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Thursday, May 26th
We woke up bright and early this morning to catch our plane to Dublin, Ireland! We all met down infront of our apartments at 5:30 to leave for the bus that took us into the Brussels Airport. We were early for check in so a few of us went and got some breakfast. It was a short flight from Belgium to Ireland and once we arrived we had a full day of activities. I was warned that Ireland was going to be cold, but I didn't expect it to be as cold as it was…and rainy and windy as it was! There was a tour bus called the Paddy Wagon waiting for us at the airport that would be driving us all around Ireland for the next 4 days. I had my first experience with driving on the other side of the road here in Ireland. All 21 of us were walking to the bus and waited outside of it for the driver to open the door. He came over to us and said, "Um guys, the door is over on this side." It was so weird to be driving on the other side of the road, and seeing a car full of people and the person in the "driver's seat" not driving.
The Paddy Wagon took us right into Dublin so we could have some lunch. A few of us went to an Irish pub and some went to Burger King. Apparently Burger King in Ireland is really popular and tastes way better than any other Burger Kings? Some of the guys that went there did say it was a lot better than BK in Fargo. Me, Melanie, Michelle, Baylee, Kailee, Casey, Adam and Andrew went to this Irish pub and I had a club sandwich. Casey had an Irish stew that looked absolutely amazing. It had potatoes, carrots and duck. I wanted to get it but I didn't know if I would be able to eat duck. This stew is an authentic dish here in Ireland and many people tried it and loved it.
After lunch the bus took us to the Guinness Brewery. The tour was pretty interesting and I was able to have my first taste of Guinness- and shocker I didn't really like it haha. At the top of the factory they have a "sky bar" where we were able to see a panoramic view of Dublin. After the Guinness tour we had a 2 hr walking tour around the city of Dublin. The weather here is more random than it is back in ND, it will be sunny and 50 and then get freezing and rain like crazy every half hour. This tour would have been more enjoyable if the weather would have been nicer but I guess that's just how it is in Ireland. After our walking tour we checked into our Best Western Hotel. It was nice to have a shower, towels, and rooms that felt clean. We started to have to problems at our apts back in Belgium and I was roughing it for a few days. We were all exhausted and decided to have dinner at a Chinese buffet in our hotel. After dinner a few of us went down to Temple Bar which is really popular here in Ireland. It was built to be a church but they ran out of money so were going to just build a bar and when they ended up having enough money everyone just wanted it to be a bar. They had an Irish band playing which fun to hear and it was really packed. I was surprised though because the majority of people out that night were older and it was a Thursday night!
Friday, May 27th
Friday was another early morning breakfast then on the bus for a 2 day tour to Killarney. I finally was able to see the beautiful, Irish country side. When you're in the city it just seems like you're in another big city but once I got out into the country I knew I was in Ireland. It looks just like it does in the movies, absolutely breathtaking. We drove through the town Moneygall where Obama was earlier that week. There were American flags everywhere; it was a pretty big deal from them to have him come to their town. Our first was the Limerick Castle and the Shannon River. The weather was again windy and rainy this day. Then we drove to the coast to see the Atlantic Ocean. It was soooo, so cold but really pretty. After the Atlantic Ocean we went to see the Cliffs of Mohr. These are in the running to be named one of the new 7 wonders of the world and let me tell you, they should be! I wish the weather would have been nicer so I didn't have to run to the cliff, look at it and leave. But I did get some good pics, and rain or not it was still amazing to see. We stayed in Killarney this night and had a group dinner at the Lough Inn. I had a 100% Irish beef burger with mashed potatoes, delicious. Ridge who was sitting next to me had the Irish stew and it looked so good I had to try it. Duck definitely has a different taste but I loved it! But if it wasn't cooked in a stew with potatoes and carrots I'm not sure if I would. After dinner we walked around and checked out all the shops that were filled with wool sweaters and scarves haha. Then all 21 of us, including Mary who is probably around 70 went out to The Pub@ the Grand- another fun Irish bar. I love it when we all go out together. It's been so fun getting to know everyone.
