Today was very full of things to do and see and eat. I ended up being crabby for a large portion of the afternoon and against my original intentions I needed a nap before dinner. It was for the best. I felt like a toddler about to have a temper tantrum and after I woke up I was feeling all better. Tonight I will be taking a sleeping pill instead of being up late reading.
There's another girl in our hostel dorm but other than her and a girl who came in for a couple of hours last night and then left when we were a sleep we haven't really met anyone else yet.
Today we got on a hop-on, hop-off bus and totally worth the 12 euros to do it. It goes around a circuit of downtown and you can hop on and off for two days as many times as you like. We went to Dublin Castle and did the tour and did the Guinness factory. I also got a couple of presents at the Guinness store and something for myself too.
Dublin Castle is a strange mix of centuries of settlement in Dublin. There are pieces of the Normans, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th century as well as changes made in the last couple of centuries. It’s not a fairy tale castle though. It’s an office of state and a fortress. There’s a Celtic design with bricks through grass in the gardens and we took a lot of pictures there. It was awesome. The tour is worth it.
It’s amazing how cheap things are for students. At least 1 or 2 euros less than full price adults. I wish we had more of that in the U.S. but most student discounts are for high school or lower.
The Guinness factory takes up 8(?—Look up) blocks of downtown Dublin in the area that would have been outside the city wall in Norman times. The factory is actually a history museum (with taste testing) about the history, process and advertising of Guinness. I stole a bit of barley from one of the touch displays to bring home.
By midday I was flagging badly but I wanted to keep pushing through for the rest of the tour and possibly for some shopping later. We had lunch in the Guinness factory. Steph had a spicy vegetable stew and I had a burger and potato wedges. The wedges were good but I forgot that the burger would not be the usual Angus beef. It was a little bit of a shock and ended up being a really dry not so tasty choice (even covered in ketchup and mayo). The deserts on the other hand were magical.
We had a Guinness Chocolate Mousse, White Chocolate and Bailey’s cheesecake, and an apple strudel. They were little ones but the most delicious part of the food and by the end I was stuffed. Deliciously stuffed. Unfortunately we didn’t take pictures of the spread but it was amazing.
Before lunch, we had our first Irish Guinness. It was definitely better than I expected but heavy. I think I had a sip of someone else’s at one point but this is my first actual glass of Guinness and Steph’s as well. I’ll be drinking it again that’s definitely for sure.
We went up to the gravity bar and tried to look around but it was packed up there and no place to stand or sit and we had a big lunch so we were too full to actually use our free pint things but we’d had free beer earlier in the tour so it was an overall great experience.
We ended up taking a couple of pictures but left for the shop soon after. I picked up a couple of gifts and something for myself.
I think it has hit me quite suddenly several times that we are in Ireland. I just forget that sometimes that we are legitimately across half a country and an entire ocean from Madison.
Standing up on the top of the gravity bar looking out at the green hillside past the edge of the city and the ocean and docks on the other side, I really felt it then more than ever.
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