Dublin, Ireland!

landed: Friday @ 3:45 p.m.

departed: Sunday @ 6:25 a.m.

Weekend trip #3 with the Santa Clara Girls: Cheryl, Sarah, and Stephanie

So here I went again, roaming around Europe to spend approximately 48 hours in a place completely new. Sadly, I did not find Lucky Charms (they're outlawed in the Europe), leprechauns (though I found a stag and hen parties wearing leprechaun hats!), see a rainbow (though it did rain our first evening), spot a pot of gold, or kiss an Irishman (which I can probably live without....). However what I did do was...

* see and roam around Temple Bar

- which really isn't an actual bar at all! Actually I take that back, there is a Temple Bar, but the area that is referred to as Temple Bar is actually named after a gentleman with the last name Temple and Bar is derived from an Irish word meaning area. The streets were filled with people and live music spilled out of pubs, but what I will remember about this area is Quay's Restaurant that served the best Irish Beef Stew in the city! The night was cold and the rain didn't help much so to fill our bellies with warm, comforting stew with a side a mash and Irish potato bread was a dream come true!
- also...we couldn't find our age group! What are the 20 somethings doing in Dublin?!?!?

*pictures @Trinity College

So...apparently the president of Trinity College during the 19th century was asked when women could attend the College and he replied, "Over my dead body" and of course, conveniently, the old man dies a week later and women are admitted. So on the anniversary of his death date, the women dress his statue in women's clothes. Poor guy is probably rolling around his grave! The campus was small but gorgeous and picturesque with wonderful columns, bricks, and cobblestone streets.

*Dublin Castle

it was unfortunately closed when we went to go visit it, but it should probably be more appropriately named Dublin Tower because the thing was TINY! Buckingham Palace could have had Dublin Castle for breakfast! It was also weird to look at because the people who look over it now paved over part of the cobblestones to make a parking lot...so in some of our pictures you can see VW bugs and then across the street is a very modern building.

*Churches - every street corner there is some sort of church, the Irish don't only believe in luck but faith as well. St. Patrick's...St. Kevin's...St. Margaret's.....SOOO many churches!

*Guinness Beer Factory/Storehouse - Grandpa Piper, this visit was for you! I think I would have been so ashamed to come home back to California having been in Dublin and not gone/drank any of the Guinness beer. The girls and I got our beverage education, saw the original 9000 year lease that Mr. Guinness had signed during the 18th century and had a few complimentary drinks. Cheryl and Stephanie pulled their own pints, I fell in love with the Guinness advertising section =P John Gilroy has become one of my favorite 20th century media artists. The Gravity Bar at the top (7 stories high!) had amazing views of Dublin and it was there that the four of discovered that Guinness Beer is perfectly complemented with pretzel sticks and m&m milk chocolate crispy candies! Sarah and I had the Foreign Extra Stout - the original beer that Guinness mass produced after halting his ale production and boy was it strong compared to the Porter! I can't say that Guinness will beat out Fruli, but cheers to you Grandpa Piper, this visit was for you!

* Howthe Beach side

- some of my flatmates a few weeks back had visited Dublin and one girl in particular kept emphasizing how we needed to see the beach side of Dublin. It was about a 30 minute DART ride and we got there by sunset to see the sun melt into the waters. The color of the sky was absolutely beautiful. We had dinner at local restaurant where they served seafood chowder with big chunks of salmon and potatoes - SOOO good! If I ever return to Dublin, I'd probably want to spend more time here!

So among the things I'd never ever thought I'd do in my lifetime...

* fall asleep in a hostel common room to only be thrown at 1:30 in the morning b/c we had forgotten to make a reservation for two nights...

* be extremely happy to find a kebab shop open until 4am to "house" us until it was time to get to the airport (abra-kebab-bra; the Irish version of Taco Bell...nothing else comes close!)

* be roaming around the mainstreet of Dublin at 3 in the morning analyzing the bullet holes of the Dublin General Post Office's columns from when pirate-like rebels took over it and used it as a HQ during the early 20th century (p.s. GORGEOUS POST OFFICE!)

* that I'd ever be commenting on how pretty a post office is...

*be misled by several hostel employees regarding late night/early morning transportation for the airport...it happened in Prague...and sure enough it happened again in Dublin...the Airport Express never came and luckily we were able to share a cab with an English bloke (shout out to Michael Jon Alp of Kent!) which averaged to 5 Euro/person = cheaper than the bus would have been!

* sprinting to our gate because we narrowly missed our flight back to London because we were actually having fun at the airport at 5 in the morning

* holding onto a baby for a woman who was traveling alone in the security line

* falling asleep before take off and waking up right after landing, therefore missing the flight from Dublin to London completely because I was so exhausted.

...but the important part was...we survived! This week I've got papers, midterms, presentations, and finals to conquer. Fall break is next week and I'll be heading off to Italy and Spain!!!! Thus, I'm sorry to say but pictures won't be uploaded for a while as a result. But...until next time...

...any suggestions for Italy and Spain?

...any contacts would be greatly appreciated!

...I miss you all!

...p.s. Thank you beau-coup.com for including me into the beau-coup family circle with your fleece jacket, b/c it's saved my life from cold in three countries and counting!

...P.P.S Looking for fall favors? Check-out beau-coup.com for all your party needs, they've got TONS of CLASSY and TASTEFUL gifts and party supplies!

avec la joie de vivre,

<3 Kimmie