Ireland was awesome. I went in a castle, ate a lot of Nutella in various forms, took almost 900 photos, saw two movies, and rode on a lot of buses. Let's read all about it! And look at pretty pictures!
Flying
So, minus one family cruise where I never really got off the boat, I haven't really ever "traveled" abroad. On this trip, not only did we go to Dublin, Ireland, but we had a layover in London! ENGLAND! We flew Virgin Atlantic & BMI (British Midlands) and ... the difference between the two airlines was pretty jarring. Virgin Atlantic was awesome. I recommend them highly. Even though we flew economy, we each had our own televisions loaded with movies, television shows, games, maps, and music. (I watched an episode of House on the way there, and two movies - Bad Lieutenant and When In Rome - on the way home.) We got a full dinner, complete with dessert and coffee & tea, and we each got a little baggie containing stuff like an eyemask and a toothbrush. I felt like a queen! Oh, and everyone got their own fresh blanket and pillows. Virgin Atlantic has seriously ruined flying for me forever. I'm so spoiled now!
BMI (which we used to get to Dublin from London and vice versa) had no in-flight entertainment at all, and charged for sodas. Thank God those flights were only an hour, max.
I bought tea at Heathrow Airport (definitely a swank airport; it's cleanness reminded me of an IKEA) and was not impressed by Dublin Airport. It was ancient and small. And as Joe put it, going through customs when we arrived looked like we were waiting in line to enter our Sunday School classrooms in a church basement.
Getting Around
I gotta tell you, Dublin has it together when it comes to public transportation. Besides the DART train (which was not expensive) and the direct bus to Galway (which was fast and also pretty cheap), Dublin also has tons of local buses just for getting around the city, buses that go directly to the airport (for cheap), taxis, and those sightseeing bus tours for tourists. That (the official Dublin Bus Tour) ended up being a huge help for us, because some attractions in Dublin (the Guinness Storehouse, the IMMA & Kilmainham Gaol) are just not walkable. The ticket we bought for the bus tour was good for two days, so not only did it drive us past places we wouldn't have probably walked by, but we didn't have to try to cram tons of stuff in one day just because the bus would be the way to get there. But mostly, we just walked.
Other Major Cities
Besides Dublin, Joe and I visited two other major cities in Ireland: Galway (via a two-hour direct bus ride) during the Galway Races & Dún Laoghaire (via the DART) during the Festival of World Cultures. Galway was nice, if a little rainy. After we walked around the main store/cafe area, we walked past some local houses, went around the Joyce Roundabout, and sat by the bay before returning to our bus. Dún Laoghaire was right on the Irish Sea, so that was a pleasant backdrop as we walked through the festival. At the festival, I got a Nutella and banana crepe from a truck (mmm), we got to listen to free music on the main stage, and we watched a pretty awesome band perform on the street/dock. (I bought their CD!)
(Ooh. Weird note. You have to pay 20 euro cents to use the public bathrooms in Galway. And they say the loo is "engaged" rather than "occupied." This blew my mind.)
The Weather
We really lucked out when it came to the weather. it only rained maybe like, 3-4 times, and each time it only drizzled. Joe needed a windbreaker which he bought at Pennys, but I got away with just a few layers and no heavy coats or sweaters. it was overcast most of the time, but there were some occasional sunny moments. The sun didn't set until 9:59 pm, so the curtains in the hotel were very heavy. The first morning, we woke up and Joe was like, "oh man, I figured we'd sleep a lot later. It's so early!" But then I looked at the clock and it was actually 10:30 am. Hah.
Shopping
When I go on vacation, I feel as though that my photographs I take end up being my souvenirs. But, I did buy a few stereotypical Irish things while I was there, including:
- postcards showcasing Guinness artwork & pub fronts;
- a Claddagh ring;
- grey & black brogue shoes, and
- tons of Kinder Bueno candy bars.
Joe and I each only brought a carry-on, so there wasn't a lot of room for a lot of extra stuff to pack. I wish I had been able to find more cheap yet fashionable stuff at Pennys (a cross between Forever 21 & JC Penny's) but I settled for fingerless gloves and some thick leggings.
The People
Everyone we met was really nice. Sometimes their accents were hard to understand, but overall, we ended up relying on the advice of the locals a lot when hanging around town. One guy we met at a comics & vine fair had actually just been to New Jersey (Hazlet [whaaaat] & Red Bank) and was a big Yo La Tengo fan; he made the suggestion for us to go to Dún Laoghaire. Then, a couple we sat with at a comedy club (The International) recommended some pubs for us to go to: The Duke, and McDaids. Both were excellent.
New Jersey
Whenever people asked us where we were from, we would say New Jersey. This would usually result in a few responses, most notably:
- "Oh, New York!
- "I watch The Sopranos!*
- "I've heard of Jersey Shore. Haven't seen it though."
*After I told the guy who said this that James Gandolfini had been at my college graduation, he laughed and sheepishly went, "Can I have your autograph?"
Sight Seeing
We did all the touristy things, of course. The Guinness Storehouse, The Book of Kells, Trinity College campus, Grafton Street, O'Connell Street, Temple Bar. All that was great.
The Hotel
We stayed at the Trinity Capital Hotel, right next to Trinity College. I thought Dublin was going to be huge, but it was actually rather small. Plus, our hotel was pretty central in terms of everything we wanted to see. HOWEVER, the hotel was connected to a firehouse so we heard a lot of alarms early in the morning. Good thing we were usually so tired, we slept through it all.
Below is a slideshow of all my photos. I took over 900 photos! These are the selects, of course. So you can watch this, or pick and choose which photos you want to see here!
