Ireland

So I went to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day! (I know, that was a while ago. Sorry!) I went with Lauren and Abby and her friend Maddie from home. We had a great great time! We got there on Thursday night, got some food, and went to bed. The first night we stayed with a friend of Lauren's from home. The next morning we were up and adam. I got a scone and coffee at a cafe. Then it was a full day of sight seeing. We started out at Trinity College and the Book of Kells. It is an illuminated manuscript from the Dark Ages that has survived some pretty incredible events. From there we walked to Christ Church Cathedral and walked around in it. Then we got on a tour bus and drove by St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness Storehouse, Phoenix Park, and along the River Liffey. After that we got off and walked back to the Guinness Storehouse where we waited in line for an HOUR outside in the cold. It was a lot of fun though. It is so interesting to see how things that have become global brands get their start. After that we went to our hotel to regroup and take much needed showers! That night we walked around some more. We visited the Temple Bar area, which was buzzing with tourists. Too many for my taste so we went home and went to sleep!

The next day was St. Patrick's Day! We got up, all got dressed in green, and left to meet up with Lauren, who stayed with her friend. The streets were packed. When we got to the parade route, it was almost impossible to walk. We tried to watch some of the parade, which was fun, but Lauren and I decided to go to the pub to watch rugby, because we couldn't see the parade anyway because of the crowd. The rugby game was so much fun! Ireland won by a lot! It was so fun to watch Irish rugby win on St. Patty's Day in Dublin...while drinking Guinness. We watched the France/Scotland game after that too! By the time that was over, we needed some fresh air so we walked around the city and along the river; there was some pretty good people watching.

On Sunday morning, Maddie went back home, leaving the three Amsterdam girls together once again. We decided to get out of the city. It was my favorite part. We took the train to Howth. It's a little city on the sea. The scenery was gorgeous! Unfortunately, the weather was not very agreeable. It went from sunny to sleeting every 30 minutes! We climbed up a big hill overlooking the water. The view was incredible. On our way back down, the storm got us and we got soaked! We snuck into a cute little church to heat back up. Then we visited the ruins of an old abbey. Then we walked along the harbor and looked through some fish markets. We ended our visit with dinner. I had a great tuna steak, salad, and fries. Abby and I couldn't resist getting lemon meringue pie after seeing another customer get it. It was incredible! That night Abby and I got a hotel close to the airport. It had a bathtub! I hadn't seen a bathtub in months and had been constantly chilled for 3 days, so I took a long hot bath. The next morning we went to the airport and flew home.

It was a great trip. I wasn't overly impressed by Dublin. Granted, I didn't have much time there and it was flooded with tourists. The countryside was beautiful, however, and the people were very very friendly. It was surreal to hear/read English everywhere again too! Ultimately, however, I was glad to get back to Amsterdam. It is so beautiful and has an amazing atmosphere. The people are friendly. And I love the bikes.