Advertisement
Published: March 2nd 2009
I love Ireland!
On the way to Powerscourt...we took the scenic route. Anyone who knows me knows that I sort of have a, well, an obsession with Ireland. (I know all of you that know me well are laughing in agreement right now.) The green pastures, the castles upon castles, the pubs, the Irish people themselves. I mean, who could resist! Michael, Chris and I (all interns) went to Dublin for the weekend and it was marvelous, or shall I say, enchanting!
After work we took a flight into the city, but after bus rides to and from airports we didn't get to our hostel until midnight. Luckily, Dublin is the city that never sleeps. We quickly checked in, but didn't head to bed as normal people do around midnight. Oh no, we headed straight to Temple Bar - the 'touristy' pub area right downtown next to the River Liffey. The city seemed to just sparkle against the river as you can see from one of my pictures. It was absolutely gorgeous. We spent the better part of the evening drinking Guinness and Kilkenny, hopping from pub to pub, and listening to incredible, authentic and live Irish music. (I even saw a guy with a 'Kiss me I'm a Jayhawk' t-shirt on
River Liffey
Our first view of Ireland as we got into the city at midnight. and got really excited!) Finally around 3:00 a.m. when most of the pubs were starting to kick people out, we made our way back to our hostel.
Michael and Chris really wanted to get out of the city and see the Irish countryside. I was more than happy to do the same. I decided going to Wicklow and seeing Powerscourt and possibly Glendalough would be an excellent way to do this. Wicklow is, after all, considered the 'Garden of Ireland'. Michael wanted to rent a car, but Chris and I nixed that idea pretty quickly. I thought it would be best to take a tour bus. The boys decided why not just take a cheap city-to-city bus and then we can spend as much time there as we want. That was our first mistake.
We were on the bus for about an hour and a half before we finally reached the town of Wicklow. I had been getting rather skeptical about this bus ride since about 45 minutes before I thought I had seen a sign for Powerscourt and about 30 minutes before had seen a sign for Glendalough. As we were getting off of the bus we
Chris and Michael
Enjoying our first pints in Temple Bar asked the driver how to get to Powerscourt and he chuckled a little and informed us that we should've gotten off about 45 minutes earlier to get to Powerscourt. Then he told us there's really not a whole lot of anything in the town of Wicklow, but was nice enough to give us exact directions on how to get back. Thus, we took the scenic tour to Powerscourt. Second mistake: Counties and towns very often have the same name in Ireland and when people are using one name to describe the county, it doesn't necessarily apply to the city as well. (Yes, Powerscourt and Glendalough are in Wicklow County, not Wicklow the city.)
Powerscourt is a beautiful old castle with gorgeous gardens. The castle itself isn't incredibly impressive, but the gardens are a totally different story. We spent the better part of the afternoon there, once we finally found it after two bus rides and a hike up a mountain. It was so worth it though. I've attached a few of my favorite pictures from our stroll through the garden for your viewing pleasure.
We picked an exciting weekend to come to Ireland as there was a big
Irish/English rugby match at Croke Park. The town was packed with rugby fans from the two countries and every pub was filled to the rim with people fixated on various screens. We wanted to eat a traditional Irish meal at a pub, but as stated, they were a little packed. So, when we got back to Dublin we walked around for a while, seeing the famous Grafton Street and St. Stephen's Green. Then we had dinner at a really nice little Italian restaurant, with some of the best pizza I think any of us had ever had, and a most friendly waiter as well.
We spent the rest of the evening, surprise, pub crawling in Temple Bar. There were lots of people out and live music to be heard everywhere. The pubs, the streets, everywhere in Ireland is crawling with artists ready and willing to sing and play for you. We saw this really great group called Mutefish play right in the middle of Temple Bar. They were sort of a mix between traditional Irish music and rock. They were so good that Michael and I even bought one of their cd's! After another, late late night in Dublin,
Michael & I
Taking in the beauty at Powerscourt Gardens we returned to our hostel for a few hours of sleep before our final day in Ireland.
