Ireland!!!!!! Nature and brew!

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Hey folks,

What a week! I have no idea where to start and what this blog is going to look like. We left Ireland today. I know it is shame but we need to move on. At the end, it was 8 great days.

I will bring you guys back in time, yes I can do that. So…8 days ago…We left Liverpool early in the morning and took a train/tube/weird train to Chester were we took another train to Holyhead. We had 3 hours to explore Wales. We spent it all in the train station.
Anyway, we then took the ferry to Dublin. It takes about 5 hours of boat to cross the 120km between the two islands. By the way, the ferry is not the same kind of cheap boat that take you from Quebec to Levis. Its a 8 floors boat that has 3 restaurants, 5 shops, 2 bars, 2 lounges, an arcade, 2 cinemas and much more.
Way more slow that using the plane but a lot more style.

Dublin was great as it is always. Friendly people, nice stuff, some nature, culture and a lot of brews. We arrived on the 23rd and went out to celebrate Quebec day with some fellow backpackers from all over the place. After a really hard morning and no breakfast due to a lack of communication and my stupid idea to book a tour on the 24th, we took place on a coach to visit Glendalough and Wicklow. First of, I am not a fan of that type of tour at all. I like visiting things at my own pace. But its expensive to visit Glendalough from Dublin and it was the cheapest option. The guide/driver took us from the Guinness lake to some impressive point of view and film location, and at the end, to glendalough upper lake where we enjoy a 1h30 of walking in the trails. Chloe like way to much sheep’s.

Back at Dublin, we met some French guy and enjoy a night out in Temple with them and some Germans chicks. Always hard to drink your life out using Guinness as water of life, Just saying! The next day was the hostel 25th anniversary (congrats). We team-up with the two French guy and won their treasure hunt. As a result we won some beer, yes I know more hangover, and some tickets for the book of Kells in Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse and a bad hop on hop off tour bus that we didn’t even finish. This is what we did of our last day of Dublin.

We then made our way to Cork. After a good impression of the city, I was a bit unsatisfied. Cork is not a big city and there is not much to do. The main attraction is the Blarney Castle/stone and it is very expensive ,as you can guess the no1 attraction to be, for what its worth. Anyway we watch England crush my heart again in a great bar name SOHO. You can make you own pint at you table. You have a choice of Guinness and Carlsberg. Recommend to everyone.

Our last two days in Ireland were in Galway. Galway is one of the most charming town I have ever visit. There is only 80 000 peoples and the city centre is fairly small. The greet thing about it is the insane number of pub, the street performers and the fact that it is pedestrian only. We had only a day and a half so we had to choose which day trip we wanted to do. We decided to go for the Cliff of Moher. The tour was a bit cheaper that the one in Dublin but it was not as interesting. Many stop and really long, we visit two castles the cliff who are just amazing and the Burren. We finish our stay in Ireland in style listening to some music in one of Galway’s nice pub.

We are now in Belfast. I am not going to talk about the city now, I will do it in my next blog. I will only say one thing, ok maybe two. First, what is the point of using the Northern Irish pound! Second, they don’t even check you passport.

The hostel:

Dublin:

Isaacs Hostel:
Nice place, in the middle of the city. The location is great and all you might need or want to visit is walking distance. There is a lot of stuff to do in the hostel and the staff is nice. They now serve beer in the garden, have a café (expensive), Wi-fi area downstairs and a TV/reading/pool table/ping-pong room. They have laundry facilities too, great isn’t it. The only problem is that they won a lot of prize in the last year and the hostel lost a bit of its original charm. You have to pay for a lot of their service and the room prices went up a bit. You will still meet a lot of people and I will go back in March for sure.

Cork

Aran House Tourist Hostel:

Well, it is just not a hostel. It is a guess house. The lady who own the place is very nice but there is no other employee and guess. We were only 6 in the hostel and didn’t had any fun. Yes its cheep and it give you a bit of a rest. Good if you want to relax and see a nice dog. The location is perfect, right in front of the train station. Will not go back there….

Galway

Sleepzone hostel:

Like this place, It is very modern, they have a nice garden and great staff. The kitchen is modern and very big. They provide day tours and the location is excellent. However, there is a lot of kids and many school or community group which is annoying by moment. They don’t accept alcohol inside the building so peoples are drinking in their dorm. So it can be a bit noisy. Anyway, just because of the staff I will go back (the hostel is very modern).

Talk to you all (the 10 persons who are fallowing us) soon

Nick

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Photos

I am now part of the Guinness comercial wall....
I am a long long soul cowboy and I have a lon long way to home