Dublin, Scotland
It was a rough sleep-because Alex was warm we had the window and shade open and there was a large electric billboard that flashed lights the whole evening and morning. Also there must be a bird gathering next door because we had birds start their calling like 3 or 4 AM and they were loud and obnoxious. It was hard to get back asleep once we were woken up.
Our alarms pretty soon after that, around 5:30AM went off and we were up and our of the hostel. We took a train by 6AM, to a bus at 6:15AM, to the airport by 6:35AM-their public transport and signs to follow were excellent. It was very easy to find the train, bus, and we made it early to the airport. The check-in was not even open when we arrived so we had to wait for about 15 min or so. We checked in online, but Ryanair makes you get a date stamp on your ticket before you can go up to security. So we got that and headed toward security. Right before the entry, we sat down and ate our protein bread things which were actually really delicious--Danielle craves them now. She even added a banana to her sandwich! Yummm! The rolls have seeds on them so it gave it a lot of texture! Then we proceed through security and boarded the plane.
This flight was only 40 min, we tried to nap but only got maybe 10-15 min of sleep. Ryanair is frill-less so tight, plastic seats and everything costs extra, but at least we got to sit next to each other even though they charge to reserve seats next to one another and we just lucked out!
Landing in Ireland, it looked large and green from the sky. We arrived at 9:30AM and got bus tickets (an out ticket from and return ticket to the airport (so we were all set up for tomorrows return trip). It was a very easy ticket line and it cost 10€ each ($10.75). The next bus would be there in about 10-15 minutes and we were the first one on. We got the front row on the top deck of this double decker bus and were off to the city. We had a nice view from the front, but it got very very warm with the sun beating down on us. It was only 53 and mostly cloudy, a little sunny, but inside this bus it was hot!
In the middle of the drive (suppose to be about 20 min) there was a 3 car, 1 truck pile up. One car was jammed in between another car and the truck. There were no deaths or injuries, two cars were pretty beat up though. The owners seemed to all be laughing with each other so it was a chill atmosphere, I don't think in the U.S, anyone is ever smiling let along laughing after even a fender bender). This caused a little traffic and we had to go up on the curb to pass the pile up so it took about 30 min to get where we needed to get to our stop. Then it was off to explore. The first stop was the Trinity College (we saw a few buildings and their green-large, open field, where student can walk to class). Then it was off to explore Merrion Square which had a statue of the famous Oscar Wilde (famous novelist, poet, and satirist). The square was just beautiful, had so many flowers in bloom and they were a gorgeous pink! The weather felt perfect for walking around all day, sunny but cool.
Then on to Stephen's Green- a large, beautiful park with brilliant flowers, fountains, and arches. We made our way through the garden and on to St. Patrick's Cathedral which was monstrous and beautiful. Make sure to check out the pictures on Alex's Facebook! Then on to Christchurch Cathedral. There is a statue of Jesus on a bench (homeless looking) with his face and body covered by a blanket. You know its Jesus because his feet stick out the bottom and they are punctured with holes. Then we went on to the Dublin Castle-all of stone, and very large, most buildings have high pointed tops. Next we saw the famous red temple bar. We took a couple pictures and by this time we were a little hungry for lunch. We found a local cafe nearby called Brick Alley Cafe. It was a nice little place, only maybe 6-7 tables. We sat in back booth and ordered such clique breakfasts. Danielle ordered what they call a simple breakfast which was scrambled eggs with brown toast (wheat). Alex ordered a bacon and cheddar sandwich on focaccia bread with an Irish coffee. We also shared a side of pancakes (their pancakes are crepes so it was 3 crepes and syrup which was delicious-more like honey)! It was all very very good. The Irish coffee was really good too, Alex loved it, definitely has a kick of caffeine and whiskey! We sat for awhile after we ate and hung out using the wifi, we had a group of guys sit down at the table behind us and they spoke celtic and they the table next to us was 2 Americans girls speaking English of course, the servers spoke Spanish to each other, so we had many languages going on at one time. It was interesting that the waiter was male and the cook was female.
