Irish Escapades - Dublin, Belfast & Derry

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No regrets about Ireland! We had such a good time here. Arriving last Saturday, we had two full days of exploring the city of Dublin by ourselves before meeting up with the Beckies. Backing up for a minute, our flight in from RyanAir was absolutely terrifying; at one point, the entire plane screamed when the plane dropped suddenly. However, we arrived, happy to be alive.

During our two days of Dublin discovery, we checked out several national buildings of Irish pride. First stop, was the National Museum of Ireland. Here, we checked out a "dead zoo", only to be creeped on by one of the workers. After shutting him down three consecutive times, we waited for our chance to escape, ditching the rest of the exhibits. Our next stop was the National Aquatic Center - the largest in Ireland. We were so excited to just relax in the hot tub for the whole afternoon. However, this was not the kind of center we would have expected in Canada. The three waterslides were weak at best, and there was a huge river with current that pulled people around in a giant circle (and little boys could easily attack April!). The water was quite chilly, so we asked the lifeguard where the hot tub was located. He looked at us like we were crazy and pointed at the bubble pool. We made our way over to find a cold circular pool with cold bubbles that shot straight up the ___. Needless to say, we left disappointed, cold and wet.

On a brighter note, our next visit was the Guinness Storehouse. This was awesome! The coolest building where we learned how Guinness is brewed, advertising history, and even experienced a free cooking demo with a gourmet chef. This is definitely worth seeing, and we plan on experimenting with our new Guinness cookbooks when we get home.

The rest of the week, we spent with the Beckies, who had a cozy little apartment in the Temple Bar area in Dublin. As a group we travelled to Belfast with Becky Palmer, Rebecca (roomie), their friends, Sara (Regina), Kelsey and Claire (Michigan). We checked out the Harry Potter movie, celebrated Jenna's 22 bday at an authentic seafood restaurant, and learned about Ireland's political/religious history on a black cab tour through Belfast. The next day we took a coach out to the rope bridge, the Giants Causeway and the historical city of Derry.

Tonight we plan on hitting up the famous Temple Bar (or any bar in the area). Tomorrow, we will be setting off for Venice, with 24 hours of travelling between plane, bus and train.

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Photos

Voldemort's Lair
The first horcrux lies inside...