Ta Gra Mor Agam A Shean Mhathair
Dublin, Ireland
This trip is interesting because as far as study abroad I had to choose where to apply between these English speaking countries: England, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. I had thought Ireland alike New Zealand would be too natural and not enough of a city and Australia I’d been to, but boy does Saint Patrick’s Day give me a different impression now.
Waking up after two hours of sleep celebrating Sarah Spielberger’s 21st birthday and the holiday of USC friends Logan Benge and Becca McKnight, I thought getting into Dublin on Tuesday by myself, I might waste the first day just sleeping. However, I arrived in Dublin to a text from Mathieu Picault that said he had work until seven but his roommate Paddy (Patrick) should be up by around noon to let me in. So I went to the tourism center and bought my bus ticket, got some maps, and learned how to write I Love You Grandma from the help of an older and younger Irish woman working together.
I took the 16a bus in and met Paddy who welcomed me with a huge smile and a jolly laugh. It just so happened I was staying next to the Church that houses St. Valentine’s relics! The two of us went to lunch at a pub where he, a music manager, held some of his gigs and we went over my list of things to see/do. After lunch he decided to take me to St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Kilmainham Gaol, an Irish prison that tells a lot of Ireland’s history from where they were fighting for a free state and a republic to the potato famine. The Gaol was a very heartfelt tour as we saw the cells (I even got to lay in a prison bed), heard the melancholy stories, and saw some of the places of execution and hanging. It tore my heart to know that children as young as five were put in jail for stealing and that people would commit crimes solely to be put in jail to have a roof over their head and food in their stomachs.
The Formal Garden at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham
After the Gaol, Paddy sent me on my way down a street that would eventually lead me to Trinity College. I walked into the Irish Museum of Modern Art where the boy working there told me the Irish are not known for Modernism and with my amount of time he pointed me to other museums that were more worth my time. This made me laugh but I was thankful and left the museum only to stumble into a field of green grass on my way into the Formal Garden at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, beside the museum. This garden was beautiful full of lush greenery and vibrantly colored flowers.
I then made my way out of this area and headed down, what felt like, the backstreets of Ireland. I walked by St. Audeon’s Church, Dublinia and the Viking World, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin City Hall, and the Dublin Castle. The Dublin Castle was probably my favorite of the aforementioned with churches and the castle on its grounds that had intricate patterns cut into the grass. As I walked through the gardens surrounding the Dublin Castle, my heart felt light.
Walking around Trinity College
Next I, of course, made my way to the famous Temple Bar named after Sir William Temple. This bright red building later became a central meeting point for many of my friends and I in the Temple Bar area. And lastly, before calling it a day, I went to Trinity College, a college very beautiful and old which houses the Book of Kells. Finally tired, I made my way back home to nap before meeting Mathieu, a recruiter for companies such as Facebook and the like, and meeting up with USC friend Ryan Alam. Ryan and I grabbed some Mediterranean food for dinner before going out with Paddy and Mathieu to a very fun place called Dicey’s where after a 5 euro entrance all drinks are only 2 euro!
St. Stephen's Green at Sunset
The next day was spent trying to meet up with friends coming into Ireland as I met Jake Kennedy, Ryan Alam, Hillary Grigsby, and Steph Snyder at a pub to grab some lunch. Then fellow traveler Rachel King came into town and she and I went to the St. Patrick’s Festival Ceili next to St. Stephen’s Green. This festival was a sight to see! Everyone was dressed in green and doing Irish jigs whether you were a young child jumping around or an eighty year old woman dancing with her daughter and friends. There was Irish music filling the streets and dancers on stage to teach you the dances. I was definitely happy to have made it and then take a stroll through the Green at sunset when the light hit the water on the ponds just right. I was reminded of a park I went to at home when I was young (William Land Park). We walked over the bridges and through the gardens and even got to see a swan elegantly swim about the water before going to meet up with friends Logan and Becca, who also had just arrived. Being St. Patrick’s Eve, as I learned it was called, everyone out was wearing green and the festivities had begun. We saw many dressed as leprechauns and many with fake red hair that night.