Once we left we walked along the River Liffey which is in the middle of the city and splits Dublin into upper and lower Dublin. We walked along both sides and went into a few Irish stores to get a few gifts/tokens of the trip. Then we went and checked into Abbey Court Hostel. This hostel was very large, a ton of people of all ages were staying here. We had 8 year olds and 50+ year olds all staying in this huge place. It was easy to check in, we had a 4 bed dorm so we shared with 2 other people. It did have 2 sets of 3 bunk high beds, but they don't sell the top bunk out. We had one girl who was a bit older than us and she was very nice, from Germany, she read and kept to herself at night. And we had a guy around our age who wasn't there at all during the day and night, he must had come in in the middle of the night because all 3 of us were sleeping.
Each door in this hostel (4 floors) had a famous person painted on it, ours was Muhammad Ali. We were very tired from the morning travels, so the other girl and guy were not in the room so we decided to take a nap for about 45 minutes which felt wonderful. Then we were back out to explore. We went to Temple Bar Road with all the shops and found a few more things to bring home (wool socks---there is so many things you can get made out of wool because of all the sheep that there, but it is pretty expensive, sweaters I was looking at were $100). We stopped at a local frozen yogurt shop called Mooch and got vanilla yogurt with hot nutella on it! Wowza--it was delicious! It was very fresh and they were a lot of candy, fruit, nut, hot and cold toppings to choose from). They charge a certain amount for the yogurt and then every topping is an added .5€. This must be the young adult hangout spot because all the tables inside and outside were packed with 18-22 year olds, just shopping around. We relaxed for a bit watching music videos which they had connected to their music, some mumford & sons (very big here since they are British), Justin Bieber, and Fifth Harmony.
Once we left we walked the route we would make tomorrow morning back to the airport just to make sure we knew where to go for the bus stop and in doing so we found a department store called Pennys (a lot like Marshalls). We found some great 2, 5 and 8 € deals and brought some European style back home with us. Then we went back to the hostel and had some simple oatmeal for dinner. We found the kitchen in the basement. It was huge and there were tons of young adults making dinner, some together and some in their own groups. It was cool to see what other cultures make for dinner and you can see culture at its finest with how they prepare their food and how much preparation goes into their meals. There were 5-6 full fridges, 3 stoves, 2 sinks, and lots of groups of people in and out. Some were just baking pizzas, we were eating oatmeal, and then there were 3 other groups making large meals. One was French and they were doing their culture's cuisine, another had a huge salad with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, and another was making a pomegranate dish on the stove. Everyone was making homemade dishes and it felt almost like we were on a cooking competition show. They all appeared like they could cook. Next door was a mess hall or big cafeteria to eat in which had more people eating and behind that was a smoking room. People sat in their a smoked. We figured maybe that smoke gets filtered out and since our room is 4 floors above the side of the smoke-room is why it smells like smoke. We just ate in the kitchen so we didn't have to deal with any smell of smoke. Then we headed back to our room and Alex found a spare fan he could use to keep his cool. So we took that to the room and cleaned ourselves off (this hostel didn't supply free towels so we just wiped off) and checked the internet and then were in bed.
First Impression:
Clean, people are nice/helpful-anyone will help you. Not very many smokers until later in the evening and then more smokers came out which was weird. Very open city, lots of people but doesn't feel crowded. Lots of gardens, a very nature driven city. They do speak English with an accent, but locals speak modern Irish/Gaelic which was very interesting to hear. It was a very easy going and chill city. It was also much cheaper than the UK. They did have some homeless and they seem to be friends and huddle together. Some beg and others just sit on the street. One really unique thing was you could buy stamps from an outdoor almost ATM looking machine right outside the post office. So when the post office was closed you could still put money in and get a stamp and then drop your envelope into a slot which goes into the post office. We thought that was very useful and unique.