Saturday, May 28th
Saturday was a very, very early morning for us. Too much dancing the night before. We had a great breakfast and then took a horse and carriage ride through the Killarney National Park. This was by far my favorite thing I've done so far on my trip. Again, the weather wasn't so great but it was still fun. I was so excited to see Ireland and being able to take a carriage ride thru the park and see all the "nature" as we kept saying was amazing, I could do it every day. After our carriage ride we took the bus to see the Blarney Castle in Cork, Ireland. The sun started to come out which was nice and it was really cool to finally go inside a castle instead of just look at it. At the top of the castle you can lie upside down and kiss this rock for good luck so we all did that… it's a long story about why people do this haha. After Blarney Castle we went to see the Rocks of Dunamase which are really cool. They are ruins out in the country. Then we took a long bus ride where we all napped back to Dublin. We had another group dinner at an Irish steak house that I couldn't have been more excited for. Since I've been over here there are a few things I'm really starting to miss and one of those is red meat lol. I had bruschetta for an appetizer, a 10oz rib eye with a garlic butter sauce and mashed potatoes and ate the entire thing. It was soooo good. Then I had a few bites of a warm brownie and ice cream dessert- best dinner thus far. Then that night a few people went out again but Kailee, Jordan and I just hungout in the hotel room. I was happy to get a good night's sleep.
Sunday, May 29th
Sunday we took another bus trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Our first stop was the Drogheada Cathedral. This is where the preserved head of Oliver Plunkett is. We didn't spent much time here but enough to walk around and take some pics. Once we arrived in Belfast we went to the shipyards where the Titanic was built. It was soo, so windy that day but really cool to see where the ship was built. Our day in Belfast continued with a black taxi tour of the Protestant/Catholic regions… scariest tour ever. We had to get into a taxi that was allowed in the restricted zones. Buses and other vehicles are not allowed there. The tour was of the Protestant vs. Catholic war and we drove/walked thru some of the districts. The guide said bomb threats were normal and the last bomb actually went off just last week and there were 14 threats yesterday, one of them was real but found it in time to diffuse. At this point, most of us girls were back in the cab immediately haha. We made it safely out of the Protestant district and went to see the International Peace Wall that divided the 2 districts and we signed our names to recognize we are for peace. Interesting day.
We headed in the center of Belfast and walked to the Victorian Town shopping center for lunch. Some went to Pizza Hut and McDonalds a few of us went to this really good deli. When we got back on the bus we started to head back to Dublin. We stopped at the Monasterboice Monastery grave yard to see the ancient Celtic crosses which were very cool to see. Once we arrived back in Dublin most of my classmates and I met to have dinner a local Irish pub. I had a loaded baked potato that was delicious, and very spicy. Some of the guys had what I think was a Shepard's Pie that looked so good too. Our flight was at 6:30am and had to meet in the lobby by 4:30am. About 15 of us packed our bags and headed out for the night. We knew it was going to be an all nighter and that our flight was going to be rough but it was our last night in Ireland and we hadn't seen all that we wanted to yet!
Monday, May 30
Today has been a pretty lazy day for most of us. We had a very early morning, I think I only slept about 15 minutes but got a good nap in on the plane and bus back to Belgium. Other than napping and catching up on my blog I haven't done much. We have a test Wednesday morning in our EU class so tonight I will be studying for that.
Ireland was a great country and I am so happy I got to visit it. Even though the weather wasn't all that great, we did have some sunny moments were I could really see how beautiful Ireland is. Everything is so green. There are these beautiful rolling hills of farm land, lush green grass and trees. People also have their cattle, sheep and horses out in pastures that you can see which were cool to see too. The homes are really pretty here too. Typical country styles but have an older, more rustic look to them. All in all, great trip to Ireland!
- comments
Therese I like the fact that you try the local food when you come to a new place. It is really easy to just eat the food you are used to/ familiar with. You seem to be having a wonderful time and I am so jealous! I hope you feel that it is a good thing that you went on the trip :) Therese