The Irish only drink on days ending in “-day”: Dublin, Ireland

I was really excited once we got to Dublin…FINALLY an English speaking country! When we walked in to the airport it was still all decked out from St. Patrick’s day. We easily found the bus we needed to catch to get dropped off next to our hostel. Alli bought her ticket first, then me, and the rest proceeded to buy. Alli boarded the bus thinking that we were all behind her, and thinking that the bus driver would wait for the rest of. Well, he didn’t. Alli was off on her own on a bus in Dublin, not knowing the name of our hostel, and not having a working phone. By a stroke of luck, Alli remembered that our hostel was located next to Doyle’s pub (How could we forget? Clara kept going on and on about her namesake) and luckily all the buses in Ireland have wifi, so she was able to figure out where to go. So when we stepped off the bus and rounded the corner, there was our red-headed friend back in her motherland, safely at our hostel. 

Daffodils...EVERYWHERE!

 From there, you could say the day got worse for me…I realized I no longer had my camera. And it took me 45 minutes to figure out how to use my international phone internationally, but luckily I got a hold of the Paris hostel and they did in fact have it (so a lot of these pictures are Clara’s not mine since my camera is safely back in Plano). Once I calmed down a little because I knew SOMEONE had my camera, we made our way to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. Personally, I’d never tried Guinness before, and, I never will again. At the end of the tour you get a free pint of beer, and this is where I confirmed it. While the brewery tour was very cool, and the museum was interesting, I can tell you with 100% of my being, I am not a Guinness fan. That was apparent by the fact that Mitchell and I were the only members of the “Half-pint” club…I think the two of us together MAYBE drank half a pint…then again maybe not. After that we walked back over to our Hostel, passing the famous Christ Church castle which had beautiful gardens surrounding it and daffodils EVERYWHERE! We walked through a couple more beautifully landscaped parks, until we almost got locked in one because they close them down (to keep the hobos out I’m guessing). We then headed to Grafton Street which is where some touristy shops were and we looked for different t-shirts and sweatshirts for our two Irish women, Doyle and Ennis. On the way home we went to the famous “Leo Burdocks” for fish and chips…of which I am also not a fan. It was cool to eat at such a famous place (it really is) but I had my fill of U.K. eats and drinks.

First beer I've paid for! (thanks Alli)

 On Wednesday we had scheduled a Paddywagon tour to take us to the Cliffs of Moher, one of the coolest things we did on spring break. We had an awesome driver, Mike, and we all sat up near the front so we could hear his super Irish accent. The first place we stopped on our tour was Dunguire Castle, and while we were only there for 15 minutes, it was pretty cool (it was the first castle I’d been inside in Europe yet). Next stop was an old Abbey that is currently being used as a cemetery. It was ridiculous how green the grass is there; it was all just really beautiful. Finally- up to the cliffs. We stopped and got out, walked around, got close to the edge but not too close, freaked out a little, took some pictures, and got back in the bus. Then our driver told us those were the baby cliffs, only 200 feet high, and that next we were headed to the REAL Cliffs of Moher- 781 feet tall. That may not seem that tall, but trust me- IT IS! Going to the cliffs is probably one of the coolest, scariest things I’ve ever done. Our last stop was Bunratty castle where we walked around, but there was an entrance fee so we didn’t get to go inside. It was nice to have such a relaxing travelling day after running around Paris for 3 days straight. After the tour we grabbed dinner, went to the famous “Temple Bar” area to look around and then packed up since we were headed off to London in the morning!

I love thatched roofs! 

...these are the baby cliffs

The BIG Cliffs

Fish and chips!

Texas A&M made out of barley at Guinness

Clara and I in front of the purified water in Guinness

The spring break crew

The Half Pint Club!

...and everyone else who finished theirs!

Dunguaire Castle

Abbey

baby Cliffs

"I'M IN IRELAND Y'ALL!"

Big cliffs

P.S.- I would just like to note here how amazing the Dublin airport was…when we left for London we were through Visa check & baggage weighing AND security in under 20 minutes. So yes, it is possible for an airport to run efficiently, just not likely!