*Animals were allowed on all transportation in Europe*
Our alarms pretty soon after that, around 5:30AM went off and we were up and our of the hostel. We took a train by 6AM, to a bus at 6:15AM, to the airport by 6:35AM-their public transport and signs to follow were excellent. It was very easy to find the train, bus, and we made it early to the airport. The check-in was not even open when we arrived so we had to wait for about 15 min or so. We checked in online, but Ryanair makes you get a date stamp on your ticket before you can go up to security. So we got that and headed toward security. Right before the entry, we sat down and ate our protein bread things which were actually really delicious--Danielle craves them now. She even added a banana to her sandwich! Yummm! The rolls have seeds on them so it gave it a lot of texture! Then we proceed through security and boarded the plane.
This flight was only 40 min, we tried to nap but only got maybe 10-15 min of sleep. Ryanair is frill-less so tight, plastic seats and everything costs extra, but at least we got to sit next to each other even though they charge to reserve seats next to one another and we just lucked out!
Landing in Ireland, it looked large and green from the sky. We arrived at 9:30AM and got bus tickets (an out ticket from and return ticket to the airport (so we were all set up for tomorrows return trip). It was a very easy ticket line and it cost 10€ each ($10.75). The next bus would be there in about 10-15 minutes and we were the first one on. We got the front row on the top deck of this double decker bus and were off to the city. We had a nice view from the front, but it got very very warm with the sun beating down on us. It was only 53 and mostly cloudy, a little sunny, but inside this bus it was hot!
In the middle of the drive (suppose to be about 20 min) there was a 3 car, 1 truck pile up. One car was jammed in between another car and the truck. There were no deaths or injuries, two cars were pretty beat up though. The owners seemed to all be laughing with each other so it was a chill atmosphere, I don't think in the U.S, anyone is ever smiling let along laughing after even a fender bender). This caused a little traffic and we had to go up on the curb to pass the pile up so it took about 30 min to get where we needed to get to our stop. Then it was off to explore. The first stop was the Trinity College (we saw a few buildings and their green-large, open field, where student can walk to class). Then it was off to explore Merrion Square which had a statue of the famous Oscar Wilde (famous novelist, poet, and satirist). The square was just beautiful, had so many flowers in bloom and they were a gorgeous pink! The weather felt perfect for walking around all day, sunny but cool.
Then on to Stephen's Green- a large, beautiful park with brilliant flowers, fountains, and arches. We made our way through the garden and on to St. Patrick's Cathedral which was monstrous and beautiful. Make sure to check out the pictures on Alex's Facebook! Then on to Christchurch Cathedral. There is a statue of Jesus on a bench (homeless looking) with his face and body covered by a blanket. You know its Jesus because his feet stick out the bottom and they are punctured with holes. Then we went on to the Dublin Castle-all of stone, and very large, most buildings have high pointed tops. Next we saw the famous red temple bar. We took a couple pictures and by this time we were a little hungry for lunch. We found a local cafe nearby called Brick Alley Cafe. It was a nice little place, only maybe 6-7 tables. We sat in back booth and ordered such clique breakfasts. Danielle ordered what they call a simple breakfast which was scrambled eggs with brown toast (wheat). Alex ordered a bacon and cheddar sandwich on focaccia bread with an Irish coffee. We also shared a side of pancakes (their pancakes are crepes so it was 3 crepes and syrup which was delicious-more like honey)! It was all very very good. The Irish coffee was really good too, Alex loved it, definitely has a kick of caffeine and whiskey! We sat for awhile after we ate and hung out using the wifi, we had a group of guys sit down at the table behind us and they spoke celtic and they the table next to us was 2 Americans girls speaking English of course, the servers spoke Spanish to each other, so we had many languages going on at one time. It was interesting that the waiter was male and the cook was female.
