Life in Ireland

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So we've been in Ireland for a few weeks now and I love it over here. We've been staying with Stef's family the whole time an they are awesome! And the weather we've been getting is amazing....we've been laying in the yard in the sun everyday for the last week and it's getting warmer....I love it!
When we arrived we were set up at Eileen and Nicky's house and they have two kids Adam(11) and Hannah(10) (so cute!). The first few days that we were here we didn't really do much, just visited with the family. Including Stef's mum there are 6 sisters and 2 brothers and all of them have children....so Ihave a bit of studying names to do! So far it's been good though, they are all really nice and all the kids are awesome! I think what i love most about Ireland is the slang. I've picked up a few new words and phrases that will probabaly get me some weird looks at home, I can't wait! haha Aye, it's good craic. (see!!)
A couple days in they took us up to Newcastle on the East coast. It was a beautiful day out so we walked along the beach, had a few drinks at the pub and got some ice cream and walked through the town. That evening we got together with more of the family and just had some drinks and visited.
We went into Belfast a few days later and took a bus tour around the city. Belfast is a really neat place with a lot of interesting background. We drove through where the Catholic-Protestant wars took place, saw a few buildings that are still standing that are covered in bullet holes from the fighting and drove over the peace line. The stories are uinbelievable and yet Belfast is now named the second safest city in the world next to Tokyo; that I never would have guessed.
Today we just got back from Dublin and I think I fell in love with that city. So far Dublin is by far my most favorite place we've been to. It's a gorgeous city, it's old but at the same time it's new. We did the bus tour there as well which we really enjoyed. We went into the Guiness Factory and that was really cool to see. And at the end you got a free pint of Guinness and sat in the highest bar in Ireland that overlooked all of Dublin....so cool! The Guiness was ok, definately not something I'd choose to drink but it was ok. We went through Trinity College as well which was really nice and probably my most favorite part of Dublin was Temple Bar. It's a few blocks full of pubs, restaurants and hotels but the atmosphere there, especially at night, was just awesome. We spent both our nights just wandering around Temple Bar, and the first night we went into a small pub and watched a local Irish fiddle band play and they were really good! It was just nice to sit in the local pub, watching a live local band play and have a drink. The hostel we stayed in was not the nicest hostel I've ever seen, and I don't think I'd even stay in a co-ed room with 10 people in it again if I had the choice....not fun. But that's all part of the adventure! And there's plenty more adventure to come!

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Comments

[Nicky]

Enjoy Europe
Kirsten, Glad you enjoyed your stay. We enjoyed having you pair here and looking forward to seeing how you get on in Europe. Eileen, Hannah, Adam and I wish all the best for the rest of your trip. Enjot the Craic!!!