After spending about a week in London, I spent three days in Manchester with my friend Steph. We made pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, toured Manchester United, baked a rainbow cake, watched High School Musical 3, and got three solid nights of sleep. It was fantastic.
On Thursday we boarded a plane with lots of loud, foul-mouthed, drunk, British teenage boys and headed to Dublin. Once we lost the hooligans in customs, our trip got much better. We arrived in Dublin in time to have dinner in a real-life Irish pub. I had a burger and fries, and it was everything. After the delicious dinner at the pub, we wandered around and found our way to Temple Bar. We gathered around a band playing in the street called Keywest. We both ended up buying their CD we enjoyed it so much! I absolutely love music, so hanging out in the streets of Dublin listening to Keywest play and other solo performers was probably one of the highlights of my entire trip. The culture is impossible to describe in words or using pictures, but it is so cool to experience.
Friday was marathon day. We boarded a bus at 7:10 a.m. and went for an all-day tour of Ireland. Our first stop was at a gas station named after President Obama because his ancestors are apparently from that town. It was very interesting how everything in that town has his name on it. It's their claim to fame, I suppose. After we left a the gas station, I was a bit weary of what else would be on the tour. I mean, the first stop was a gas station. Oh, excuse me, "petrol station." *Insert sass here* Good news, it got better from there. On our way to the Cliffs of Moher we passed lots of castles and towers, we heard stories about fairies- the Irish take their fairies extremely seriously- and enjoyed? being serenaded the entire ride with Irish music. Fun fact: the picture below is a tower not a castle.
Finally, we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher! We were very excited. The weather was fantastic- for Ireland. It was cold, not too windy, and cloudy but no rain! We saw O'Brien's tower and walked all along the cliffs. I took a hundred pictures, didn't get blown off the cliff, and I didn't even lose a shoe in the mud. Very successful trip. In all seriousness, the cliffs were beautiful. I really can't describe them in words, but here is a picture of Steph and me on them trying to look happy not hangry.
Around 3:30 p.m. we made it to Galway. After a fast and informative walking tour with our tour guide Granya, we found a place to eat. Keep in mind, at this point in the day all I've eaten is a donut from Barak Obama's gas station. As you can imagine, I was an absolute delight to be around. But after eating chicken, potatoes, and vegetables at Sonny Molloy's I was an actual delight, because people, that dinner was GOOD. The Irish potatoes, the sauce, the chicken, the healthy vegetables instead of carbs and pasta, it was magnificent. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. At this point in my journey, that was the best thing I ate on the entire trip. But, hold your horses 'cause it's not over yet!
After that wonderfully filling dinner we boarded the bus and began the three hour trek back to Dublin. As we were walking towards our hostel, we noticed a brightly colored, inviting ice cream shoppe. We decided that Galway was lunch after all, and that ice cream with waffles was dinner. Great decision. I love adulthood. I promise I'll eat better this weekend in Rome, Mom.
Saturday morning we headed to Guinness. We learned all about the four ingredients in Guinness, stood in front of a waterfall, saw the barrels they used to make individually by hand to hold the special Guinness and, finally, got a taste of it. Me, the girl who hates beer, was drinking a Guinness in Ireland at 11 o'clock on a Saturday morning. But not before the Irish woman asked me, and only me out of everyone I was with for my ID. Fun fact: In Ireland you only have to be 16 to be served beer in a licensed premises. So apparently, I look like a 15 year old, which explains why I still get offered the kids' menu at restaurants in the U.S. But I did drink a Guinness, so yay me. When I say, "I drank a Guinness" I mean, I got to pull my own beer which was super fun and exciting, and then I felt obligated to take sips of it 'till my friends finished theirs. I maybe had five sips. It was good for a dark beer? I had fun.
Saturday morning we headed to Guinness. We learned all about the four ingredients in Guinness, stood in front of a waterfall, saw the barrels they used to make individually by hand to hold the special Guinness and, finally, got a taste of it. Me, the girl who hates beer, was drinking a Guinness in Ireland at 11 o'clock on a Saturday morning. But not before the Irish woman asked me, and only me out of everyone I was with for my ID. Fun fact: In Ireland you only have to be 16 to be served beer in a licensed premises. So apparently, I look like a 15 year old, which explains why I still get offered the kids' menu at restaurants in the U.S. But I did drink a Guinness, so yay me. When I say, "I drank a Guinness" I mean, I got to pull my own beer which was super fun and exciting, and then I felt obligated to take sips of it 'till my friends finished theirs. I maybe had five sips. It was good for a dark beer? I had fun.
After touring the Guinness factory, Steph left :( and Caity, Kathleen and I headed to the Dublin Castle. It was lovely. I decided it was my new life goal to buy the castle and make a Thanksgiving dinner there because entertaining in that hall would be the bomb.com. I don't care that only old people use that saying when they're trying to be cool, I'm using it. I really liked the room with the blue carpet, and I was particularly excited by all of the fancy doorknobs. Add fancy doorknobs to dream house wishlist.
After the Dublin Castle we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I really loved that place. First of all, the people there were so kind and friendly. Second, they had activities there for people, too! I made a brass rubbing of a person. You press the paper on the brass cutout of the person, and rub the crayon sideways until the person shows up. I also enjoyed seeing the grave of Jonathan Swift the man that wrote A Modest Proposal- if you can't remember, he's the guy who wrote about eating babies. So that was entertaining.
After St. Patrick's Cathedral we went to Trinity College's campus and saw the Book of Kells. It was so cool. I can't imagine being a monk and having to spend so much time writing so neatly and accurately all day every day in a really important book. I complain about the fact that we have to handwrite our notes this semester instead of type, and I'm the only one who looks at those. Long story in a huge book which they eventually turned into four short: The Book of Kells is super cool.
The next day we took it easy in Dublin. We tried to see the jails but after waiting in line for an hour playing heads up on my phone we realized we didn't have time to wait for the tour. It's okay because we bonded and had fun. While Kathleen spent some time with her family, Caity and I walked around Dublin, saw the famine figures, and saw the movie How to Be Single. I was also able to meet up with my friend Andrew and his girlfriend Amy. It was so great to see them and catch up in the middle of a Dublin street. My life is so crazy. We had a great day.
Our last day in Dublin was centered around a place called Lemons. We went there for breakfast, and I had the most delicious thing I've had on this trip so far. It was a waffle with fruit on it. I know it doesn't sound all that exciting, but it was just so good. Fun fact: that delicious looking whipped stuff is butter, not whipped cream. I learned that one the hard way. We loved that place so much we went back for lunch. I got a Mexican crepe. In Dublin. Don't judge 'till you've been out of America for over a month.
After a very long two weeks out of the Schengen region, we boarded a plane back "home" to Lugano.