Leg 3 of Spring Break- Dublin!

We were sad to leave London but excited for our last leg of the trip. Once we arrived at hte Gatwick airport, we discovered that we had a 3 hour delay. Unfortunately, this cut our time quite short in Dublin, and we arrived around dinner time.

We took a taxi from the airport to the hostel and I sat in the front, drivers side...because they drive on the opposite side of the road and car! It was a little scary sitting up front and experiencing this. Our driver proved the age old theory right- that people in Ireland (unless you are encountering them outside of a pub at 3am) are some of the nicest people on earth. He was whipping out maps and names of restaurants that we had to go to- and was so helpful and interested in hearing about America.

We stayed at the Barnacles hostel in the temple bar area. This area is known for it's pubs and restaurants, and oddly (and conveniently) enough the temple bar itself was located right next to our hostel. This hostel was SUCH an upgrade from the prior, and I'm not going to lie- I actually liked and enjoyed staying there! It was a snuggly little room with 2 bunk beds, clean sheets, and a nice bathroom! It also had a kitchen and common room that- it was very homey.
After freshening up and throwing our bags down- we went out for a traditional Irish dinner. I got Irish stew, complete with a thick gravy, lamb, potatoes, carrots, and celery- it was delicious! After out delectable meal we met up with some friends that are also students in Florence and were visiting Dublin and staying in the same hostel as us! It was nice to see some familiar faces by the end of our trip- and we all headed to a pub/club.

One thing I learned that evening, that I must pass along to anyone that plans on visiting Ireland- is that they DO NOT sell beer by the pitcher. In fact, they get highly offended if you ask. We later found out from a nice bartender that the sale of pitchers was outlawed in Dublin, at least, to combat the binge drinking problem. Who would have guessed a binge drinking problem in Ireland? Haha, at least they are trying to do something to combat the issue.

The next morning we were up bright and early for another free tour. Not realizing how much colder it was in Ireland, and still a little jet lagged, me and one of the other girls skipped out on the tour after about an hour of it. We did learn some very interesting things though about Irish history, one of which that it has one of the worst national histories I have ever heard of. Being a big history buff, I am sad to report that the great majority of Irish history involves the British government trying to take over the Irish, and the many failed attempts (until the 1960s) of the Irish to overthrow them for indepedence.
We saw Dublin castle- which was pretty impressive. We saw one of the original slabs where there were bullet holes and scratches from the British sharpening their muskets. Unfortunately, this was one of the only original pieces left of the castle, seeing as it burnt down and was rebuilt years ago. It is not as grand now, and is mostly used as an army training facility. Though, there were 2 beautiful statues there- one of which was the Goddess of justice. It is a Irish joke that she has her back to the city and her scales are weighed unevenly- signifying how unjust the British were to the Irish. (which is even more irnoic because the British put the statue there).

After that we saw a the records tower, which was attached to the King's Chapel. The record's tower was once used as a prision (after it was used to hold records). And we couldn't enter into the King's Chapel because it was built over water and the floor has some holes in it due to natural erosion. We also went into a beautiful park where grass had been planted over what used to be a bogged area. And there were little tiled pathes that looked like sea serpents to remind visitors that there was once water present. In the same park was a staute for the Special Olympics that was first held in Dublin a few years back.
We also got to see where Johnathan Swift lived- the author or a Modest Proposal. For those of you that don't know who that is- here is the brief version. He was an author in the 1700s who wrote a sattire suggesting that to take care of the hunger problem as well as the over birth rate in Ireland, that people eat babies. He made mock receipes and crazy suggestions in this book. Very weirddd, but it was something we read in high school so it was interesting to see his house.
We also learned that many of the sites/buildings in Ireland have no rhyme or reason to their name- there is a huge lack of creativity, and most of the time, things are just named a certain way because that is what people felt like naming it at the time.

After that point, me and one of the other girls headed back to the hostel for a little R&R. Not before getting a smoothie though- something that I love and that they sell in every other country in the EU except for Italy- lovely.
It was a nice afternoon in with all of the girls once everyone returned to the room- especially because it was chilly. We all got ready and headed out for another traditional dinner with our guy friends that were staying at our hostel. We went to a pub/restaurant and I got my first dark beer! Though it was a Murphy's (sorry Guinness people) it was really yummy! And reminded me of a coffee- though I can't see myself drinking more than one every so often, it was nice to try something new. We also all got Boxty's for dinner- which is an Irish pancake (kind of like a crepe) made into almost like a tortilla stuffed with chicken, a cream sauce, and veggies. It was delectable. After that we saw a few other pubs to round out the night. Oh and just for the record, Dublin has the best mallomarows- ever, anywhere- they are amazing.

The next morning me and one of the girls were up and out very early for our British Airways flight home. After flying some frightening budget airlines the whole trip, it was great to have a mini luxury at the end of the trip. We had a layover in London (thank goodness, because I still can't get enough of England) and got more shortbread cookies of course.
It was pretty interesting to sit in the London airport because there were a lot of very international flights departing and arriving there. Many going to the Middle East, Dubai, etc. and we saw a lot of planes with Arabic written on the sides. My eyes were wide with curiosity because I had never really seen anything like that. We finally made it back to Florence around dinner after a cab, 2 planes and a train. It was a weird feeling returning from vacation to, well, our everyday vacation spot. It was a beautiful day none the less so it was nice.

Spring break was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had and I am very grateful for all the things I learned and places I saw.
Wish you could have all been there with me!