Hello all. Let me tell you about the first leg of my spring break- Dublin, Ireland. I went to Dublin, London and Paris, but I have decided to do a separate entry for each one since I have SO much to say.Here we go!
Saturday afternoon after leaving dear Patrick at Fiumicino, I met Caroline and Amy at Ciampino airport- the smaller airport in Rome. From there we hopped on our Ryan Air flight and took off for Dublin. The flight took no time at all. Despite not being able to hear at all after landing because of pressure in our ears, we were all smiles as soon as our feet touched the Irish ground. We had no problem finding our bags and getting our passports stamped since all the signs were in English! (what a treat!!!!!!!) We went to the information desk and asked the man the best way to get to our hotel. He sold us tickets for a bus to take and told us what stop to get off at, and was soooo nice with an awesome accent of course. I loved sitting on the bus looking out the window at all the beautiful Dublin sites. It was like a little dream land full of beautiful houses and apartments, each with unique and intricate doorways. We got off at our bus stop and as soon as we did we encountered our first wonderful Dubliner. A man walked right up to us, his guitar in hand, and asked if he could help point us in the right direction. He looked at our map, showed us where to go, and wished us luck. We started off in the direction he pointed us, suitcases in tow, and got lost after about three minutes of walking. We pulled out our map and were trying to figure out where to go next when another friendly Dubliner approached us and offered his help. He pointed us back in the right direction and we started off again. After another few turns we were lost again at an intersesction, and pulled out the map. As we were looking at it a car across the intersection rolled down its windows and a young Irish couple called to us to see if they could point us in the right direction. They weren’t sure where our hotel was but showed us where they thought it might be. Could people get any nicer???
Yes, they could.
A few minutes later, surprise surprise, we were lost again. This time the cutest (and most homosexual) little irish man in the world came up to help us. He said he was going right by our hotel and to follow him. Unfortunately he was thinking of the wrong place, so when we got there he felt so bad for leading us in the wrong direction. He told us to stay put and ran all over the place trying to get us directions. A little while later he came jogging back with a huge smile saying he knew exactly where it was and that he was going to walk us there!! Along the way he told us we should go out to a gay club that night and told us where to find it. We feigned interest... it was very nice of him. After a little while we got to a place where we would have to go through a small alley to get near the hotel. We got a wee bit nervous and he said “Don’t worry girls you can trust me- I’m as bent as a horseshoe.” HA! Sure enough it let us right to the door of our hotel. We thanked him and he bid us farewell. We walked into the lobby of the hotel and started freaking out. It was soooooooooooooo nice! Everyone else on spring break was roughing it in hostels getting lice and bed bugs, and we had just walked into an Irish paradise. We got the key to our room from a very friendly man and wandered the halls until we found our door. We opened it up and there before our eyes was the most perfect hotel room three little girls could ever find. Three fluffy twin beds awaited us, lined up against the bright red wall. A large plasma t.v. was on and said “Welcome Jillian.” The bathroom was huge and beautiful and clean and everything about this place was perfect.
We were itching to explore Dublin but starving, so we quickly changed and freshened up then headed down to the lobby. There was an adorable pub attached to our hotel and we decided to be lazy and just give that a try. We looked at the menu and almost died. It was a huge variety of sandwiches, burgers, fires, and onion rings- things we see VERY little of in Italy. I ordered a BLT and a side of onion rings- even though my sandwich came with fries. We got delicious Bulmer’s cider with our meals and were in heaven on Earth. When the waitress brought out our food Amy started freaking out and said “you don’t even know how much of an angel you are to us right now we have had nothing but pasta and pizza for two months!” She looked at us like we were crazy and left us alone. No one spoke as we inhaled our food.
With full bellies and pleasant moods we set off to find a place to drink and mingle for the night. Unfortunately our good day had to come to an end somewhere. In Rome we are never carded for anything ever, so we never bring our I.Ds out with us. In Dublin it is a whole other story. This we did not realize. First of all they card you everywhere. Second of all, the place where we went to drink ended up not letting in anyone under twenty-three, even though the drinking age is 18. After wandering around for ages trying to find somewhere that would let us in, we gave up. We were absolutely exhausted from traveling, and knew there were huge comfy beds waiting for us at the Grand Canal Hotel. I slept like a baby that night for the first time in a long time.
We woke up at the crack of dawn un Sunday ready for a day full of wonder and adventure. Our first stop- Starbucks. Italy is probably the only country on Earth without any sort of Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. I got a delicious peach and mango smoothie for breakfast, and the girls both got coffees. After that we set off to see some sites. We ran into a guy who was selling tickets for a bus tour. At first we said no, no, no we don’t want to give you our money. Then after a minute we realized it took us everywhere we wanted to go, and we could hop on and off whenever we wanted. Plus it was not expensive. We bought our tickets on hopped on the fun bus. The driver/tour guide was HILLARIOUS, as were the guides on all the busses. They tell wonderful jokes AND are very informative. We saw all the sites, from St. Patricks Cathedral to Trinity College. The first stop we jumped off at was, of course, the Guinness factory.
What an adventure! After exploring the entire place you end up on the top floor where you are rewarded with a free beer. Let me tell you, we were rewarded with much more than that! When we first arrived on the top floor we noticed a camera man floating around, but thought nothing of it. UNTIL! We were sitting on a bench next to the elevator, which the camera man is filming all of a sudden. Then, out of no where, guess who walks out???
Al Roker!!!!!
Yea! I know! What is he doing in Dublin? We don’t know! But still! The three of us stood up, our eyes bulging out of our heads- WHAT? AL ROKER? No one else in the place reacted. Clearly we were the only Americans. Some woman saw us flipping out and came up and said “Hi, I am Al Roker’s guide while he is in Ireland- would you like a picture with him?”
Um YES PLEASE. She waited until he was done filming then brought us right up to him. He didn’t even say hi or anything he just sort of wandered around with a huge cheesy smile and he looked like he was on drugs. We took the picture with him and he said “Thank you” with his huge grin and then literally disappeared. I took my eyes off of him for point three seconds and he was GONE! Magic man.
Anyway that was clearly the highlight of my stay in Dublin. That night the three of us went out for a lovely dinner at a genuine Irish pub. It was sort of buffet style- really strange. I pretty much had thanksgiving dinner that night. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry jelly, green beans, gravy. What more could a girl ask for? Oh yea, cider. THEN there was a live traditional Irish band playing upstairs. We sat up there for a while drinking more ciders loving the music and loving life. After that we headed next door to a different pub. We walked in the door and were greeted by a whole football team (aka soccer) They were very interesting gents. They weren’t from Dublin they were from outside the city so there accents were thick and at times hard to understand. Though they were drunk and belligerent, they were as friendly as all the other lovely Irish folks we had met. The girls went with them to another pub after that one closed, but I hopped in a cab and headed back to my dream bed at the Grand Canal Hotel. I fell asleep to Leonardo Dicaprio, Mark Wahlberg, and Matt Damon in The Departed. (television in ENGLISH!)
The next morning we woke up with heavy hearts. It was time to leave Dublin. After only two days I had fallen head over heels in love with that city. I will go back some day without a doubt. And stay at the Grand Canal Hotel without a doubt.
As sad as we were, nothing could calm our excitement for our next stop…LONDON!!!!
…to be continued…
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