Spring Break Pt. 1/3: Bonnies Invade Ireland

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I’m back! And in one piece! Everything went swimmingly, just like I though it wouldn’t 😉. We only had one tiny plan change on the first night, but I will explain later. I have decided to make 3 blogs of my Spring Break adventures because I went to 3 different countries. The first was Ireland, Abby’s country of choice. Let’s see how long this takes me…good thing I’m done with classes for the day.

FIRST STOP: Cork, Ireland. We were warned about a week in advance that there was going to be an air line strike in the Rome airport starting at 11:30am or something like that. I’ve learned, in Italy, you can just do things like that. We also were told that our airline, Aer Lingus, was not going to be participating. We thought we were set for sure.

The night before, we went out for Abby’s 20th birthday. We decided to take a train to the airport, which was leaving at the ridiculous hour of 6:43am. To catch that train, we had to take a taxi from the city center, to the bus station, then a bus to the train station. So, we all made sure we were back by 3am, (there were 8 of us total) then grabbed our backpacks and met at 3:30am for the taxis. This way, we could get through security before the strike began.

After about 5 or 6 hours of travelling, we finally got to the airport about an hour before check in. Perfect. Time for breakfast at McDonald’s! We checked in, parted with our other 4 friends heading to Vienna, and went through the huge security line. We got though fine and headed to our gate for the 11:20 flight. We waited. And waited past the 11:00 boarding time. And waited some more. Turns out the strike became an airport strike, where the people who were supposed to scan our tickets to get on the plane just didn’t show up. We watched our plane just sitting outside for the whole time. FINALLY we were allowed to board, slept during our whole flight and got to Cork around 4pm, not the scheduled 1:30pm. We were travelling with another Bonnie, Alex, and were meeting yet another Bonnie, Chris who is studying abroad in Galway, at the Blarney Castle. Bonnies invaded Blarney! We all met up and smooched the Blarney Stone! Yes me and all my non-existent Irish heritage now apparently will have luck and “grow in eloquence” for the rest of my days. It was actually pretty fun and I’m happy I can say I did it.

SECOND (UNPLANNED) STOP: Limerick, Ireland. We all then went to a late lunch at a near-by place and planned to take a bus to Galway when we were finished. After sitting on a bus for a while, we stopped in Limerick and were told it was the last stop of the night for the bus line. Umm but we bought tickets to get us to Galway? Nope, wasn’t going to happen, we were told to try another bus company. We couldn’t even find it! So, being positive young travelers, we were just going to get a 5 person hostel and take a bus in the morning. That also was not the case. After milling around Limerick for 2 hours and talking to very nice locals, even the police, we were informed that a hotel would be much too expensive and that the hostels are closed till summer. We were frustrated and tired and were advised to just take a taxi to Galway. It’s a pretty far drive, but we negotiated with the driver to have us only pay 25 euro each and he agreed. Good thing, because we were about 30 euro over by the time we got there.

We had already cancelled our hostel in Galway thinking we would just stay in Limerick that night, so the three of us girls were officially homeless. Chris, luckily, said we could stay at his apartment for the night, so we were saved! The next day, we went to Kinlay Hostel in Galway, dropped our stuff found a place that served Irish breakfast all day, and ate all of it. It was so delicious we were in heaven, we forgot about breakfast! After that, we walked along the rocky beach and saw the light house and…a rainbow! That night Chris brought us out in Galway and we had so much fun at all these Irish pubs with live music and Guinness!

THIRD STOP: Dublin, Ireland. The next day, we made moves to Dublin on a 10 or 11am bus from Galway. Ireland is so incredibly green! And Dublin is so incredibly huge. Much bigger than I expected. We walked around the city after checking into Abigail’s Hostel and that night went on a pub crawl with a group that you pay 12 euro to join, and get free or discounted drinks at every pub you enter. Unfortunately, because it was a Sunday night, the scene was not very popular, but we still had some fun.

That next morning we went to the Guinness Factory! It was actually hilarious to just walk through the whole thing, try Guinness randomly along the way, and finally reach the 7^th and top floor. The factory was actually laid out very nicely, I was impressed! We were invited to a “private tasting” where we tried 3 different kinds of Guinness and learned about where they were sold in the world. With our ticket we also got a free pint that we could redeem at the Gravity Bar or at the bar where you could pour your own pint. We decided to do it ourselves, with the help of a staff member. We got a certificate with our name on it and everything! Before leaving, we stopped at the huge gift store and ran into Alex who had gotten to Dublin that day on his own. Bonnies invaded the Guinness Factory! Unintentionally! After that, we walked around Dublin some more and went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral before catching a flight to London.

I loved Ireland and our delicious Irish breakfast. I couldn’t get over how pretty it was and now nice everyone was. If we had a map in our hand even for a second, someone would approach us and ask if we needed directions. It was also so different from Italy, including how everyone dresses (people were in sweatshirts!! So opposite of Italy) and the cities themselves. I found myself feeling less out of place and more at ease here because there was no language barrier.

I told my mom I would go back to Galway with her! For my 21^st? Or your 52nd?? Deal : )

Part two: Bonnies Invade London

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Photos

*muah*
me kissing the Blarney Stone!

Irish Breakfast
and delicious coffee

Slainte!!
Me, Abby and Carrie in the Guinness Factory

Unintentionally Invading Dublin!
Me, Abby, Carrie and Alex