I don’t know whether it is because we were traveling to the land of the lucky or because there is luck in our blood but it paid us a visit this weekend! When I decided to study in Italy this summer never in my wildest dreams did I think I would go to Dublin for the weekend. To visit the land where my father’s family is from, the land that I take such great pride in being from was an experience every step of the way.
Mason, Brian, Kelsey, and I woke up bright and early on Friday morning to start a journey that would hold a place in our hearts for the rest of our lives. The close calls started from the get go. When we arrived at the airport we walked straight up to the line and immediately got our passports checked. We continued onto what we thought was the next process, another check of our passports. The only problem: the line. This is what we had originally expected and we thought we got off Scott free. Our gate was about to close in 30 minutes and we still faced this long passport line and security. The line was moving at a pretty close rate but we only had 10 minutes to get to our gate so we had to pull the can we cut because our flight is about to leave line! I went first because I was going to probably take the longest at security due to my computer and layers of clothes. When I got up to the lady she said that we had already had our passports checked and we just needed to go to security, seriously! We ran through security pretty smoothly and then took off to our gate. With minutes to spare we arrived to a long line of people waiting for the shuttle to our flight. We did a ton of rushing to wait around for a half hour. Unfortunately once we got on the plane we were split up. Luckily, I got a window seat and sat next to an adorable couple that were in the middle of their 2 month long vacation of Europe.
When we reached Dublin there was a different presence in the air. People genuinely smiled at you and seemed to be in a great mood. The hostel that we stayed at provided a shuttle every two hours from the airport. When looking for the shuttle the description was a green Paddywagon and let me tell you there was no mistaking this shuttle. It was a large Kelly green shuttle bus with large letters saying PADDYWAGON. Doesn’t every tourist enjoy the feeling of looking like nothing but a tourist.
Once we hit the hostel there was no stopping us. For the next two and a half days we had places to see and people to meet. We arrived at our hostel no problem. We had to take the Paddywagon once again because our reservation were for an apartment that was separate from the hostel. We arrived and got to the floor except we had no idea which number it was so we were stuck trying every door with both keys. It was not nearly as bad as I made it sound. We looked around, dropped our bags, and we were off.
We had our map in hand and were off to the Guiness Brewery. It was a great walk with gorgeous scenery and plenty of photo stops. I have to say when walking up to the Guiness Brewery it felt a lot like walking up to the Anheiserdjfalkjfkadjkfaljfklaj Busch Brewery. It was a self guided tour that we were able to sample the beer and at the end was a spot where we were taught exactly the right procedure of pouring the beer. We all received certificates for perfect pint pourers. On the 7th floor of the brewery there is a bar known as the Gravity Bar. The walls of this bar were made of glass so everywhere we looked it was Ireland. The sight was breathe taking.
The night just got better and better. Finding a place to eat became tricky because we wanted live music and the waits were pretty long. Plus we were all getting a tad bit cranky because none of us had much to eat at this point. We thankfully stumbled upon a restaurant called The Storehouse which felt like a place out of a movie. It was crowded and in the corner was a guitarist just jamming away. We hovered around a table until they left and collected chairs for all of us. It was tight but it was perfect. We sat there for a while and just took in every minute of the atmosphere. There were songs we knew and songs that were new but for us it didn’t matter.
After the Storehouse we took a stroll around the Temple Bar area to to cruise the area. We could not decide what to do until the same girl approached us several times and changed. I mean her offer was unresistable, free shots. We thought what could it hurt and this decision would impact our entire Ireland journey.
The club was called Madonna’s. It just happened to be located right under the incredible place where we had dinner. However, the difference in atmosphere was to the extreme. It was an 80′s disco club that reeked of mildew. We went to the bar to get our free shot and leave, but the story doesn’t stop there. You had to buy a drink to get the free shot. So we did. It was 10 euro for 2 drinks Kelsey and I went in together. Brian stepped up next to get a drink and it 10 euro for 1 drink. He decided to pass probably the best decision out of the group. So we felt for sure we were getting those free shots not. Mason, Kelsey and I stepped up to bat. We asked the bartender whose actions resembled Chris Farley. He spilled more alcohol and ice on the floor then we managed to put in a glass. When we asked about our shots we questioned us about if we really wanted them and of course we did since we were already here and bought are required drink. We were getting ready to pick our shot out when we stopped us and said one moment. He came out with this bottle of rum that looked like he dug up from times closer to the Braveheart era. The bartender looked at us and asked if we were sure we still wanted it. Kelsey put here lips to it and put it directly down and Mason and I closed our eyes and just swallowed. As soon as we were done with our drinks we left.
We got out of there as fast as we could. Outside there was a band that was playing and the local homeless were dancing right along providing the tourist with quiet the show. We stood and watched and a decent amount of time. One of the women knew what she was doing. It made me wonder how did this become her life. You could tell she had training at some point in her life. Once that party died down we made our last stop. We arrived at the famous Temple Bar. This bar was so crowded but the music was well worth it. Groups of all ages were dancing together. This made the perfect ending to a great day.
We walked back to our hostel and just soaked in everything that had happened in that single day. We knew that we only had a short period of time in Ireland and we were determined to make the best of it.
