Dublin

    So I am back from a longish weekend in Dublin, Ireland and it was definitely worth skipping class for.  Not that I like those classes anyway..

    A group of 6 other girls and I left Thursday mid-afternoon to catch a bus to our flight out of Santander.  We flew to Dublin around 6:30 and sat on the plane by a local from Northern Ireland who had tons to tell us about Ireland.  He even told us what not to say to stay out of trouble since there is still a lot of turmoil between the Irish and Northern Irish.

    Our hostel was so easy to find!  Probably because it was right in the middle of everything!!  We were so lucky to be paying so little to be right next to everything.  The staff was beyond awesome at helping us with even the stupidest little questions.  They even let us move beds so we could sleep by the plug-ins to charge our phones even though they have a strict no moving rule.

    The first day we started out bright and early with a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher which are on the opposite side of Ireland.  We drove through the countryside and stopped occasionally at old castles and churches.  We learned the ABC's of Ireland (Another Bloody Church, Another Bloody Castle, and Another Bloody Cliff).  We listened to traditional Irish music the entire 4 hour ride there which normally would have made me wish for death, but it actually helped me get in the spirit.

    Our first big stop was at the Mini Cliffs.  The land was so rugged here that it was crazy hard to walk out to the actual cliffs.  There was a lot of hopping from rock to rock.  The cliffs weren't terribly high.  50 feet would be my best guess.  Probably more though.  The waves crashed like crazy so it was a sure death if you fell.  The tour guide made me stop running once.  Not sure why :p  After we visited the Mini Cliffs we ate lunch and headed to the Cliffs of Moher.

    The Cliffs of Moher was absolutely incredible.  The cliffs were triple or even quadruple the size of the Mini Cliffs and went on for as far as you could see.  The majority of the land surrounding the cliffs were was walled off because it's such a popular suicide spot.  There were still search boats in the water looking for the most recent suicide.  There is a section that isn't walled off and that is exactly where we hurried off to.  You had to be very careful, though, because the land surrounding the cliffs was all grass that was wet underneath. The wind was pretty crazy too and could be enough to through you off the cliff if you were close enough to the edge.  There were signs everywhere giving you a number to call if you wanted to hurt yourself and needed help.  Our tour guide said that in the summer months there are volunteers that go around talking to all of the tourists making sure they aren't depressed.  I'm sure if someone was trying to evaluate me, it would be enough for me to throw them off the cliff.

    We finished the tour in a small town an hour or so away from the cliffs.  There is a river that runs through that sometimes has dolphins.  We unfortunately didn't get to see any.  We then drove the remaining 2 hours home and were very thankful for regular paved roads since the majority of the journey to the cliffs was bumpier than a gravel road.  That night we went out and checked out Dublin's famous Temple Bar scene and hung out at a few different pubs.

    The next day we were able to sleep in a bit and we went on a guided walking tour through the city.  It was great because we got to hear the history that went with the buildings that we were seeing.  It lasted way longer than necessary though and I was so glad when we were done with the tour to have lunch.  After lunch we visited the Guinness Factory tour and got to see what all goes down there.  We got to do a taste test and practice pouring our own.  The tour itself was pretty expensive but I justified it because we got about 6 euros worth of free beer along the way.

    That night we were so tired that we barely made it out of bed to eat dinner.  We might as well have skipped it.  The "best fish and chips place in Dublin" that our hostel suggested was nasty.  It had no flavor, just grease.  We didn't even contemplate going out that night.  Our shuttle to the airport was going to leave at 7:30 am anyway and we couldn't even stay awake long enough to get ready.  We barely woke up the next day either and someone else's alarm finally woke us up with 20 minutes to spare before we had to leave.

    I absolutely loved Ireland and would definitely go back if I had more time.  The people there are amazing. You don't have to ask for directions.  If they see you are lost they will do anything they can to help you.  They start conversations, offer to take your picture, you name it.  And their accents are awesome!

    Only 24 days left in Europe!!