I am cheating by combining my 4 days in Ireland into one blog but it would take way to long to explain everyday and lets be honest its not exactly my most memorable trip. No offense to the Irish culture, in fact it's a testiment to them! I don't remember it because it's the land of Guiness (which I adore) filled with hot men who speak with panty dropping accents! Since it's my 2nd time in Ireland, I was well aware that I would drink more than I should and view amazing castles with an overwhelming hangover! From what I remember and the photos, I know for certain I had an amazing time!
Thursday Feb. 25:
I can't sleep the night before a plane ride, I love the excitement that only boarding a plane to another country can bring. This trip was no different, I was picked up at 4:30am with only an hour of sleep, counting down the hours until my first pint and my first snog. My first trip to the island last year brought no snogs, well it did but they were Brits (perhaps a factor in picking my new home). I noticed that my passport served no purpose, they didn't even look, in fact I smuggled in a can of airosal hairspray, either I don't look like a terrorist or the security is worthless. 45minutes later, we were in Ireland. We checked into our humble hostel. I've never done a hostel, but when I saw no blankets I couldn't help believe that I was overcharged (15 pounds a night). Afterall it is winter here! We booked a 12 person room, we were the only ones checked in. Since it was only 10am, we walked the city(saw St. Patrick's, Christ Church, Guiness Factory). Dublin is not the best representation of Ireland, or at least the images anyone has of Ireland...but we walked it all the same. By 7pm we were at the bar, many bars in fact. They all blurred together. Here's what I know: It was fucking expensive, especially considering we did shots, lots of shots. How we dropped 100 Euro each I will never know because I didn't buy all my drinks, neither did my friend. The famous Temple bar brought snog #5 the hickey giver. I don't know how it happened, I was surrounded by 4 hotties, my friend was talking to a couple of others, next thing I know a guy kisses me, then my neck. Since I'm not in middle school, I stopped him after 5 seconds, 3 seconds too late. I had a hickey (I didn't discover this till the next morning) The Irish loved us and we loved them, especially when they were singing Irish tunes. We danced, we made friends, we drank too much, so much so I wasn't allowed in the nightclub. According to the bouncer "I had trouble written all over my face". I stuffed my face with chicken nuggets and attempted again, this time making a deal with the bouncers promising my drunk eating would prevent me from starting any trouble. The nightclub brought snog #6. He was hot, tall, dark hair, blue eyes.....around 4 we all left. His friend was kicking game to Ashley and I didn't make it two blocks before kissing the hot Irishman. This went on for blocks until I said goodbye. I woke up at 6 am to Ashley telling me to get up. Drunk, confused, and freezing she bought the last blanket the hostel had (yup blankets are not a necessity at Browns hostel) so we shared a twin bed and huddled together to keep warm.
Friday Feb. 26
Drinking through Ireland is fun but you have to see some shit while you are there too. We decided to book a trip outside of the city to the Wicklow Mountains, Kilkenny city and castle, and some other historical sites. Hungover, we managed the rain, passed out on the bus, only to wake up to pouring rain and the woods. There was an incrediably old cemetary and ruins. As beautiful as it was, we couldn't shake the night before or the rain. After wondering the woods, we boarded the bus and headed up the mountains. Think Braveheart & PS I love you, they were filmed on the Wicklow Mountains. It is the highest point in the region, 10 minutes in the altitude changed the rain to heavy snow. We stopped to take photos and take in the breathtaking view. Unfortunately it was the kind of snow and cold that makes your bones ache so we only lasted 10 minutes in it. Our next stop was an old burial ground/tomb, really remarkable considering it has lasted thousands of years. Finally we headed to Kilkenny, a small town with a castle. I love castles, any girl that grew up to Disney movies can't help but imagining a life in tower of one. Even at 25, I fantasized about my tiara and my castle. The town was so cute, it was small and the kind that you think of when you think of Ireland. We got back feeling a sense of accomplishment considering the amount we drank the night before. Doubtful we could handle a repeat, we got ready and attempted to do it again. We started at a bar we went to the night before (we made buddies with a bunch of bartenders there) and struggled through our first beers. After the first 2, it tasted like water which is why we decided to stop in every pub we saw. There are alot of pubs, we only made it to 6. Like the night before, we made friends immediately after opening our mouths, American women do well in Ireland. By bar 5, we each had our sights on our potential snogs. Mine a cute kid with blue eyes and a buzz cut, we talked, danced, and minutes before the bar closed, kissed. We exchanged numbers in the hopes of seeing each other again when he visited London. On our way out, we made friends with a group of Irishmen in town for the weekend. Not fully ready to go home (even though we should have been ready) we hopped in cabs with them and went to a wine bar/club. Ashley fell before we even reached the bar, to her credit she recovered well but the girl she took with her didn't. The guys bought us a bottle of wine, I drank a couple of glasses before Ashley urged me out the door. We waved to our new friends and bounced.
