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Dublin
We flew from Gatwick airport to Dublin on 2nd July, flight was a little delayed, but as its only a short flight didn't really matter that much. When arriving in the airport I noticed how low the toilets were to the ground, and did wonder if they were meant for the leprechauns too! Caught a bus to the city centre where the hostel we had booked was an easy 3 minutes walk. Had a double room booked, but ended up in a 4 bed room with ensuite all to ourselves, so set about spreading ourselves around - the thing we seem to do best!! It was 60 euros for the room. After dumping our bags we headed out to Dublin.
Ended up in the raucous Temple Bar area and had a Heinekin to cure our thirst. Lots of free entertainment going on! We did a bit of walking from restaurant to restaurant looking for the best burger in town & eventually found a place call bad ass burgers. Their logo was a naughty looking ass (donkey)! We shared a goats cheese burger & caeser salad. After that we walked a little more and decided that Dublin was not the place for us and headed for the bus station to see about going somewhere else the next day.
Limerick
Woke up and packed up very quickly after we realised we were running a little late. Made it to the bus station with 5 minutes to spare to buy tickets to Limerick, hooray! We had pre-booked a cheap hotel called Patrick Punch the previous evening & once there directed ourselves to it from our map. Was about a 20 minute walk from the bus station, but the room was lovely! It had a huge kingsize bed & ensuite with a bath. The hotel had its own spa facilities that were free - and all this for only 49 euros a night! What a bargain. Had a short walk back into town & found a tesco supermarket where we did a cheese salad for dinner. Then back to the hotel bar for our first pint of Guinness in Ireland - very yummy! Definately tastes better in Ireland.
Second day in Limerick we went on a job & house search day. It seems that the agencies would not employ you without a bank account opened. To open a bank account we would need a tax file number, but to get the number we would need a fixed address in Ireland. Now the circle comes back round again because we couldn't get a fixed address unless we could prove we were earning money in Ireland, but we couldn't do that cause we couldn't get a job without the tax file number.....oh you see the spinning cycle! So we put on our thinking caps, with all that spinning going on in our heads we thought about sharing a house for a month or so to have a fixed address, so went to the post office to post off for my Irish visa and got to the post office about 15 minutes before closing time. I asked for an international envelope. The guy was extremely rude, but told us how much it would cost, and then when I reached for a pen to fill it out he shouted at me that I should take it home and fill it out there. Pete lost his temper a bit too quick and pushed the envelope back at the guy and said we would rather go to a different post office as he was out of order. We were both a bit fuming after that & ended up not sending off for my visa. Later on we figured out it was a blessing in disguise, but at the time didn't seem so.
After this episode we got thinking about it we really did want to stay in Ireland at all. Everything out there is so incredibly expensive. Food and drink is more expensive than the UK, travel is expensive & housing is very pricing too. We couldn't afford to live in hostels and hotels for too much longer. We took a day trip out to Shannon which was honestly a bit of waste of time. There is nothing much to see there, but it looked bigger on the map than it actually was! After our day trip, we had made a decision. That was to give it go in Cork, and if we came up with nothing there, then we would head to mainland Europe.
Cork
We woke up fairly early & decided to head for the bus station to get the earlier bus to Cork, we walked so quickly our legs were aching when we got there, but we made it in time. A couple of hours later we arrived in Cork. We had our directions to the hostel (Kinlay House) we had booked, but as usual for Ireland it was pissing it down with rain....again! So even though we togged up still got a little wet going up there. We had bunk beds this time, but the room was comfy. We had free wi-fi access again so did a bit more research, and then later went walkabout in Cork. Had a pint of Murphys in the oldest pub in Cork - Mutton lane Inn. It looks like a really dodgy pub as you have to walk down this skinny alleyway and you can't see in. It looks all dark & dingy, but we went in anyway & was lovely! Murphys is a little bit different to Guinness, but apparently what they prefer to drink in Cork. We liked Cork a lot, but the job market is really thin on the ground. There seems to be a lot of Polish people here who will do anything for a buck, so I guess we wouldn't have much luck.
After a good nights sleep we went to book our flights out of Ireland. Decision was made. While we are still young and fit we will tour Europe for the summer in a tent, and pick up some work if we need to. Booked flights into Brussels - the cheapest - and booked a hotel for when we arrived too. All sorted, we went off to see the Blarney castle and kiss the Blarney stone. Took a bus out there, our entrance fee included kissing the stone. Its right at the top of the castle and you have to lie down while this man holds your back so you can tip your head upside down to kiss this stone. If you are a germaphobic I would not recommend it, but apparently gives you the gift of the gab! I think I may already have that when it comes to my journal entries!!! Next day we got the bus back up to Limerick for the last night, had our last pint of Guinness in Ireland before flying out to Brussells.
Europe here we come!
P.S. If you ever go to Ireland, make sure you always carry an umbrella and don't mention the Leprechauns!!!
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