In Dublin hostel was right in the centre of Temple Bar, a lively night spot & for a Monday night she sure was busy! We went straight out to the pub next door where we could hear live music playing. It was so packed we could hardly move (which we'd soon realise is just the norm in Ireland, they sure love their pints!) but in the corner a band was playing some traditional Irish music & the atmosphere was great with everyone singing along and getting into the Irish spirit.
Our first day in Dublin was seriously wet and rainy & we found ourselves missing the UK 'sun' so we spent some much needed time planning and booking accommodation for the remainder of the trip and 'trying' to organize our elusive Eurail passes.. I say trying because I don't even think the people of Eurail know what is going on. We pre booked them online while still in Oz but their website malfunctioned & it took them over 3 weeks to give us a refund by which time we were already far gone. Then they sent us to Dublin train station where apparently they have an office........ Only to be told there is no Eurail office in Dublin we'd have to go to Belfast!!?? The Eurail passes were supposed to cover our train travel through Ireland as well as Europe but it became quite obvious we needed a plan B! Plan B was a bus pass for Ireland & to order the Eurail passes online AGAIN and have them posted to our hostel in Dublin & we'd have to go back their before we got on the plane to go to Amsterdam...

We didnt do a lot of touristy things on our first stay in Dublin but we did manage the porterhouse brewery for dinner & drinks by the trip advisor recommendation & it was ok nothing to write home about, trinity college and a few other cool buildings.

From Dublin we headed down to the south to Cork hoping it might be warmer... Not the case at all. The hostel in Cork was more like an apartment we had our own little kitchen & TV area that we only shared with one other guy. I was so happy I decided we were having a home cooked meal! We went down to the local English markets and bought fresh vegetables and squid for a stir fry.. So. Damn. Happy. For a night of Olympics and home cooking!
We decided to do a Hop on Hop off tour so we could go and see the city gaol and learn some history about good ol Cork. The gaol was really eye opening to realize most of the people in jail in the early 1900s were there because they were poor & had stolen clothes or bread & they considered prison food to be eating like kings!
We went out to a cool little bar Friday night that had a DJ playing or maybe just a guy with a CD and a rather interesting mix of people & travelers, some we were happy to meet and others we were happy to see leave! Blarney Castle seemed like a good sight to go visit from Cork, only half hour bus ride away and I'm glad I dragged Kael out of bed with his hangover.. The castle is set on a huge grounds surrounded by the most beautiful gardens we spent a few hours wandering around the grounds before we climbed the castle tower.. It's hard to imagine what it would of looked like when people were living it, back in the 15th century. It all seems like a fairy tale the history of it is hard to fathom. Kael was loving this place, I wasn't sure I'd get him to leave! He kissed the famous blarney stone for good luck, but I refused to kiss a piece of rock a million other people lips have touch, yuk! Haha. He's adamant we'll win the lotto now... I hope so but I won't hold my breath ;)

From Cork we headed up to Galway on the Sunday, our hostel was crap.. The shower was a piece of sh*t & we had to shower under a bath tap! We were too scared to sit in the bath incase we contracted a disease so as you can imagine squatting in a bath wearing your thongs & trying to wash yourself under a tap was a very fun part of each day, not.
Being a long weekend, Galway was packed there were a few bars We wanted to go to but we literally couldn't fit inside there were sooo many bodies! We eventually squeezed our selves into a pub and enjoyed what Galway had to offer, we met a really nice couple Graham & Britania they were quite good entertainment for the night after drinking all day at the races!
We also did a day tour for the Cliffs of Moher which had a few stops along the way to different castles, tombs, mountains ect.. Our tour guide was a strange little chubby Irish man, nice enough but his heavy breathing over the PA system when he wasn't talking had everyone in the bus laughing and slightly creeped out! The cliffs were beautiful & it as usual no photo can truly capture what's there infront of you. I got my crazy Asian on and was snapping left right and centre but it just doesn't do it justice! The tour guide recommmed a pub that had traditional Irish dancing & I was expecting river dance but instead was pleasantly surprised to see 3 men onstage with piano accordions and about half a dozen couples taking part in Irish dance .. That sort of culture warms my heart & something we don't even come close to having at home. An old pissed guy quickly became Kaels best mate (this boy has a magnet for strange people, I swear!) Ol DK, his Irish was thick his slur was strong and we could hardly understand a word! He took me for a spin across the dance floor and we made up our own Irish dance, it was good fun.

From Galway we headed back to Dublin & I was adamant that this time we would do something touristy! We stayed in Camden this time & made sure we did a hop on hop off tour and made it to the guinness brewery only to be disappointed! It was literally a tourist trap on stetiods but such is life sometimes! The Dublin hop on hop off tour seemed to go forever, with 25 stops I found myself wanting it all to end! we got off and and walked back to Camden. Our last night in Dublin we decided to take part in our hostel party and be sociable.. Of course the nights you want to take it easy end up being a complete blow out! I'd like to give honorable mentions to Argentina, Victor & Victor of Germany & the Croatian 3 we partied like I was all 18 again, drinking game after drinking game until eventually I wanted to be an aboriginal!? Yep the lack of my own culture had finally gotten to me... Thank god kael was there to take me home or perhaps I would of been telling dreamtime stories..

Ireland has come to end and as much we loved it we are SOO excited to get to Europe and feel the sun in our skin.. Amsterdam here we come!! Wooo hoooo!!!! ;)