Saturday Feb. 27
We woek up more hungover than the day before. I fought the urge to puke and headed to the bus station to board a 4 hour bus to Cork. I thought I would die and swore I wouldn't drink ever again. Cork is smaller, cleaner, and more beautiful than Dublin. We were committed to an easy night until we watched rugby, Ireland vs. England. It was like walking into a movie, the Irish acted like belligerant asses, yelling at every play, chugging at every goal, and jumping wildly when a Brit was taken down. We were convinced to drink one more night and give it up for a week when we got home. That night we walked into a bar, for a split second we suspected it was a gay bar. 2 Americans with 40 Irishmen=heaven! Especially when they are all on stag parties (Bachelor parties), we were the belles of the ball, with spiked punch of course! This night is the least memorable, I remember dancing & being kissed on the cheek by a guy who had a girlfriend ( I found this out much later) and getting an offer for a threesome. We made it to two bars and went home around 3 or 4.
Sunday Feb 28
I woke up to my cell phone stolen, this is why I can't have nice things, I break/lose/leave/mistreat everything! With very few cultural outings in Ireland thus far, we were on a mission to kiss the Blarney stone. You have to do it if you are there, I realize this but that shit is scary. My idea of a good time is not laying on my back, arching backwards into an open space, having an old man lower me down by my hips, and kissing a stone. But it's the Blarney stone, I now have the gift of eloquence. Glad I did it but you couldn't pay me to climb those stairs to the top of the castle again. We rushed back to catch our bus, 4 hours later we were in Dublin, only to catch an hour bus to the airport, wait for 2 hours for our flight, take an hour flight and an hour tube ride to get back home.
As the plane took the runway, I realized for the first time, that this is my new home. Not because of comfort necessarily, because I was not boarding a flight to Philly and this will be my home destination for a very long time! It could not have felt anymore weird, it made me disoriented and homesick.
Overall it was an amazing weekend, I was nervous traveling with someone that I have known only for a week or two but we got along so well. I think we are more alike that we realized.
Thursday Feb. 25:
I can't sleep the night before a plane ride, I love the excitement that only boarding a plane to another country can bring. This trip was no different, I was picked up at 4:30am with only an hour of sleep, counting down the hours until my first pint and my first snog. My first trip to the island last year brought no snogs, well it did but they were Brits (perhaps a factor in picking my new home). I noticed that my passport served no purpose, they didn't even look, in fact I smuggled in a can of airosal hairspray, either I don't look like a terrorist or the security is worthless. 45minutes later, we were in Ireland. We checked into our humble hostel. I've never done a hostel, but when I saw no blankets I couldn't help believe that I was overcharged (15 pounds a night). Afterall it is winter here! We booked a 12 person room, we were the only ones checked in. Since it was only 10am, we walked the city(saw St. Patrick's, Christ Church, Guiness Factory). Dublin is not the best representation of Ireland, or at least the images anyone has of Ireland...but we walked it all the same. By 7pm we were at the bar, many bars in fact. They all blurred together. Here's what I know: It was fucking expensive, especially considering we did shots, lots of shots. How we dropped 100 Euro each I will never know because I didn't buy all my drinks, neither did my friend. The famous Temple bar brought snog #5 the hickey giver. I don't know how it happened, I was surrounded by 4 hotties, my friend was talking to a couple of others, next thing I know a guy kisses me, then my neck. Since I'm not in middle school, I stopped him after 5 seconds, 3 seconds too late. I had a hickey (I didn't discover this till the next morning) The Irish loved us and we loved them, especially when they were singing Irish tunes. We danced, we made friends, we drank too much, so much so I wasn't allowed in the nightclub. According to the bouncer "I had trouble written all over my face". I stuffed my face with chicken nuggets and attempted again, this time making a deal with the bouncers promising my drunk eating would prevent me from starting any trouble. The nightclub brought snog #6. He was hot, tall, dark hair, blue eyes.....around 4 we all left. His friend was kicking game to Ashley and I didn't make it two blocks before kissing the hot Irishman. This went on for blocks until I said goodbye. I woke up at 6 am to Ashley telling me to get up. Drunk, confused, and freezing she bought the last blanket the hostel had (yup blankets are not a necessity at Browns hostel) so we shared a twin bed and huddled together to keep warm.
