslamp Quarter (in San Diego)...anyway, today we are heading out for the beach towns about an hour south of Dublin, here we hope to find a better example of the Irish countryside as well as a relief from the ridiculous Dublin prices!!! Keep it real.

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