Topic 1: Ryan Air
This is my first journey with Ryan Air and I think my roommate Halie describes it perfectly, "Ryan Air...you are not Top Gun." Then this is always proceeded with the Danger Zone song. If you know me at all or had the unfortunate experience of flying with me, you will know I do not like to fly. One time (side story sorry) we were landing in Newark and I was sitting with random people, and we went through a terrible wind storm and could not land because Newark has air traffic all the time so we were circling in terrible turbulence. It was so bad I heard the alert thing in the back telling the flight attendants to drop everything they were doing and buckle up because this was bad. I was hyperventilating and crying into a lady's lap and screaming, "WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!," And then proceeded with a lot of Hail Marys and Our Fathers. Not a proud moment in life. Ok luckily Ryan Air wasn't like this. They just like to take off at a 90 degree angle on one wheel, and drop land. And when they turn (I thought it was fun) they're pretty intense. But not too bad.
Topic Two: Temple Bar
Extremely expensive, but they have the best Irish Coffees in the world.
Topic Three: Hostel stays
Abigails Hostel: Dublin, The morning of, we didn't have water...you think the reception would be like, "Oh hey construction is going on so you might want to take showers tonight in case the water goes out."
Bru Bar: Cork, Pretty sweet that the hostel included a bar. Not really sweet that a smelly musty 50 year old man was sleeping in our room.
Abrahams: Dublin: Best.Shower.Of.My.Life.
Lagans: Belfast: The place itself was old and musty, but the beds were super comfy, and the owner was awesome. He was so honest with us, telling us what tours to take and what would be a waste of our time. And...Free Jameson. Yes. Oh and awesome breakfast and good strong coffee.
Abbey Court: Would have been fine if we weren't rooming with assholes who kept shutting the light off when we were trying to settle in.
Topic Four: Cork!
Cork is a really cute and pretty town. They also had a really fun pub/club. I went out with Johanna, Megan, and Kyle and had the best time. At one point an Irish jig came on and it felt as if we were in an inside joke we weren't a part of. I was half expecting Tub Thumping to come on but it didn't happen. Unfortunately, the club fun was cut short because at midnight it was Good Friday and nothing that sells alcohol is open on Good Friday.
Topic Five: Blarney Castle
Unbelievably awesome and pretty. The group of us took a bus to Blarney and spent the whole day at the castle and the grounds. And of course I kissed the Stone. And no Fight Club nerds I don't think people piss on it. We also had lovely PB and J's on the lawn of the Blarney House which was pretty awesome.
Topic Six: Dublin
Dublin is extremely expensive, but also really fun. The one thing I loved about going to Ireland is the food. It's pretty much American food, so we Italian students stocked up on the burgers, hummus, Subway, normal turkey, and all that other American stuff. (I realize hummus is not American, but I'm obsessed with it.) The night life in Dublin is really fun too. Megan and I went out one night, and met these pretty drunk British boys. They stopped us and were like, "Excuse me but do you know any places we should go to?" and I was like "Uh I have no idea." and they were like, "Shit you're American!" and then we proceeded to talk about random stuff. At one point one of the drunk British boys ran into a guy and said "Hey go fuck yourself." The guy turned out to be an undercover cop, told him it's illegal to harass cops and handcuffed him on the spot. Probably the most hilarious thing I've seen in a long time. I also saw Trinity College, the Molly Malone statue, Christ Church, St. Patricks, and other good stuff.
Topic Seven: The Guinness Factory and the Jameson Distillery
Both awesome and worth it. Free Guinness with a good view of Dublin, and I got to be a certified whiskey taster! (no really I have a certificate..I'll be sure to include it in my resume when I job hunt... : ) )
Topic Eight: My interesting Easter Mass
The other Kaitlyn and I went to mass at St. Mary's Cathedral in Dublin on Easter. The first thing we saw was a picket line and a fence with children's shoes tied to it. Yes, we had some protesters. During the consecration of the body and blood of christ, the protesters came inside during mass and starting shouting, "SHAME" and all this other stuff, went right up to the altar with the shoes and placed it on the altar with the archbishop looking a little shocked. I was just kneeling there in shock. Let me get this point across. I think what the Church is doing with the cover ups is disgusting. These priests need to be dealt with properly, so the victims can find some peace in their lives. However, you do not interrupt the most important part of mass. That part means a lot to the followers of the faith, just because you're pissed at the priests don't take it out on the people. However they are certainly justified in their anger and I do not blame them one bit. Priests need to get their shit together.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0404/breaking22.html
Oh and the part about the parishoners verbally abusing the protestors...it was because when they were shouting disgusting at us, this cute old man was like, "You're disgusting." It was kind of comic relief for me in that serious situation.
Topic Nine: Belfast
We decided to make the track to Northern Ireland to see what was up there. Belfast is really sad. Thankfully the city was super cheap compared to Dublin, but we were slightly afraid we were going to get shot or some random bomb was going to hit the Hotel Europa for the 35th time. Luckily none of this happened. We took the Black Taxi tour which showed us all the murals, the peace wall and showed us where most of the crazy crap that happened in the 20th century. I'm really glad we did that. Our tour guide was funny and thought I was a smart ass because he asked us what the round thing was on the Celtic Cross and I answered that it was a circle. It's ok a bartender in Dublin thought I was a ball buster because I paid in all change (10s and 5s) for my cider. After the tour I had a delicious Chicken Caesar Wrap at this awesome pub. Belfast is also where the Titanic was built and they are very proud of it even though the damn thing sunk. They claim that it was fine when it left the harbor, and that it was the idiot British Captain who thought it was a good idea to drive it into an iceberg at full speed. I love the Irish.
Topic Ten: Giants Causeway
I can't even describe it. Look at my pictures on facebook.
Things that broke or was lost on my trip:
my ipod has a sad face. I'll fix it when I get back.
my shampoo bottle
my headband
buttons on my coat. (Relax people my coat is just old.)
Things I got:
Claddaugh ring (my other one broke so yay!)
rugby shirt
guinness boxers
gifts
shot glass
Aunt Jemima (my favorite gift!!)
some postcards
an Irish boyfriend (hahaha...I wish)
Pretty much one of my favorite trips ever. Yay Ireland!!
