Sunday, December 04, 2005
Dublin, Ireland...
Friday, December 2nd
I left Vandon House at 8:15am and got the 11:05 flight to Dublin at Heathrow. The flight over was pretty cool, it only took around 50 minutes. Aer Lingus was a good, service and they are owned by British Airways...Something I found out. Once I got to the airport, I waited about 30 minutes until my friend Crystal (From Iowa State) arrived with 6 of her group mates from Spain (who also all went to Iowa State). We traveled to the hostel (The Rainbow Backpackers Hostel) on Marylough Street. One of the first things I noticed was how similar to Irish accent was to the American one. Even if they cannot pronounce their "Th's" (Third sounds like Tird), it is much easier to understand than British and certainly Scottish. We got to the hostel, and one of the group members met up with David (Emily's bf) who traveled from Kent, England. He was also studying abroad. It was good to get everything settled in and organized, so afterwards we went straight to the Guinness Storehouse. It took about 30 mins., partly because of our walking speeds along with our uncertainly on where to go. It was so funny to see the other 7 people in the group walk around and try to cross the street. In Spain the pedestrians have the right of way, so they walk slow and take their time. I have picked up my pace quite a bit and fearlessly cross intersections as if I "have" to get somewhere. Something that London has rubbed off on me. After walked a bit and then stopping to have the rest of the group catch up, we finally got there and took the tour. It was interesting, because Guinness has to pay only 45 Euro a year thanks to it's founder investing his 100ã into a 9,000 year agreement on land tax for his facility. Iwas detemindeddt confident that his Brewerly was the best, anit wouldllasttt thousands of years. Currently, practically all of the work is done by machines, guided by software programs, so there ilittle humannn interaction in the production process. The Tour was neat, and I took some pictures. We went up to the 7th floor of the St. James Brewerly where we got our free pint. All of the girls hated it, so Dave and I drank about 3 pints each before alling it quits on an empty stomach. Next we walked around to find a place to eat, which was a very nice restaurant to go to. I had the Roast of the day, while a few others had Steaand Guinnessss Pie or Irish Stew. It was very good food, although it was a bit pricey...Butt price was something I wasn't concerned with this trip. Afterwards, the Hostel employee told us about a local pub to attend with live music and cheap beer. The beer cost around 3 Euro a pint which wasn't bad...I had a Irish Cider--good stuff. The place was packed with Irish men and women everywhere...I've never seen so many women drink beerand Guinness!!) in my life. It was almost expected!! This is where the picture of "Joe at the pub" came from witthe Irish flag in the background. We stayed till about 1230 am, the kids from Spain were tired so we made it an early night.
Saturday, December 3rd
We got going at about 9am, and went to the Gauprisonon first since David checked it out while he was waiting for us to arrive. It was pretty interesting, considering it was a 17th century prisonon. Lots of old classic locks, and large steel doors. There was never an uprising thoughbecausese the staff treated thprisonersrs pretty well icomparisonon to the other prisons. Mainly, it was an transport prison. If you were in the British military you had been sentenced to life iprisonon. The walls which sectioned off the yards were very high and it was quite depressing to be stuck in the gray stoned building even for a few hours. The inside was transformed partly into museum, while the rest consisted of a walking tour. Afterwards, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where it was closed only on Saturday due to a graduation! Of course, this is Europe we are talking about. We did get some good pics in though. Next we had lunch at a small shop...I had a chicken and cheese panini and I copied Crystal and got a White Hot chocolate. Good choice on her part! We went to the city halbecausese the tour guide from the prison told us to check out that area to get a good history of Dublin. I got an awesome picture of the city sword and learned a bit about the City, along with it's English influence through the Viceroy. After that littlmuseumum, we went to the Dublin Castle, which is more like a palace for special ceremonies and events. They had lotof waterfordrd crystal everywhere, and beautiful carpet (with a 100 yeawarrantyty), so we could walk on it. The Irish lovwarrantieses. After this tour, we got to see part of the Viking wall that was preserved underneath the structure (discovered in 1986!) and the Norman built wall around it. The Vikings were not good builders at all--it was the Normans who brought in the huge heavy building blocks for walls and castles.
We went out to eat near the Temple bar area. U2 owns a hotel in that area, and it is very lively at night. We went to a bar in Temple bar, called the "Temple Bar" and stayed there till about 12:30. We all were pretty tired, but some of us stayed a bit longer till 1:30. We met some Irish locals, who I got a chance to talk to. I found out that Ireland does have socialized medicine and education like Britain. Also, since about 5 years ago, the government started pushing Gaelic (as it is the official language) on the publibecausese it was nearly extinct. I never knew that. They also commented on the French's bitter feeling towards to the British, and they like Americans better than the British sometimes. Also one of the guys told me I had a Dublin accent! I was asked If I was from Ireland twice at the bar. haha, even in Ireland, I've been asked that. I wasurpriseded to hear this along with the Gaelic thing. The Irish and British still need to work on dental care (mainy lstraightening their teeth out)! haha. We walked back and I found my stop on where to pick up the bus in the morning.
Sunday, December 4th
Today I woke up at 5:45 am to catch bus 41 to Dublin Airport. I made my 9:00 flight and got back in London at 10:15 due to some delays. I finally got back to the Vandon House at 11:45 and unpacked my stuff. Luckily, I took a nap later on which helped me concentrate with work later on that night. What a fun and exciting trip it has been, and my Irishness count is now set to 5! I highly suggest anyone to go if they are considering it, especially if they are deciding on which countries to visit within the UK.
