Day 2: A wee bit O'Guinness

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, 15^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th 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.

Day 1: Freedom Memorial and Writers Museum

Yesterday I did a quick and dirty blog post about our first day and the travelling.  Today is a real post with pictures! And you get 2 for the price of one because we did a lot today as well and I'm going to get on a schedule of posting regularly.  I've gotten a lot of material for my book that I will someday write.

The plane rides were mostly uneventful and boring.  As most plane rides are.  The one interesting thing that happened was that the man in front of me going through security at O'Hare had a case of white castle with him.  In case he got the munchies on the plane? Maybe he was leaving the country and there aren't any white castle and he can't live without them.  Regardless it was the strangest thing I've seen someone bring with them in an airport.

Me doing a super easy crossword.  It's a whole book of them and they constantly reuse the same clues.  Next time I'm getting the medium level. 

We got off the plane in Dublin and managed to get on a bus and get within two blocks of our hostel.  We then immediately went the wrong direction down the street and ended up making a loop back to where we started and what should have taken 2-3 minutes took 20 but we made it, we checked in, dropped our bags off in the back room and headed out for coffee and a walk to a park we walked by when we were lost.  

The park ended up being the Freedom Monument for the Irish Freedom of 1922.  Super cool park.  We ate a muffin and had coffee and then wandered around the area for a little while.  Because we didn't know what time necessarily or what condition we would be in when we got into Dublin we didn't really have a whole lot planned but the Irish Writer's Museum is right next to the Freedom park so we ended up doing a lot more than we planned on the first day.  

Steph drinking coffee and eating a muffin in Freedom Park.

Me standing at the front of the park, behind me is a giant cross that is a pool of water with motifs of swords, spears and shields.

You can sort of see the pool of water and the statue with the angels and the Irish Free States flag behind me. 

Steph looking spiffy in her scarf. And showing some Irish pride in green with her ginger hair. (Though really she's actually not at all Irish. Not even a drop).  

This is really cool.  As much as I have a problem with religious politics and religious hypocrites I do have to say that churches, Christian artwork, and symbols are very amazing things. 

Dublin writers museum.  You can't take pictures inside so there are only pictures of the building but it was a fun  and easy thing to do on our fist day and was relatively cheap. And I now have a whole list of authors to look into when I get home (my reading supply on my Kindle is already huge so I probably shouldn't add anything.)

These were on the doors of the "reading room"

We walked along Henry Street (a long sort of State street-esque pedestrians only street).  There was a very cool toy store and this giant 7 foot stuffed animal tiger was in the window.  If only I could figure out a way to get it home I would totally get it.  (Not that I have anywhere to put it or do I know how much the giant thing cost). 

I'm going to give you advice for travelling occasionally for things I learned about this trip.  Here's a recap and the next new tip.

Tip #1: Make sure to buy passes AND reservations for the rail system well in advance.  They almost always will need to be mailed even though it says they can be e-tickets or picked up at the stations. Most can't, you have to buy them and have them mailed.

Tip #2: If you're battery for your computer says 110-240V 50-60Hz you can plug it in without needing the converter and just use the adapter. (Very helpful because you aren't supposed to use the converters for long periods of time).

AND the newest tip.

Tip #3: Make sure to spend a day without plans.  We had no intentions of doing anything the first day besides wandering around and it worked out like a charm.  We had a great time and we found some cool things to do. (I might be writing a travel book. I'm not sure but I'm having fun talking about all this stuff.)

Things of note very quickly...

If your laptop battery says 100-240 V 50-60 Hz you can use it with just the adapter in Europe instead of needing the converter.  #ThingsIleanredtoday.  (Yes I know this isn't Twitter but I couldn't help it. Plus I'm going to maybe write a book about things I learned in Europe or planning for Europe.

Also, we are safely in Dublin, Ireland.  We went to the Free Irish State Remembrance Memorial which is super pretty (pics later) and we went to the writers museum (also pics to come later). And now we are going to buy track phones and have dinner.  And we're probably going to see a movie (silly I know but we're exhausted and don't really want to do much tonight).   More to come later but for now this is our trip.