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Published: December 8th 2008
At the beginning of the year, we decided that we would spend a whole week in Ireland. As we soon realized, this was a good idea. Jumping around to different countries during a period of 5 days is exhausting. It means a switch of language, culture, everything. So staying in Ireland for five days was ultimately a good decision.
However, by the time we got to rain-soaked green-hilled Dublin, we all just kinda wanted to be home.
It wouldn't have been so bad if the following day wasn't Thanksgiving. But I digress.
We arrived in Ireland at around 9:30, and took a taxi to our hostel, Litton Lane. Our driver was the coolest woman ever: big gal with the thickest accent, swearing up a storm at crazy (probably drunk) Irish drivers. Awesome. She got us to the hostel in about 20 minutes, all the while telling us little tidbits and pointers about Dublin. "Doon't wahlk by yerself, gerhls. Jus' doon't do iht." She may have been one of my favorite parts of the five days. The hostel appeared very nice when we checked in, and we spent some time in the lounge before heading up to bed, to
obviously collapse. We apparently were sharing a room with 7 other people. Cozy. However, we made the most of it, and unpacked a little, washing our faces, and sinking into the rather uncomfortable bunks. The next day, we were planning to go to Trinity College and see the Book of Kells, among other things.
We woke up around 9:30, and went to Burger King. We soon realized that fast food was not cheap here, leaving us with very few dining options for breakfast. A sandwich and a drink cost upwards of 7 euro. Ew. Not cool at all. However, we made the best of it, and started walking about Dublin. In the center of the city stands a beautiful spire, just built for the Millennium. It's a simple spike that stands about 70-90 feet into the air, made out of a gorgeous silver metal. We walked over the O'Connell bridge, and no sooner had we done that that we happened upon other Emerson students, who were also staying in Dublin! They showed us where Trinity College was, and after brief exchanges of stories, we parted ways. Trinity's lawn in front of the school is the most vivid shade of
green I've ever seen, and it's a beautifully structured school. The main thing on everyone's mind of course, was to see the Book of Kells, an ancient text dating back to the early thousands. It was a little pricey to see it (as EVERYTHING was in Dublin), but most definitely worth it. In fact, it was probably the best-spent money during our stay. With little left to do besides wander around the very green campus, we decided to head to the Guinness Storehouse, which was a "short" walk away from where we currently were. It wasn't short, but we did see a lot of other cool things on the way, namely Christ Church, another medieval building, similar in structure to Westminster Abbey or Notre Dame.
After walking for about 10-15 minutes, and seeing some very funny and ironic businesses (see pictures below) we happened upon signs that lead us down a few little side streets. We soon happened upon the giant building that was the Guinness Storehouse. It was 10 euro to get in, which included a free pint at the end. Not too bad, I guess. We were greatly amused by the amount of hype given to the
She missed me
I made it across the street before the other two.beer, and were transfixed for about 20 minutes, watching old television ads for Guinness, that featured adorable, animated animals. Hmmm...perhaps aimed at the wrong demographic?
Once we finally drank the beer, it didn't really live up to the expectations that we'd been seeing/hearing for the past hour (slogans like, "It's Alive Inside", "There's Poetry in a Pint", etc). Kelsey and Alysia flat out didn't like it. I enjoyed my pint, but agreed that it wasn't absolutely the end-all-be-all beer. I'm sure there are many who would disagree with me. However, the bar where we were served, called The Gravity Bar, offered beautiful views of Dublin and its surrounding suburbs. On our way out, crazily enough, we ran into more Emerson kids, this time the token stoners of the castle. They were headed to Liverpool the next day, and after animated conversation, we parted ways and the three of us headed back to find somewhere to eat. We happened upon a little place called Copper Alley Bistro, which was serving soup and sandwiches for 5 euro. That's the prices we like to see! Not only was it cheap, but it was filling and delicious. I think hearty's the right word for
Take a minute...
We need one of these signs. that.
After sticking around in the restaurant for a good hour and a half, we walked back to the center of town, and stayed in the hostel's lounge for a little while.
Something I've noticed about Europeans is that they're constantly labeling Americans as loud, rude, and piggish. However, 9 out of 10 times, it hasn't been the Americans who have been living up to that stereotype, but the Europeans. I can't count how many times, on a Dutch train, that loud conversations have erupted, usually involving drunkenness. Similarly, in this hostel, there were a group of about 4 french people who were not only yelling (rather obscene) things in french, but also displaying way too much public affection. NOT cool. To make matters worse, 2 of the people were in our room. Splendid.