Friday Feb. 26
Drinking through Ireland is fun but you have to see some shit while you are there too. We decided to book a trip outside of the city to the Wicklow Mountains, Kilkenny city and castle, and some other historical sites. Hungover, we managed the rain, passed out on the bus, only to wake up to pouring rain and the woods. There was an incrediably old cemetary and ruins. As beautiful as it was, we couldn't shake the night before or the rain. After wondering the woods, we boarded the bus and headed up the mountains. Think Braveheart & PS I love you, they were filmed on the Wicklow Mountains. It is the highest point in the region, 10 minutes in the altitude changed the rain to heavy snow. We stopped to take photos and take in the breathtaking view. Unfortunately it was the kind of snow and cold that makes your bones ache so we only lasted 10 minutes in it. Our next stop was an old burial ground/tomb, really remarkable considering it has lasted thousands of years. Finally we headed to Kilkenny, a small town with a castle. I love castles, any girl that grew up to Disney movies can't help but imagining a life in tower of one. Even at 25, I fantasized about my tiara and my castle. The town was so cute, it was small and the kind that you think of when you think of Ireland. We got back feeling a sense of accomplishment considering the amount we drank the night before. Doubtful we could handle a repeat, we got ready and attempted to do it again. We started at a bar we went to the night before (we made buddies with a bunch of bartenders there) and struggled through our first beers. After the first 2, it tasted like water which is why we decided to stop in every pub we saw. There are alot of pubs, we only made it to 6. Like the night before, we made friends immediately after opening our mouths, American women do well in Ireland. By bar 5, we each had our sights on our potential snogs. Mine a cute kid with blue eyes and a buzz cut, we talked, danced, and minutes before the bar closed, kissed. We exchanged numbers in the hopes of seeing each other again when he visited London. On our way out, we made friends with a group of Irishmen in town for the weekend. Not fully ready to go home (even though we should have been ready) we hopped in cabs with them and went to a wine bar/club. Ashley fell before we even reached the bar, to her credit she recovered well but the girl she took with her didn't. The guys bought us a bottle of wine, I drank a couple of glasses before Ashley urged me out the door. We waved to our new friends and bounced.
Saturday Feb. 27
We woek up more hungover than the day before. I fought the urge to puke and headed to the bus station to board a 4 hour bus to Cork. I thought I would die and swore I wouldn't drink ever again. Cork is smaller, cleaner, and more beautiful than Dublin. We were committed to an easy night until we watched rugby, Ireland vs. England. It was like walking into a movie, the Irish acted like belligerant asses, yelling at every play, chugging at every goal, and jumping wildly when a Brit was taken down. We were convinced to drink one more night and give it up for a week when we got home. That night we walked into a bar, for a split second we suspected it was a gay bar. 2 Americans with 40 Irishmen=heaven! Especially when they are all on stag parties (Bachelor parties), we were the belles of the ball, with spiked punch of course! This night is the least memorable, I remember dancing & being kissed on the cheek by a guy who had a girlfriend ( I found this out much later) and getting an offer for a threesome. We made it to two bars and went home around 3 or 4.
Sunday Feb 28
I woke up to my cell phone stolen, this is why I can't have nice things, I break/lose/leave/mistreat everything! With very few cultural outings in Ireland thus far, we were on a mission to kiss the Blarney stone. You have to do it if you are there, I realize this but that shit is scary. My idea of a good time is not laying on my back, arching backwards into an open space, having an old man lower me down by my hips, and kissing a stone. But it's the Blarney stone, I now have the gift of eloquence. Glad I did it but you couldn't pay me to climb those stairs to the top of the castle again. We rushed back to catch our bus, 4 hours later we were in Dublin, only to catch an hour bus to the airport, wait for 2 hours for our flight, take an hour flight and an hour tube ride to get back home.
As the plane took the runway, I realized for the first time, that this is my new home. Not because of comfort necessarily, because I was not boarding a flight to Philly and this will be my home destination for a very long time! It could not have felt anymore weird, it made me disoriented and homesick.
Overall it was an amazing weekend, I was nervous traveling with someone that I have known only for a week or two but we got along so well. I think we are more alike that we realized.
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