After a few short hours it was time to get up to travel to Ireland. We had an easybus to catch at 5:30 which meant we had to use the night bus as our means for transportation. The expert bus and metro figure outer, Jeana, took care of locating a night bus. The one we needed wasn’t super far away which was really nice. To get to our bus on time we had to leave the flat at 4:30 so we woke u pat 4:10 to begin our travels. We found our stop pretty easily and only had to wait a few minutes for it to arrive. We hopped on and made our way to Baker St. Station. Luckily I had my eyes on the lookout because when I told Jeana we were at our stop she was relieved I noticed. She had zoned out…totally understandable at 5:00 am!
We then walked to the easybus stop. There was one there when we got there and we were hoping to get on early but it was full. We had about 20 minutes until ours was set to arrive but it came early! Usually they are late so this was a nice surprise. Not only did we leave early but it only took us a little over an hour to get there and it was supposed to take an hour and twenty minutes. Things were going well. We headed into the airport and got through security in no time at all.
We just sat and waited for our gate to open. Once it did we headed to our gate and not long after they started boarding. As soon as I got on the plane I closed my eyes. The next thing I knew they were announcing we would be landing in 10 minutes! I had actually slept through takeoff! To top it off Jeana had done the exact same thing! It was probably good since we had gotten up so early. We still had a full day ahead of ourselves. Our flight took off at 8:10 and we arrived ten minutes ahead of schedule at 9:15. We really only got a short little nap in but enough o refresh ourselves to make it through the day.
When we landed we were on a mission to find the A16bus because that was what our hostel said to get on. We couldn’t find it at first so we asked the staff. It ended up being where we thought it wasn’t so we were glad we asked. Then we thought we got super lucky because it was sitting there when we got there but our luck had to run out sometime. The driver only took coins and we didn’t have enough so the bus left as we got our tickets. About twenty minutes later another one rolled in but then went out of service. We kept waiting. Then the bus left without us realized it and of course it was A16. That meant another twenty minute wait. We were quite frustrated at this point. We noticed bus 41 basically went the same way so we were going to take the next one that came. Of course it was next but it went out of service. The good news is the driver told us A16 would be there in five minutes. And finally it did arrive and we got on.
The bus ride took about thirty-five minutes which wasn’t too bad. We were worried we were not going to get off at the right stop but thanks to over hearing another girl ask someone we were able to locate where to get off. From there we had about a ten minute walk and then we had arrived at our hostel at last! Since we had waited so long for the bus we wanted to get exploring as soon as possible. We checked in, dropped off our bags and headed out. We then caught a bus to Guinness Storehouse. (This bus was easy to find as it was right outside our hostel and pulled up as soon as we got there!)
Touring the storehouse was pretty fun. You don’t need an audio guide or anything which is nice because you just got at your own pace and there wasn’t an information overload. The place in itself is neat because it is shaped in a point glass and is seven stories tall. Each floor has something different to check out. The first few floors teach you all about the brewing process. Then you get to do a taste testing and they have this whole process you can go through. There was a floor on advertising of Guinness over the years and another area on the history of the place. As you went higher there was less to do. At the very top was the gravity bar. Jeana and I went up there to explore what is supposed to be some of Dublin’s best views. Then we headed back down.
On the fourth floor there was a bar where they taught you to pour your own pint. Jeana and I thought I would be fun to learn the art so we did. There are six steps you must take to pour the perfect point. We had fun and even got a certificate afterwards. Then came the part most people look forward to the most but we were dreading…drinking the Guinness. At the taste testing we learned we were not huge fans. We still hadn’t eaten lunch either so we really didn’t want to drink the whole thing. We both drank as much as we could (which wasn’t much) and headed out to explore the rest of Dublin…and find some food!
Now for our trips I usually do the planning while Jeana does the navigating. Somehow the map ended up in my hands this trip…not the best idea. Before I admit the next part I will say it was not a very good map I was using. I will admit it was probably me more than the map but I managed to get us lost over and over the rest of the day. Maybe lost is a bad term…I just took us on the long scenic routes :) Jeana didn’t care at all, though I still felt bad for being incompetent at reading a map! I offered to let her take control but she told me I was doing fine each time. After I got us lost a few times I ended up double checking everything with her and that worked much better.
To begin though from the storehouse we headed to see St. Partick’s Cathedral. On or way we did find a grocery store and grabbed some food for lunch. After turning around a few times we managed to make it there. We didn’t go inside, just view it from outside. Next we went in search of Dublin Castle. This took us quite a while to get to as well. We ended up walking past it but the actual castle was behind a gate. We were expecting to see the actual castle. The castle wasn’t really anything special compared to other places we have seen. Originally we were contemplating going in but since we were a little behind schedule we decided not to.
Our last touristy stop for the day was Trinity College. This we actually managed to find with little difficulty. Sadly we were fifteen minutes late for the last tour of the day but it wasn’t really a huge deal to us. What we had come for was to see the Book of Kells. After wandering around the beautiful campus we headed to the Book of Kells. This was my favorite thing we did in Dublin. They had an exhibit on the book on how it was made and what things meant that was really interesting. Then we got to see the actual book. I was fascinated with all the detail and the amount of work put into it. They showed a video on how to actual book was bound together and one on how they wrote each page. All I can say is I would never have the patience for that sort of work! Getting to see how it was done gave me a greater appreciation for it though.
After getting to view the book along with a few others we got to go into The Long Room. This was my second favorite part of Dublin. Basically it was a gigantic room filled with books from floor to ceiling. The room was two stories tall and probably one hundred yards in length. It had old ladders to reach the top shelves and contained marble statues of famous writers. Books in the room were dated all throughout time. Some they had on display were all the way back from the 1400s, 1500s, 1600s, etc. Absolutely incredible to see the literature from so long ago! The best part of the room was it had the old book smell so you knew it was authentic. I was just mad we couldn’t take pictures!
When we left we walked around the courtyard and as we were heading out got to see a processional of students in their robes. We have no clue what it was but it was neat to get to see! At that point it was kind of late and we were starving so we went to find somewhere to eat. We found a nice little pub by our hostel and got a really nice dinner. I don’t remember the name but I had a potato with grilled vegetables on top and cheese melted over it along with a salad on the side. It was yummy and something my family would love so I’m going to have to try it when I get home. After dinner we went back to the hostel because we were about to crash from exhaustion. We took showers and got ready for bed straight away. Then we both read for a little bit before falling asleep at 8:30! Sort of early but much needed after our 4:10 wake up!
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