Since we were only in Ireland for two days, which is hardly enough do to it justice, we had to do all of the Dublin touristy things in one day. So where did we start? The Guinness Storehouse, of course! By 11:00 a.m. we were enjoying our free pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar overlooking the city and the harbor. We couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was beautiful and it was so clear you could see for miles. Michael and I had seen on an episode of "Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe" that the bartenders at the Gravity Bar use the spout to trace a shamrock into your free pint of Guinness. Michael got upset when I was the only one of us three that the bartender did that for. Sometimes it's great being a girl. 😉
From the Guinness Storehouse, we already had our tour booked at the Old Jameson Distillery. I got the honor of being a whiskey taster. I even got a certificate and everything! Very official! So if you ever need anyone
The Watchtower
We definitely climbed this. to try your whiskeys for you and let you know which one is best, I'm your girl.
Our next stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral. Unlike most churches in Europe, you have to pay to get into St. Patrick's Cathedral. Since I had been there before, I waited with Chris as Michael went in. We all did enjoy the beautiful garden outside the church though.
From there we were getting pretty hungry and walked over to the Temple Bar area and ate at 'The Alamo', the best Mexican food I've ever found in Europe. Mexican food is so scarce in Europe that after you've been here for a while you crave it terribly. It's pretty safe to say we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at 'The Alamo'.
Finally, we took a stroll through Trinity College. We visited the Book of Kells, a manuscript transcribed by Celtic monks around 800 a.d. It is one of the oldest books in the world! We also went through 'The Long Hall' which is one of the oldest libraries in Ireland, dating back to the 16th century. It's absolutely incredible and has thousands of very old books and statues of the world's greatest philosophers.
Chris, Michael, and I
We loved getting out of the city and spending the better part of the afternoon here. Well, as you can see we definitely had our priorities in line on Sunday. Beer, liquor, church, school. Seems quite backwards, but we were in Ireland, so I guess we get an exception this one time.
From there it was back to the hostel, then airport, and eventually Brussels. Ah, it was so hard to leave Dublin for Brussels!
We all agreed that our trip to Ireland was a much needed and well-deserved trip. Getting out of a city and into the peaceful countryside was a necessity for each of us. The long bus ride, though unintended, gave us time to take in the beautiful pastures and for me at least, to think about where I'm at in my life and what I want to do next. (I promise I won't get all sappy on you here.) The pubs gave us a chance to talk to and meet people in a way that it seems you can't do anywhere in the world but Ireland. And there's nothing like going somewhere where everyone speaks English and gives you endless amounts of tap water with ice at restaurants after being in a country who's official language isn't English and
Mutefish
One of the many street performers we saw in Dublin....also one of the best. We even bought their cd. who's restaurants refuse to give out anything but bottled water. (If you've been anywhere in Europe for more than a month, I'm sure you can relate!)
After work today, Michael and I both agreed that we were so much more attentive and productive at work than we had been. We agreed that since Ireland is a lot more like the U.S. than anywhere else in Europe we've been to so far, it was almost like coming home for us. We were able to re-charge and go back to 'Europe' all refreshed. Which is definitely a good thing considering this will probably be one of the busiest weeks of our internship. Secretary Clinton is coming to Brussels Wednesday through Friday and everyone is running around like crazy getting ready for her visit. It's going to be fun, but it's already taking a lot of work. It's very interesting to see how different planning for events are from this side compared to on the campaign. Oh, all the things I'm learning!
So, to end, I hope you all have a wonderful week and I hope to have good Secretary of State stories for you next week!
Slainte!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.06s; Tpl: 0.023s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0281s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ann Anhalt
non-member comment
Nice Entry
Read your blog on our trip to Dublin. We went there a couple of years ago. You got a lot of sights in a very short time. Hope to meet you in Brussels.