I am having way too much fun to blog..never thought I’d write those words but I’m sitting on my queen-sized hostel bed forcing myself to capture all that I’ve been doing since arriving in Dublin on Saturday. Where do I even begin??!
From the moment I stepped off the plane, I knew this was the real beginning of my epic adventure. Canada felt way too much like America. I breezed through immigration and the agent was impressed that I just quit my job to travel. Like, yep, I’m kind of a rarity!
The taxi dropped me off right in front of my hostel (Abigail’s Hostel) which is across the River Liffey and just adjacent to the ever popular Temple Bar area (it’s packed with shops, cafes, and Guinness everywhere!). I couldn’t check in until 2pm so I wandered around and found myself at Palace Bar where I had, of course, a Guinness. It’s seriously THAT MUCH better in Ireland.
At 2pm exactly, I headed to my room and showered. I knew I smelled and as cramped as the shower was, it felt good. That is, until I realized there are only 2 settings hot and scalding hot for the water temperature. Ouch! I took a nap figuring I couldn’t call my Mom until they were up – I’m 8 hours ahead of my local time zone. And sometime during that nap, 1 of my roommates showed up (I’m in a 3 bed female only dorm). Her name is Wes (yes, short for Wesley) and she’s from California too 🙂 I FaceTimed my Mom and when I got off the phone, Wes said “it’s nice to hear English.” And that’s how we started getting to know each other. She’s coming off a 7 weeks European adventure of her own and leaves tomorrow. I know that feeling of being close to ending your vacation and just wanting some comforts from home – for Wes, it’s garlic hummus and a salad.
The next day, I woke up at 9:30am and realized I had been sleeping for over 12 hours! It felt good and I decided that I would not have any plan but to wander around and see what I could find. I found myself at Trinity College and in queue (that’s in line for American readers) for the Book of Kells. I immediately googled it and figured when in Dublin. Like a kid in a candy store, I’m in love with books. See the cheesy grin on my face??! Heaven.
We had another roommmate come in but she was older and didn’t say anything to either of us. She left the next morning and in her place, we got my other new friend, Kim. Kim is from Canada but moving to the United Kingdom so she’s bouncing around a bit as well. She came in talking right off the bat (much like Vicky did in Madrid) and was a welcome breath of fresh air from the older lady. Kim invited us to celebrate Canada Day with a fellow Canadian so we tagged along to a bar. I had my first Caesar which is essentially a Bloody Mary but it’s famous in Canada. I definitely need to head back to Canada for a proper one as the Canadians said it wasn’t very good.
We left that bar and headed to O’Neill’s, a typical Irish bar with typical Irish food and typical Irish niceness. Check out this Shepard’s pie that was amazing. I seriously had a food baby brewing and decided I would name “him” Liam Guinness Gonzales.
O’Neills is right next to the Molly Malone statue so of course we took pictures there. Locals say that if you rub her bosom, you’ll have good luck. Again, when in Dublin…And these are my new friends:
After deciding we’d galavant around Dublin, we headed to a bar for some shots of Patron. And then decided that we’d buy some alcohol and sit along the River drinking and having a grand time. Alcohol on the streets may or may not be illegal so I hope the Irish Authorities aren’t reading my blog 😉
And yes, I’m nursing a hangover today but I had purchased tickets yesterday for the Dublin Castle at 11am so I pulled it together (barely) and went on the tour.
I even found the energy to do laundry today which I realized I could have waited a few more days as I found clean undies in the crevice of my suitcase. Tomorrow is another “no plan” day but in true Amy fashion, I have already mapped out Dublin’s most haunted places so I’m definitely going to visit some spirits (the ghostly kind and not the whiskey kind, although I’m tempted to get a really solid Irish whiskey tasting in).
There She Goes... 