I left Vandon House at 8:15am and got the 11:05 flight to Dublin at Heathrow. The flight over was pretty cool, it only took around 50 minutes. Aer Lingus was a good, service and they are owned by British Airways...Something I found out. Once I got to the airport, I waited about 30 minutes until my friend Crystal (From Iowa State) arrived with 6 of her group mates from Spain (who also all went to Iowa State). We traveled to the hostel (The Rainbow Backpackers Hostel) on Marylough Street. One of the first things I noticed was how similar to Irish accent was to the American one. Even if they cannot pronounce their "Th's" (Third sounds like Tird), it is much easier to understand than British and certainly Scottish. We got to the hostel, and one of the group members met up with David (Emily's bf) who traveled from Kent, England. He was also studying abroad. It was good to get everything settled in and organized, so afterwards we went straight to the Guinness Storehouse. It took about 30 mins., partly because of our walking speeds along with our uncertainly on where to go. It was so funny to see the other 7 people in the group walk around and try to cross the street. In Spain the pedestrians have the right of way, so they walk slow and take their time. I have picked up my pace quite a bit and fearlessly cross intersections as if I "have" to get somewhere. Something that London has rubbed off on me. After walked a bit and then stopping to have the rest of the group catch up, we finally got there and took the tour. It was interesting, because Guinness has to pay only 45 Euro a year thanks to it's founder investing his 100ã into a 9,000 year agreement on land tax for his facility. Iwas detemindeddt confident that his Brewerly was the best, anit wouldllasttt thousands of years. Currently, practically all of the work is done by machines, guided by software programs, so there ilittle humannn interaction in the production process. The Tour was neat, and I took some pictures. We went up to the 7th floor of the St. James Brewerly where we got our free pint. All of the girls hated it, so Dave and I drank about 3 pints each before alling it quits on an empty stomach. Next we walked around to find a place to eat, which was a very nice restaurant to go to. I had the Roast of the day, while a few others had Steaand Guinnessss Pie or Irish Stew. It was very good food, although it was a bit pricey...Butt price was something I wasn't concerned with this trip. Afterwards, the Hostel employee told us about a local pub to attend with live music and cheap beer. The beer cost around 3 Euro a pint which wasn't bad...I had a Irish Cider--good stuff. The place was packed with Irish men and women everywhere...I've never seen so many women drink beerand Guinness!!) in my life. It was almost expected!! This is where the picture of "Joe at the pub" came from witthe Irish flag in the background. We stayed till about 1230 am, the kids from Spain were tired so we made it an early night.
Saturday, December 3rd
We got going at about 9am, and went to the Gauprisonon first since David checked it out while he was waiting for us to arrive. It was pretty interesting, considering it was a 17th century prisonon. Lots of old classic locks, and large steel doors. There was never an uprising thoughbecausese the staff treated thprisonersrs pretty well icomparisonon to the other prisons. Mainly, it was an transport prison. If you were in the British military you had been sentenced to life iprisonon. The walls which sectioned off the yards were very high and it was quite depressing to be stuck in the gray stoned building even for a few hours. The inside was transformed partly into museum, while the rest consisted of a walking tour. Afterwards, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where it was closed only on Saturday due to a graduation! Of course, this is Europe we are talking about. We did get some good pics in though. Next we had lunch at a small shop...I had a chicken and cheese panini and I copied Crystal and got a White Hot chocolate. Good choice on her part! We went to the city halbecausese the tour guide from the prison told us to check out that area to get a good history of Dublin. I got an awesome picture of the city sword and learned a bit about the City, along with it's English influence through the Viceroy. After that littlmuseumum, we went to the Dublin Castle, which is more like a palace for special ceremonies and events. They had lotof waterfordrd crystal everywhere, and beautiful carpet (with a 100 yeawarrantyty), so we could walk on it. The Irish lovwarrantieses. After this tour, we got to see part of the Viking wall that was preserved underneath the structure (discovered in 1986!) and the Norman built wall around it. The Vikings were not good builders at all--it was the Normans who brought in the huge heavy building blocks for walls and castles.
We went out to eat near the Temple bar area. U2 owns a hotel in that area, and it is very lively at night. We went to a bar in Temple bar, called the "Temple Bar" and stayed there till about 12:30. We all were pretty tired, but some of us stayed a bit longer till 1:30. We met some Irish locals, who I got a chance to talk to. I found out that Ireland does have socialized medicine and education like Britain. Also, since about 5 years ago, the government started pushing Gaelic (as it is the official language) on the publibecausese it was nearly extinct. I never knew that. They also commented on the French's bitter feeling towards to the British, and they like Americans better than the British sometimes. Also one of the guys told me I had a Dublin accent! I was asked If I was from Ireland twice at the bar. haha, even in Ireland, I've been asked that. I wasurpriseded to hear this along with the Gaelic thing. The Irish and British still need to work on dental care (mainy lstraightening their teeth out)! haha. We walked back and I found my stop on where to pick up the bus in the morning.
Sunday, December 4th
Today I woke up at 5:45 am to catch bus 41 to Dublin Airport. I made my 9:00 flight and got back in London at 10:15 due to some delays. I finally got back to the Vandon House at 11:45 and unpacked my stuff. Luckily, I took a nap later on which helped me concentrate with work later on that night. What a fun and exciting trip it has been, and my Irishness count is now set to 5! I highly suggest anyone to go if they are considering it, especially if they are deciding on which countries to visit within the UK.
# posted by Joseph Trapani @ Sunday, December 04, 2005 
