The last 10 or 11 days I have been on Spring Break. Why so long you ask? Well, I normally don't have school on Fridays here, and St. Patrick's Day was actually the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification, so we got off of school for that as well. Instead of taking one giant vacation all over Europe like I did last semester, I have been taking short 3-4 day trips this semester. For about 4-5 days of this long break, I decided to take my first solo adventure out of Italy and went to Dublin, Ireland. I figured, if I had any problems, like getting mugged again, or getting so lost I can't find my way back to my hostel, I at least spoke the language in the country.
My trip began at 2:30 in the morning on Tuesday when I had to wake up to trek to the train station to catch the only bus that takes you to Pisa for early morning flights. Then, I had a relatively hassle free check-in with Ryan Air (you never know how things are going to work with them) and a lovely sleepy coma of a flight. I easily found my way from the airport, to the bus, to my hostel, then went on a free walking tour of the city. I learned all about Ireland's long rebellious history, as well as a lot of facts about vikings and the gaelic language, and I met some interesting people, including the most gorgeous rugby player from Cambridge who had broken his eye socket in a game against Trinity College. After a lovely lunch of fish and chips with above mentioned rugby player, I ventured to the archaeology museum of Ireland that my tour guide had told me was a must-see. Tots not. The only cool thing, beyond the copious amount of hammered gold jewelry, were the "bog men" (mummified humans found in various bogs by Irish farmers). Upon my return to my hostel, I was fortunate enough to meet a group of great girls from Virginia who were studying in England who invited me to join them for dinner and drinks at a pub. There I enjoyed my first Irish Guinness as well as another meal of fried food. The girls were also nice enough to leave me their Dublin Pass, which got me free entrance into pretty much every tourist site in Dublin the next day.
Day 2 was spent trying to cram as many free things in as I could. I started the day at the Guinness Storehouse, which is AMAZING! Imagine seven stories of interactive Guinness history. I learned about every step in the brewing process, the different advertising campaigns, which types of Guinness they sell in different countries, etc. Then, to top it all off, every visitor gets a free pint of Guinness in the gravity bar on the 7th floor, which is a glass walled room that provides excellent views of Dublin. To continue my day of early drinking, I next moved on to the Jameson Distillery, where I went on another tour of the brewing process, this time led by the most adorable Irish lad named Andy (though I wish he had been my Andy). I also was lucky enough to be chosen as a volunteer in the whiskey test. Me and 7 other guests got to learn the proper way to taste Jameson Irish whiskey, then compare it to Johnny Walker Black Scotch whiskey and Jack Daniel's Kentucky Bourbon whiskey. I now have a certificate saying that I am a qualified Irish Whiskey taster, which I will promptly frame on my return to the US. After enjoying my free glass of Jameson and "ginger beer", I trudged on to try to find a jail that you can tour that everyone told me was a must see. Well, this jail was really, really far, and I totally got lost,and somehow ended up at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. I though, well cool, I enjoy a lot of modern art, I'll go in, it's free. If you ever have a chance to go to Dublin, I do not recommend this museum. There was only 1 decent exhibit, and the museum is on the far edge of town. SPend your time drinking in a oub instead. After the IMMA, I moved on to the Dublin Zoo. This was another far trek, over t Phoenix Park, the largest park in Europe, but I was determined to do everything I could on this free Dublin Pass. I got to the zoo an hour before closing, so I pretty much ran through it, trying to take in as many animals as I could. Problem was, since it was night time, many of the animals were feeding, so I missed a few exhibits. Anyhow, after the zoo was closing on me, I finally went home and chilled in my hostel, eating cadbury cream eggs (yum!) and reading some British book about "yummy mummies" I bought for 3 euro.
Day 3 I decided to leave Dublin for a bit and took a bus tour to Malahide castle and the northern coast of Dublin bay. I was the youngest person on the tour by at least 20 years, but I still enjoyed myself. The castle was very pretty, and the grounds were even more beautiful. The bus guide, Decklin,was hilarious and kept singing Irish drinking songs. After the castle we drove all along the coast, while Decklin pointed out all the famous Irish people's homes. We made a quick stop in the town of Hougth, which I wish I had had more time to investigate, then we drove back into Dublin. I then spent the rest of my afternoon shopping, and found my new favorite store "Penney's" (not to be confused with J.C. Penney's). Upon return to my hostel, I had 5 new roommates, all from SC, one a CofC student, and two who were friends with this boy I tutored for 3 years. Small world! I then left to do something totally nerdy, a literary pub crawl of Dublin. I figured I couldn't stay in Dublin and not explore the pub scene. This way I would meet other nerds like me, learn a bit of history, and drink some more Guinness. The pub crawl was fantastic and probably one of the best things to do in Dublin. Two actors take you around the city, stopping at various pubs and sites throughout the city, stopping to act out various scenes from Irish literature and telling you interesting tid-bits about Dublin's literary elite. On the tour I met some awesome people, including a group of 4 Irish "physiotherapists" who took me under their wing and made me a part of their group for the evening. I taught them what a "hipster" was, and they explained to me that "craic" is not Nachos like Kildare's pub in Chapel Hill says, but really the word for "fun". I also met 3 other people who were traveling on their own in Dublin: Gianluca, a swiss poker player, Tim, a Canadian city planning masters student, and a boy studying in a village of 500 people an hour north of Venice. We made ourselves the loner table and got some disgusting late night food after our crawl.
Day 4 was just spent shopping for souvenirs and making my pilgrimage to "The Queen of Tarts", a cafe every guide book I had read said was a must-eat in Dublin (so true!). Then I caught the bus back to the airport, the plane back to Bologna, then a train back to Florence.
I had a great time on my first solo Euro adventure, and was truly lucky to meet really nice people, have a nice, clean, safe hostel, and have sunshine and somewhat warm weather the entire time I was there (miracle of all miracles, no rain in Ireland!). I now feel comfortable enough to travel solo again, and am trying to plan one more big adventure before I head back to USA.
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