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Published: July 11th 2008
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Hello Everyone!
So this a week or so late, but I want to fill you in on the trip I took to Dublin, 3 days after I got back from Nice, France. I was meeting Ben Webster, so I was pumped. I left Saturday morning. I had planned to catch the Stansted express to get to the airport at 4:15am. I had my alarms set so I wouldn't sleep in. But . . . guess what. I set them for 3:30pm. I woke up at 3:56 and missed my train. I got the next one at 4:30. My flight was leaving at 6:15. The counter to check in closed at 5:50, and I got there at 5:45. Almost missed it!
Anyway, I got to Dublin to find myself like 20 people behind Ben in line at immigration. We got to the middle of the city and checked in. We spent the day going around the entire city. We saw Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Trinity College, and everything the city has by foot. We finally ended up at the most visited attraction: The Guinness factory. It was pretty cool. It is very touristy though. Not much learning going on. However, the
ticket price includes about a pint and a half of Guinness, so how could I complain? Once we got to the top level where the beer was, it was very relaxing. We had our free pint, then some people gave us their drink vouchers and we got another free pint. Then, two people took one sip of theirs and left them on the table in front of us. We hadn't eaten in many hours, so the 2 beers we had were creeping up on us and it was obvious to us that drinking wounded soldiers was eco-friendly and always a good decision . . . BRILLIANT!
After the factory, we grabbed dinner and went back to nap at the hostel since we both had been awake since 4am. That night we went to The Temple Bar, which for those who haven't been to Dublin, is almost like High Street in C-bus only much older. It’s full of bars and clubs and something to suit every taste. We grabbed a few beers, walked around more, and then finally hit the hay.
On Sunday, we grabbed breakfast and grabbed a train out to Howth, a small fishing village outside of
the city. We rented bikes and went riding around the peninsula. It was really cool getting to ride all along the coast. I'll try and provide pictures later today or early tomorrow. Ben and I both realized that we were out of shape. We returned our bikes and hopped back onto the train and went to Malahide Castle. We got there and it took a solid 25-30 minutes to walk to the castle through its grounds. The grounds are often used for concerts and while we were there, Neil Young was going through his sound check so we got a free mini show. We didn't go through the castle because we decided to save some money. Instead we got some pictures of the exterior. He didn't have much time, because that night was the night of the Euro Cup 2008 Finals.
As many of you know, Ben has been teaching English in Germany, so he is kind of a Germany fan. The final was between Germany and Spain for those of you who don't follow the beautiful game. He brought me some German gear and we headed to Temple Bar to find the Germans and watch the game with
them. We found them. It was a great game, but Germany ended up losing to a very good Spanish team. I'll put up a picture of Ben depressed just as the final whistle was blown. By that point, we had had about 6 Guinnesses and a shot of Jager, so we thought 'why stop now?' We went to a different bar where we met some Irish lads. The one loved the NFL and was chatting our ear off about it. Next thing we new, we were another 3-4 Guinesses in, as well as more Jager, SoCo, and Sambuco. We were shattered. But it was great to go drink for drink with the Irish. It really was a great time, and I think Ben and I were both ready for bed by the time we got back to the Hostel.
On Monday, I was due to head back to the big Island in Britain. We woke up and got breakfast. Then we went walking around and stopped at the name store to see if I could find something nice for Amanda. But they were way overpriced and a little cheap looking. Then we went to Saint James's Green (I think
that is what it was). It was an awesome park where we were able to try and deal with our hangovers in peace and quiet. We decided to go to the Dublin Writers Museum. We got there, and after about 15-20 minutes, our hangovers were a true burden. We left soon after for some food. After that, I grabbed my gear and bade Ben farewell as I went to the airport extra early (paranoid from Saturday morning's airport nightmare).
It really was a great trip, however, if I had to give anyone going there a little bit of advice, you only need one day and one night in Dublin. Get out into the country side and experience the real Ireland. It'd be worth it I promise.
I hope you all are doing well. I love hearing comments and knowing you people haven't forgotten about me :-)
Cheers,
Aaron
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Mitch
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Hey bud! Glad to know things are going well for you across the Pond. Hope to see ya when you get back.