Once we left we walked along the River Liffey which is in the middle of the city and splits Dublin into upper and lower Dublin. We walked along both sides and went into a few Irish stores to get a few gifts/tokens of the trip. Then we went and checked into Abbey Court Hostel. This hostel was very large, a ton of people of all ages were staying here. We had 8 year olds and 50+ year olds all staying in this huge place. It was easy to check in, we had a 4 bed dorm so we shared with 2 other people. It did have 2 sets of 3 bunk high beds, but they don't sell the top bunk out. We had one girl who was a bit older than us and she was very nice, from Germany, she read and kept to herself at night. And we had a guy around our age who wasn't there at all during the day and night, he must had come in in the middle of the night because all 3 of us were sleeping.
Each door in this hostel (4 floors) had a famous person painted on it, ours was Muhammad Ali. We were very tired from the morning travels, so the other girl and guy were not in the room so we decided to take a nap for about 45 minutes which felt wonderful. Then we were back out to explore. We went to Temple Bar Road with all the shops and found a few more things to bring home (wool socks---there is so many things you can get made out of wool because of all the sheep that there, but it is pretty expensive, sweaters I was looking at were $100). We stopped at a local frozen yogurt shop called Mooch and got vanilla yogurt with hot nutella on it! Wowza--it was delicious! It was very fresh and they were a lot of candy, fruit, nut, hot and cold toppings to choose from). They charge a certain amount for the yogurt and then every topping is an added .5€. This must be the young adult hangout spot because all the tables inside and outside were packed with 18-22 year olds, just shopping around. We relaxed for a bit watching music videos which they had connected to their music, some mumford & sons (very big here since they are British), Justin Bieber, and Fifth Harmony.
Once we left we walked the route we would make tomorrow morning back to the airport just to make sure we knew where to go for the bus stop and in doing so we found a department store called Pennys (a lot like Marshalls). We found some great 2, 5 and 8 € deals and brought some European style back home with us. Then we went back to the hostel and had some simple oatmeal for dinner. We found the kitchen in the basement. It was huge and there were tons of young adults making dinner, some together and some in their own groups. It was cool to see what other cultures make for dinner and you can see culture at its finest with how they prepare their food and how much preparation goes into their meals. There were 5-6 full fridges, 3 stoves, 2 sinks, and lots of groups of people in and out. Some were just baking pizzas, we were eating oatmeal, and then there were 3 other groups making large meals. One was French and they were doing their culture's cuisine, another had a huge salad with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, and another was making a pomegranate dish on the stove. Everyone was making homemade dishes and it felt almost like we were on a cooking competition show. They all appeared like they could cook. Next door was a mess hall or big cafeteria to eat in which had more people eating and behind that was a smoking room. People sat in their a smoked. We figured maybe that smoke gets filtered out and since our room is 4 floors above the side of the smoke-room is why it smells like smoke. We just ate in the kitchen so we didn't have to deal with any smell of smoke. Then we headed back to our room and Alex found a spare fan he could use to keep his cool. So we took that to the room and cleaned ourselves off (this hostel didn't supply free towels so we just wiped off) and checked the internet and then were in bed.
First Impression:
Clean, people are nice/helpful-anyone will help you. Not very many smokers until later in the evening and then more smokers came out which was weird. Very open city, lots of people but doesn't feel crowded. Lots of gardens, a very nature driven city. They do speak English with an accent, but locals speak modern Irish/Gaelic which was very interesting to hear. It was a very easy going and chill city. It was also much cheaper than the UK. They did have some homeless and they seem to be friends and huddle together. Some beg and others just sit on the street. One really unique thing was you could buy stamps from an outdoor almost ATM looking machine right outside the post office. So when the post office was closed you could still put money in and get a stamp and then drop your envelope into a slot which goes into the post office. We thought that was very useful and unique.
*Animals were allowed on all transportation in Europe*
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