Europe, Saturday April 10 (day 4 of our trip)

As I mentioned, we woke up early the next morning, due to the bright sunlight and people talking at full volume outside our cubicle. So, we went for breakfast at a little French place down the street. They had the most wonderful water there, with mint and lemons in it. We asked for a whole pitcher, which our waiter didn't remember until the end of our meal, so I put a bunch in our water bottle. This tidbit about the water may seem like an insignificant detail, but we still tell stories about it.

Anyway, we then headed further down the street to a bus stop, where we could purchase tickets for the "Hop on, Hop off" bus, which would take us around to various tourist attractions all day long. We took our seats, and listened to the recording that described the places we would be visiting. We realized as we got off, that the "recording" was actually our driver, who spoke into a microphone as he drove. We would choose some favorite drivers later in the day, who spoke with wonderful Irish accents, and tried to pick up the lingo from them. Ben had already adopted the pronunciation of the word "Kearney's" (bar), and to that he added "Parliament." I'm not sure why, but "Kearney's Parlaiment" ended up being our favorite line, which we would quote to each other throughout the rest of the trip.

Our first stop was the Kilmainham Gaol (or Jail). Cole chose this spot, and said he felt guilty imposing his interests on Ben and I, but really we had come to Europe with no plans at all, and having Cole around would be invaluable to make sure we got the most out of each location (love you Cole!) The jail provided tours, which turned out to be a surprisingly good lesson on the history of Dublin. This particular jail is where they incarcerated the leaders of the first Irish revolutionaries. At that time, not all of Ireland was behind these men. Some people wanted to stay under British law. The first uprising was unsuccessful, and many men were incarcerated at this jail. Britain had the leaders of the campaign executed, which actually caused more Irish people to come over to their cause. They would win the next battle, freeing all but Northern Ireland to become free Ireland. We found out that the Irish flag represents Southern, free Ireland, Northern Ireland which is still under British government, and the white stripe between them representing the peace they are working towards. It was a moving tour.
 

After a long wait, we got back on the bus and headed towards the Jameson distillery. We had a delicious lunch there and photographed parts of the beautiful facility, but skipped the tour due to timing (we also wanted to head to the Guinness factory) and the surprisingly high price of the tour. But Ben still did a tasting of their whiskey. Despite the fact that he enjoys sipping on Jameson and water, he didn't seem to really enjoy much past the first shot. He was pretty much choking it down, and no wonder, since he was drinking about 3 shots of straight whiskey!

Next, we got back on the bus with the intention of hurrying over to the Guinnes brewery to fit in our tour. However, we were delayed by a march on the streets, protesting a race-related stabbing in which a 15-year old boy was killed. The marchers seemed to be mostly members of the socialist party (according to their signs), and the bus driver was kind enough to tell us the story.

This particular bus driver had a great Irish, gruff voice, and a lot to share with us passengers, but I was so exhausted I fell asleep, until he decided to make up some time taking back roads to the Guinness storehouse. As we raced over bumps in the road, and careened past people and cars that seemed only inches away, I woke right up. Before that, we drove past the Millenium Spire, but I had to ask what the driver was saying, because he pronounced it "Spar." This would be another favorite Irish term.

We weren't sure what we'd be in for, since the tour of Guinness isn't of the actual production line, but was more canned. We expected it to be cheesy, with some old casks and kettles, but the actual experience was really amazing. They took us through each of the brewing steps, with examples of hops, barley, and water used. We tasted the roasted hops that created the flavor of porter. After a tasting demonstration, we viewed the Guinness advertising through the years. It's funny how so many old products used to advertise that they were "doctor recommended." Guinness used to print "It's good for you" on every product. After 7 floors, we were at the "gravity bar" at the top of the building, which had a 180-degree view of Dublin. Here, we received a free pint of Guinness. And yes, it does taste different in Ireland. So smooth and frothy - the foam is like frosting. Yummy.

We bought souvenirs at the shop, then headed home by taxi since the tourist bus was no longer running. We took a nap, limiting ourselves to only an hour even though we probably could have slept for much longer, and then set out to find dinner. It was probably 7:00, and we weren't feeling picky, however we kept running into high prices, or the wrong menu, or one particular restaurant where they brought us upstairs and tried to broil us with heat. We eventually found a nice place, where we enjoyed our first fish and chips meal of the trip.

On our way back to the Hostel, we decided to enjoy one last Guinness at a pub where you could pour your own pint. By that time, we were all pretty tired of the drink, but there was a particular method of pouring that we wanted to try. What you do is (and we had a little placard telling us in case we didn't know), pour about 2/3 of the cup down the side, then let the glass sit for a minute while it settles, then fill up the rest pouring straight down. Then, exhausted, we turned in for the night.

