Autumn in Ireland

these reminders are all over the intersections
see all photos »

Max and I took a flight on Wednesday night (Halloween!) to Dublin. After walking about a mile just to get out of the airport, we took a shuttle bus (that drives on the left side!) to O'Connel Street. We walked a few blocks through Temple Bar, along the River Liffey to our hostel.  We saw so many people in the streets dressed in their Halloween costumes! We were a little out of place with our huge backpacks, layers of coats and overall exhaustion. The hostel was in a great location, right near Temple Bar and provided free internet! Thursday we got up early to take a bus tour of Dublin. It was the hop on/hop off system and we accidentally hopped on one going the wrong direction (it was at the end of the tour so it went one block and took us back where we started) After finding the right bus, we took the (almost) 2 hour tour and saw St. Stephen's Green, Phoenix Park, the Millennium Spire, Trinity College and other landmarks and statues around Dublin. We stopped for lunch at some Irish bar (Flanigans I think) and had veggie soup. Perfect for the freezing weather! The weather was really sunny and gorgeous, but so chilly. We walked back down OConnell  and Henry Street -both great shopping areas.  We took a break at the hostel, using the provided internet until it was time for dinner. We went to a bar right next door where Max had some Guinness and I stuck with Heineken.  There weren't many people in the bar, except for a few couples and this one loud drunk Floridian. He was saying how he was proud to be American or something embarrassing. Entertaining, I suppose. For dinner, we had margherita pizza and some potato and cheese dish (to say we tried some Irish food). Early Friday morning we hopped on a tour bus that took us out to Wicklow for the day. It was beautiful, more like how I imagined Ireland- with vibrant green grassy hills and forests. We drove along the windy coast, which made my stomach churn, but eventually made it to Wicklow. We stopped at a lake and then in an old monk town where Vikings had invaded. We had our leftover pizza for lunch, took the bus back to the hostel in time to register for classes at Davis! My stomach was really upset from all the driving so I didnt eat much for dinner, but Max had an authentic Irish Quiznos sandwhich! Saturday morning we got up fairly early, grabbed a bagel for breakfast and set off to explore Dublin by foot.  We went through Trinity College (very gothic style buildings, dark, old), over to St. Stephen's Green (pretty park with fountains and lakes) and stopped for soup and beer at an Irish bar O'Neils. We watched a bit of the soccer game that was on (Manchester vs. someone?)  We stopped a chocolate cafe and I got a cup of delicious white hot chocolate for dessert. We walked back to O'Connell Street for more shopping. After taking a quick break to sit down for about 20 minutes, we headed to the Guinness factory which Max loved. It was interesting and the 360 degree view from the top of the building was amazing. However, Im not a huge Guinness fan so I passed my free pint to some guy next to me. We headed back (through the drizzly rain) to dinner at a little hole in the wall called Copper Kettle Bistro(or something?). We went out to Temple Bar but realized how ridiculous all these Irish people are. The bars were absolutely packed, as was the street, with younger groups and couples. To avoid the crowds, and actually be able to order a drink, we went to Murphy's bar which was just a block away. It wasn't as crowded there, but we still had to stand. We chatted and people watched while sipping beers. On our way out Sunday morning we stopped for breakfast at the cutest little bakery/cafe called Queen of Tarts. So delicious! (granola with fruit, and hot chocolate) We took an hour ride bus to the airport and then the 3 hour flight back to Madrid and ate dinner with Loty!