Alright I was going to upload pictures first but the blog is being weird and not letting me! So I will tell you all about my weekend and pictures will hopefully come later tonight! WE arrived on Thursday night and as I was going through customs the guy had not even looked at my passport and said "Are you visiting family?" and I said no and he said "Well I can tell your Irish (opens my passport) Yep you have one of the five Irish lastnames (haha)" and he asked where my family was from, I told him and he asked if I was going to get to go to Cork and I told him no because I was only here until Sunday and then he stamped on my passport that I had until April 1 incase I changed my mind and wanted to stay in Ireland...and let me tell you that if I did not have school I would have stayed in Ireland until I was kicked out.
Friday we stayed around in Dublin. We were so lucky not to have any rain which is very unusual for Ireland. We bought passes for the bus tour which was hop on hop off so we were able to see almost all the major landmarks of the city. I will recommend doing this if you go because the city is very big. We walked through Trinity College, Grafton street (major shopping), Temple Bar district (Bourbon street of Dublin), I saw Oscar Wildes house, St. Steven's Park, St. Patricks Cathedral, Molly Malone (a famous women they sing songs about), O'Connell Street, we went to the Guinness Factory and I had a pint of Guinness, and I am not going to lie I saw a Subway restaurant and freaked out! I had to have a sandwich and I did...amazing!!! I was kind of bummed because I never saw our last name anywhere in Dublin but thats okay. That night Macon and I went and saw some Irish dancing and traditional Irish band at a bar called Legends. It was so much fun and so enjoyable. I loved all the people there!
Saturday was probably the best though. We decided to take a guided tour of Wicklow and Glendalough...two littlier towns near Dublin. We were able to see the coast which was amazing and green! I have not seen very much grass since I have been in Europe so it was so nice to see it. There were all these crazy locals going swimming in their bikinis (pretty much all old ladies...does cold water keep the blood flowing better or something?) Our tour guide was hilarious and took us through all the little roads so we could see all the houses and coast of Ireland including Bono's house and Enya's. Our first stop on the tour was at this AMAZING cafe called Avoca! I had the most amazing brownie and scone I have ever had in my life and the other food looked amazing too. I did not want to leave there but then we went for a drive through all the hills and saw all the sheep and green and I loved it. We saw where Braveheart was filmed and scenes from P.S. I love you. OUr tour guide said that after the release of that movie they had to add more buses to the tour in order to accomadate all the young girls who fled to Ireland to find a man like the one from P.S. I love you...he then told us that they are a dying breed and do not really exist. We drove a little bit further till we stopped for lunch at an authentic restaurant for beef stew and Guinness. Unfortunately food is VERY expensive in Ireland so I do not suggest eating out although shepards pie is amazing! We traveled a little bit further after lunch to Glendalough and the two lakes (one which P.s. I Love you was filmed on) IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! Everything was so green and the water was so blue (my pictures unfortunately do no justice to any part of Ireland...if you visit bring a nice Canon or Nixon in order to really capture the beauty)...There was a graveyard full of Byrne's most of who lived to be about 70-80 so I think I have some good genes going for me! When I went to the name crest place that tells you the history of your surname, the man said we originated in Wicklow but all I knew was that my great great grandfather moved from Cork but when I went there and saw all the names on the gravestones and the shops it was so cool!
So I think everyone needs to drop everything they are doing and take a trip to Ireland. I think its impossible to ever regret it!!! So I will try to get pictures up soon but on Tuesday I am off to the beach for a school holiday...life is good!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
So I am not going to lie.........I am so jealous. I told Joe he needs to take me there for my 30th because I am tired of waiting. Maybe if he gets stationed in London, I'll just move to Ireland...would it be that bad of a commute? I am so glad that you had a great time and that you are making the most of your time in Europe. this is such an awesome opportunity. I am hoping to find out about a similiar opportunity in the next couple months....Still want to be my nanny???
ReplyDelete