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Published: March 19th 2007
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My longest weekend away from Bilbao was this past weekend, where I spent 5 days in Ireland. I left after class on Thursday morning and met Ryan, who had been there the whole week for his spring break, in Dublin. We stayed with some of his distant relatives who were kind enough to house us and feed us and sit down with us for more afternoon teas than I've ever had before!
My first full day in Ireland was Friday. We had an early start every day to see as much as possible. Today, we went took a train to the city center from where we stayed in Booterstown, and went walking from there. Our first stop was Dublin Castle, which we didn't have time to take a tour of, so we just admired the courtyard and the building from the outside. We stopped at the cutest shop ever across the street, the Queen of Tarts, for tea and warm apple crumble to get out of the cold wind for a little bit! We continued on our way, admiring the old churches and riverfront as we walked through the city, and finally arrived at the Guinness Storefront, the must-see
Parade
Everything in the parade was so elaborate and colorful, and everyone was in such high spirits! tourist attraction in Dublin. Being St. Patrick's Day weekend, the city was filled with tourists, and there was a huge line around the building. Fortunately, it moved quickly, and we were soon inside. It's huge! It's seven stories high, and every floor contains different information and history and multimedia about how Guinness was conceived and how it's made today. We also got to sample different brews throughout the storehouse, and we had samples of food made with guinness. Yum. The best part was on the 7th floor, where you received a complimentary pint at the observation deck bar, with a panoramic view of the city and lounge chairs in the circular bar. After the factory tour, we walked around some more to see the famous Temple Bar area, which is both an actual pub as well as the name for the general main street of pubs and bars and shops. We stopped in one of them to have some traditional Irish food for lunch, and afterwards, we walked around St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Stephens Green, Trinity College's grounds, and Grafton Street, which Ryan and I agreed reminded us a lot of Third Street Promenade in Los Angeles. (Dublin, to me,
Western Ireland
Nenagh, Ireland is a very, very westernized city, like a mini-London almost in many aspects.) We were exhausted at this point, so we went to grab coffee at a bookstore and sat and read for a while, then walked to an amaaazing Italian restaurant for our first nice dinner out together all semester.
The next day was St. Patrick's Day! We woke up early again, and Ryan's great aunt made us a complete Irish breakfast to keep us warm for the parade. We got to O'Connell Street early so we could get pictures up close and see them setting up for the actual event at noon. It was so cool to see the Irish's take on this holiday - it was unlike any parade I've ever seen in Chicago! Once the actual parade started, the streets were PACKED with people. Good thing we got there early to see all the performers; we wouldn't have seen anything just watching the parade! We didn't stay until the end of the parade, and instead walked through Temple Bar to the other side of the river to have lunch at Brazen's Head, which claims to be Dublin's oldest pub. They had a special, traditional St.
Patty's Day menu, which we enjoyed as the place filled up with fans eager for the rugby game to begin. It was amazing seeing the whole city go green for the day. After that, we walked through the madness a little more to shop, then went back home to meet Ryan's other relatives from Nenagh, Ireland, about 2.5 hours on the other side of the country near Limerick. We had some tea with everyone, then piled in the car to visit Nenagh for a day. We got there after dark, so we dropped off our stuff in the house, went into town to have dinner, and met a couple friends of Ryan's second cousin's who insisted on talking over drinks - many rounds of drinks - as we soon learned was the Irish custom. They can drink Guinness like water!!
The next morning we visited a few places where Ryan's grandma grew up many, many years ago and saw a bit of Ireland that was very distinct from the big city of Dublin. We met relatives he didn't even know he had, and had a big homemade lunch with the family before heading back to Dublin. Ryan and I
walked around a shopped a little once we got back, and after having high tea/dinner later with even more relatives, the two of us walked down the street to a local restaurant/pub for after dinner drinks. The place was warm and cozy, with big booths and fireplaces in every room, and the most amazing cup of Irish coffee I've ever had! It was the perfect place to spend the last night there out of the cold - the city had already cancelled the fireworks that night because of the ridiculously strong winds, and at this point in the evening, it had started to snow!!
We hung out in the aiport for a little the next morning after saying bye to our gracious hosts, enjoyed some incredible Irish cheese and crackers, and then said a sad goodbye for the rest of the semester as I boarded my plane. I am so glad we got to meet up in Ireland if only for a short while. I feel like my experience gave me a rounded view of the city - I saw all the touristy stuff plus how the locals live, and I'd love to go back to other parts of Ireland to see even more of the country.
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Green with envy
What a wonderful first time to visit Ireland over St. Patrick's Day! Wow! I am happy you were able to see Ryan. I know first hand how hard those good-byes can be...sniff...sniff! Great photo of you two! :)