For the St. Patrick's Day weekend, I crossed something off my bucket list. I went to Dublin. I found a company that would allow me to go in a group of university people, rather than alone, which was great. I managed to convince a friend to come with me as well, so I would have a buddy. To get there, we took a coach, driving a few hours through Wales to get to Holyhead, where we would take the ferry. It was raining a lot, but once we got away from the coast, the sun came out and the skies were bright blue. On the ferry, my friend Rhiannon and I started talking with two german exchange students who were also on the trip. One, the guy - Timur - actually lives below me in Raleigh Park. We clicked pretty fast and decided to make sure that the three of us girls would be in the same hotel room. We got to Dublin and had some time to settle and get ready for dinner. The hotel rooms were so nice, way better than i expected! We then went to have a group dinner, where i had salmon and stole someone's delicious potatos as they were not eating them. We met two more germans, a brother and sister, and that basically formed the group I spent the weekend with. After dinner, we went to a pub and had a few drinks before returning to the hotel, as the next day would be a very long one!
Since it was St. Patrick's day and we were going to the parade, we all decided to wear our green group shirts for the day. Breakfast was a traditional Irish feast, but I only had some elements, as I am allergic to eggs. I tried the black and white puddings, but i really just couldn't eat it. The taste was not right, maybe i tasted the blood more than other people. The weather started out horrible, sleeting and grey, but turned into rain as the day went on. It pretty much stayed that way all day, unfortunately. Before the parade, we did a walking tour of central Dublin and learned some of the history. Then it was time for the parade. We found a decent spot, though our average and below average heights worked against us. The parade itself was not as awesome as it is rumoured to be, mostly because it was cold and raining and there were pretty large gaps between sections of the parade. None the less, the experience was worth it. Instead of immediately going to a pub like many tourists likely did, we got some lunch and then hit up all the major tourist spots, like several cathedrals and nice buildings. After a supper of McDonalds, we went to a pub where they spoke Gaelige and heard some music. A nice woman talked to us and taught us some of the language. After that, we went to another pub where we heard a live rock band. The guitarists were phenomenal, it was so amazing to watch and hear them play. After that, we went to another bar and ended up spending a few hours there, dancing, before heading back to the hotel to crash for the night.
Our last day, monday, was reserved for major tourist things. We went to the Guiness storehouse and took a tour of that. We got to try the beer, which i personally really didn't like. As a beer, it was probably great, but as a strong disliker of beer in general, i really could't drink more than a little bit we got as a taste test. I used my free drink voucher for a coke! After that, our group headed down to the river and we walked alongside it, taking pictures as we headed towards the centre of Dublin. We stopped by the hard rock cafe in Temple Bar before going to Trinity College to try and see the Book of Kells. Unfortunately, it was closing when we got there, so we went to see Oliver Wilde's House instead. By then, it was raining pretty strongly, so we split up, the germans going to find a restaurant and Rhiannon and I going to see the Library and government buildings. We went to a tourist shop and I bought an "I love Ireland" t-shirt and then we joined the rest of the group. We had burgers for dinner and they were really good, but the service started out horrible. Our waiter didn't seem to like us and got my order wrong. I complained and they fixed my burger and gave me a free drink! After wasting some time there, we went to the bus stop, where we would get on our coach and make the 9 hour journey back to Nottingham overnight. All in all, a very enjoyable weekend and I loved seeing Dublin. The city is beautiful, but if i ever return, it will be in the summer!
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