Europe, Friday April 9 (day 3 of our trip)

After only a couple of days in England, we headed out to see more of Europe. Dublin would be first. We had trouble with the printers at Cole's house, so he went to his college to print our boarding passes. Unfortunately, he logged in about 10 minutes too late, and Ryan Air charges a 40 pound fee if you don't print your passes 4 hours in advance! We hoped to argue our way out of the fee. Keep in mind that Ryan Air is a super-cheap airline, and our tickets were only 30 pounds! We would soon find out that they try to make up more money however they can, including peddling stuff in the aisles of the plane.

Anyway, we headed to the airport by train, which is a very smooth ride by the way, and checked in. We ran over when they announced the gate, because seats are first-come, first-serve, but still had to wait in a long line. Checking bags are another way they try to make up their money, so we made the decision before leaving, that we would travel to our other destinations carrying just backpacks. The attendants still made us put our bags into a box to make sure they were small enough. The front pocket of my bag was so full it got stuck, but fortunately the lady was distracted while I swore under my breath and pried it out.

We arrived in Dublin after only an hour, and noticed a bunch of people outside the airport. They were all rowdy, with flags and matching yellow and blue jumpers (yes, that is a british-ism). We found out later that they were French, and had turned out to root on their rugby team. I was actually surprised that Frenchmen get riled up like that - you hear they're snooty and rude, and then find out they're normal people. Didn't see that coming. The Irish fans had white flags and clothing.

My impression on the bus to Dublin, was that the city was actually a bit worn down. It didn't feel all that "Irishey" to me - could have been any city really. I'm not sure what I expected, more rolling hills I suppose, but we would need to leave town to see those. Maybe on our next trip. Anyway, we walked for what felt like ages, until we arrived at our hostel, which was near the center of town. Our beds in the hostel were on the very top floor, and I don't think we ever climbed those stairs with less than a pint of guinness in us - it got tiring. The large room where we would be staying held 20 beds, but was split into little cubicles of 4 beds each. Funnily, the 4th person in our cubicle would turn out to be from Colorado Springs! Small world.

Well, we headed out for a late lunch. I take that back - first we went into a very sketchy pub with 10-15 locals, and nervously drank our first guinnesses. I don't know if we enjoyed those as much as ones we'd drink later, because we were overwhelmed and being stared at. Then we really needed to eat. We tried to limit ourselves to something authentic, but eventually caved when we smelled the sweet aroma of pizza. We went inside, and laughed as we noticed that the flavors offered were East Indian (curry and other spices), but the visual theme was American Indian. Would the people of Ireland really not notice the difference? Were they just too lazy to figure out what American Indians would put on pizza (the answer being: buffalo and corn)? We took photos.

Next, we wandered around and did a bit of sight-seeing, and I pushed for a little shopping. However, despite it being a Friday when you'd think people would be out and about, all of the shops closed between 5-6! So most of the places were closing their doors. Cole said that Britian was the same way. It didn't matter what kind of job you had, 5:00 is quitting time. I like that policy, and yet I like shopping after work. Tricky. I didn't mind much though, because all of these stores were international, and I can go to a mall in the US. We decided to throw in the towel and go to another pub. Which I think, is also the national policy of Britian and Ireland.

We each had another pint of Guinness, and then got around to asking some people where we could watch the game. The 2 women we talked to suggested Sinnick, where the downstairs was filled with big screens. We found our way to the pub, and it was definitely the place to watch the game. It was packed with fans, and the excited mood was infectious. We (especially I) didn't understand all the rules of rugby, but were impressed by things like: a tackle would occur, and 10 men would be piled on top of each other, and yet the play would continue! Somehow, someone always seemed to get the ball and just keep running! We saw how they lifted a man up to catch he ball when it was thrown in from the border line, how they did a "scrum" where they huddled up and tried to push the other team, and learned that you can pass backwards but kick forwards.

Due to all the guinness, I took a trip to the bathroom. Each one had an attendant. Ours was talking on her cellphone when I finished washing my hands, and handed me a couple squares of toilet paper. As I tried to swipe the tiny pieces off, I made the decision to save the Euro in my pocket for someone else. I still feel guilty for not tipping.

The game went on, and we were extremely excited when the Irish team won by 1 point - despite the French team being favored to win! The bar erupted in shouts. By this time, we were pretty amped up, and decided to continue our night of fun with a dance place. Ben got out-voted on this decision. We ended up at a place called "Club War." One of their gimmicks was to put war paint on you if you so desired - and we did obviously. We eventually found out that it was GLS night, but that made it all the more fun - great dancing and crazily dressed people to watch. We danced the night away, and then on our way back to the hostel, picked up late-night gyros at "Abra-kababra."

I jumped in the shower when we got back to the Hostel, since I was sure the bathroom would be crazy the next morning. We decided we would sleep in the next day - little did we know that Hostels are a terrible place for sleeping. Even though that's their whole function ;)