irish accents > _______

A phrase my dad can live by

Time for winter break part two! On Saturday morning we flew to Dublin, Ireland for another two days full of pubs and a trip through the countryside to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. When we arrived in Dublin, my friends and I locked up our luggage again since we couldn't check into the hostel until later that afternoon. Though we were feeling a bit scummy (I think it had been 4 days since I had last showered--give or take another day or two for traveling, going out, and sleeping in airports), we went on another free walking tour around the city of Dublin. On all of my trips so far, I've learned that free walking tours from the hostels are definitely the best way to see the new city. Since they are usually directed to poor college students in hostels, the tour guides are always pretty funny and have a lot of good stories to go along with the tours. The Dublin tour was less involved than the London tour because Dublin is a city that's more about the experience of making new friends and having casual beers at pubs than looking at castles and palaces--which I loved!

Temple bar was the name of the pub district in Ireland as well as
this particular pub where we joined the Mexican-themed bachelor party

After the walking tour, we finally headed back to the hostel for my first shower in what seemed like forever (HALLELUJAH)! Feeling like a brand new lady, my friends and I walked to the Guinness factory for a tour where we learned how they make Guinness, proper tasting/pouring techniques, looked at advertising over the years, and even got a free pint at the top of the factory in a circular bar with 360 degree views of the city of Dublin! After the Guinness tour, a few of us went back to change and grab some dinner and a few pints before going out. Though I actually enjoyed the Guinness--you can only drink so many loaves of bread in one day, so I decided to sample some other Irish beers. My personal favorite was called a Carlsburg--nom nom nom. 

3 pints and a cosmo--we're in Ireland, come on now, Hillary.

At the Guinness factory!

That evening the larger group split up so everyone could do what they wanted to. Kate, Maggie, Teresa, and I just walked to the pub districts and walked in a random place that looked fun. There were two guys playing live music covers of popular songs (my personal favorite being a Whitney Houston tribute medley) and they were great. Teresa instantly fell in love, so we stayed there for a while to listen to them--the Irish folk fell in love with her and her fire-y red hair too. Then all of a sudden we happened to find ourselves in the middle of a bachelor party! Maggie was asked to be a date to the wedding, but needless to say she graciously declined. After the first pub, we went over to the famous Temple Bar to meet up with the rest of the group. Before finding our friends, however, we of course found another bachelor party to hang out with; this time, the groom was dressed in a Mexican poncho and riding a stuffed donkey in honor of his destination wedding to Central America to marry his Guatemalan bride! We had a great time, but were sure to head off to bed early for our super early wake up call (only after one of our friends put on an Irish dancing show on stage for the entire bar--who knew she had such skill!)

Kate and I out on the town in Dublin!

The happy groom-to-be

Our favorite song was a Whitney Houston cover medley  

The next morning, Maggie, Kate, and I woke up nice and early to go on a bus tour across the entire country to the western coast of Ireland to see the cliffs of moher, the burren national park, and the province of Galway, along with some medieval castles along the way. Our tour was led by a very nice Irishman who had the most soothing voice I have ever heard, complete with the sexy Irish accent (it was advertised as that on the brochure for the tour). We visited about 5 different Irish villages around the countryside; it was all so beautiful, including the drive in between the different sites. We decided that since we had been so sleep deprived the past few days, the all day tour was what we'd like to call a "scenic nap" that was just what the doctor ordered for a misty and overcast Sunday. My favorite part of the tour was visiting the Cliffs of Moher. As soon as we arrived, the fog rolled in and we unfortunately couldn't see a thing--a little disappointed, we went inside to look around the museum and check out the gift shop. Just as we were about to go outside to get back on the bus, the fog magically cleared and we were able to see the cliffs! I think what made it even better was being able to appreciate the difference between the white blanket of nothingness and the breathtaking views off the edge of the cliffs. We ran up to the top, hopped over the "danger do not cross" fence and snapped a few pictures before running back to our wonderful Irishman. 

Thanks to the luck of the Irish, we got to see it!

Notice the castle at the top of the cliff

The cliffs of Moher!

That's a long way down...

After getting back to the hostel that evening, I went on a hunt to find a church to go to--and found an evening mass. I was a bit confused by the signs, however, and ended up going to mass in Polish (go figure, the one weekend I was in an English speaking country). The rest of that evening we posted up in the common room of the hostel to wait for our taxi at 4 am to the airport for yet another 6:30 am flight back to Madrid. We had a nice time in the common room taking cat naps on the couches and watching Pretty Woman (one of the few movies they had in the hostel for public use). After my flight back to Madrid on Monday morning, I didn't have much time to rest and immediately went for a run, finished up some homework, went to class, and had to spend the rest of the evening working on an accounting project (fact: I do actually do homework here). 

A quaint little Irish harbor

The rest of the week was rough to say the least, so we decided to take this weekend to recover a little bit and spend some quality time in Madrid and catch up on some sleep. But, I do still have a lot to look forward this weekend--the weather should be great!

Till next time,

Rachel