This made us really not want to stay in our hostel. At around 7, we went to "Eddie" Rockets, a major knock off of Johnny Rockets, which served probably the worst and most expensive food in Dublin. We made light of the situation, though, and ended up staying there as long as possible to delay going back to the hostel. We envisioned what the restaurant would
be like if it was run by all the Musical Theater majors at the castle. Hilarity ensued. However, at a certain point we didn't really have a choice but to go back to the hostel. None of us really had any money, so we couldn't go out to a pub. We ended up, most of the time, going to bed early and waking up late. However, of course we had the awful roommate. I was waiting for this. He came in the form of a 30-something Turkish man who had the worst B.O. ever, we suspect tried to come on to Kelsey, and would storm in at 4 at the morning, swearing like crazy about how the window was open and somebody should shut the thing. Of course, Alysia and I always wanted to shout "shut it yourself," but for fear of being assaulted, we kept this to ourselves. It would have been a lot scarier if he was our only roommate. Luckily we had really nice guys and gals in there with us too, so we felt safer.
PROBLEM: We have no money to spend on expensive, and oftentimes disgusting, breakfast.
SOLUTION: Sleep through breakfast.
This was
our mindset the majority of the trip. It worked for the majority of the time. When we woke up the next morning, it was 10:45. Alysia and Kelsey went to sleep again until about 11:30, but I had a snorer under me, and couldn't get back to sleep. I ended up wandering downstairs and surfing the net for about a half hour. I got really homesick, mainly with it being Thanksgiving Day. I sent off emails and facebook messages to a few people, and by that time, the two other girls were up and showered. And we had succeeded in prolonging our day until lunchtime! We headed out to "Supermacs!", a generic version of McDonald's. However, this place was a LOT better and a LOT cheaper than McDonald's, and with more quality food. Yay! After lunch, we decided to hop on a bus tour that would take us around the city for an hour, and kill some time while we got to see interesting sights. And how interesting they were! Inclusive on this trip was the statue of Molly Malone, the Temple Bar, Oscar Wilde's birthplace and memorial statue, the biggest gated park in the world, and just really beautiful
and old areas of Dublin. After stopping off as Wilde's birthplace and statue, we headed back to an internet cafe to call home and surf the net. By this time, it was about 6, and nearing dinner time. We had decided ahead of time that we would have a nice meal on Thanksgiving, and did we ever: Restaurant Six was located in a hotel, and for not a huge amount of money, we got soup and fresh soda bread, lamb, mashed potatoes, veggies, Guinness, chocolate cake, and an Irish coffee for desert! Yum. Thoroughly satisfying, but definitely not as satisfying as cranberry sauce, and turkey with gravy smothered all over it. And heaps of mashed potatoes. There were definitely not enough potatoes for my liking. Ironic, because we were in Ireland and everything.
The next day brought a morning trip to Howth, a little seaside town a ways outside Dublin. It was peaceful, and reminded Kelsey and I of RI. We walked along the water for a good hour, then snooped in the little stores. It was very Jamestown. After lunch, though, we realized there wasn't much more to do. We went back to Dubin City Center, with it's gloriously
lit Christmas tree, and decided to see a movie, something we hadn't done for three months. We saw the new DeNiro flick. Very funny. My kind of comedy. After dinner at Subway, we went back to the hostel, and watched "Waking Ned Devine". Soon, we all drifted to sleep, mentally preparing for the next day.
Utilizing our solution to breakfast, we woke at 11, and ate lunch at McD's. Bad choice, and we were all at this point starting to get really frustrated with just how expensive everything was. However, there were Christmas Markets near the Temple Bar area, and just a few minutes there lifted everyone's spirits. It was the traditional Irish spirit that we had all be aching for. Loud, bustling food markets that smelled like heaven and curry, fresh juices, and secondhand books. Awesome.
After our foray into the markets, we grabbed a relaxing cup of Starbucks, and lazed about the city for the rest of the day, culminating with hot muffins at Supermacs. We got to bed early, in order to catch our flight out the next morning at 8.
I'm not sure how I felt about Dublin. It was probably a bad idea to
stay there for 5 days. It's a wonderful city, but 5 days got to be a little much, especially because of the money. I wouldn't mind going back there, but perhaps with somewhere else to stay.
This will probably be the penultimate entry folks, because well, I'm home next Friday...
I can't wait to see you.
Love,
T
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Bumley McMarshmallow
non-member comment
Shite, where've all the taters got to?
I love the Irish "T" sound. Tickles the back of the teeth. Irish swearing really does have a sweetish side to it. Now some of us are wondering what will the first thing she will eat when back home? Something home cooked would be a good guess. What other food craving? Cheeseburger? Pizza? DONUTS!!!!??? Well I don't have anything really funny to harass you with today. How about a joke? Q: How many men does it take to open a beer? A: None- it should be open when she brings it. Ooooooh Bad!!!!!