Lisa, Reynolds, Sarah, Kyun, and Rachel before the Parade
(in front of Trinity College)
The next day was Saint Patrick’s Day and friend Sarah Spielberger arrived just in time! Having gone out shopping the day before (take advantage of the Everything 2 euro store) I put on my green tube top, white tutu, and Saint Patrick’s Day button, light up earrings, bracelet, and tattoos. We made our way towards the St. Patrick’s Festival Parade and met up with friends Kyun and Reynolds from UCL. The parade was definitely one of culture and tradition as it included chapters, each representing a different region of Ireland. Unlike the very commercialized parades in the US, these floats and those participating donned much more traditional clothing. There were also less floats and more people in costume which made up the parade. With the sun shining we decided to start the St. Patrick’s festivities which would continue into the early hours of the morning. We started on a 10 pub pubcrawl, which I never finished thankfully, as I met up with friends Courtney Brady and spent the first half my day with friends from London and the second half with friends from USC. If there is anything I learned it’s that the Irish love this holiday and they sure know how to drink. On some streets you could barely move it was so crowded, but luckily everyone was very friendly.
The next day, while the girls went to the Guinness factory (and knowing I’d already tasted Guinness and didn’t need a tour), I decided to sleep in and then figure out my day. Although I’d wanted to go to Galway, Wicklow National Park, Glendalough, and Kilkenny, all these places were too far and part of day long tours. So instead, I went to the tourism office was pointed towards Howth – a small fishing village along the coast that two people at the bus station told me I just must go to! Buying a 4.20 euro roundtrip Dart pass I hopped on the train and made my way to what would be the best decision I had ever made.
Locals know what they’re talking about. Forget the tourist sites and listen to the locals, they know where the hidden gems are and you will find places that very few go to making the experience more heartfelt and unique. (Remember in Malta the more deserted a place the better as it seems more natural and less touristy). Getting off the train I wanted to find what I thought was a castle. In all fairness it was a castle, but it was the Kitchen in the Castle Cookery School. Nevertheless, the road to the castle along a crumbling brick wall and passing by a small waterfall was well worth it.
After passing the castle, I decided to walk down one of the most beautiful walks I’ve ever been down. The trees, covered in moss and leaves, and the sun shining high made this forest a place I will never forget. I stumbled across an old brick building covered in vines and now lacking a roof and might have even come across what looked like a brick shrine hidden a little deeper in the trees.
Passing the castle, I walked along the Deerpark Hotel Spa and Golf and although it was a long walk uphill, I am very glad to have been the only person walking and not driving this route. I ended up being able to sidetrack and walk up to a wooden fence with barbed wire to look out over the greenest farmland I’ve ever seen. Not only that, but I got to pet some cows for my first time ever. If you know me, you know my obsession with animals and this made my day.
Getting to the hotel, I asked for directions to the Rhododendrons. The woman at reception told me it was just behind the hotel so I went around back and ran into some of these trees and very steep wooden steps. I thought oh, these steps must just lead up to the gardens and I should be there soon. Well I ended up climbing a mountain, trekking through mud, hopping from rock to rock, and ducking through woods. The pay off was something I could have never imagined. I found myself at the top of a mountain that looked out from Howth all the way back to Dublin. I could do a 360 and was surrounded by a breathtaking view and millions of little yellow flowers. And of course the sun was setting now. I walked away from the two couples also atop the hill and sat on some rocks to look out upon the green land, two beaches, the city, and endless water and sky. Grandma, I could not be more thankful than I was at that very moment.
Making my way back down the mountain I walked into town and grabbed some coffee and a small bite at a little restaurant called the Brass Monkey. After getting reenergized I walked down the road of shops along the marina and saw all the little boats and the huge fishing boats as well. At the end of the road there were rounded steep steps that a few people seemed to be climbing up so I decided to climb up them too. With the lighthouse to my right and land to my left, I looked straight out on the glimmering water to Ireland’s Eye and the Martello Tower. I was left speechless again and sat here for a while after everyone left to soak in the sight by myself. Again, grandma, you have outdone yourself. And this is all a hidden secret of the Irish.
Lisa, Reynolds, Kyun, Rachel, Sarah, and Morgan
with our 2-for-1 Daquiris at Porterhouse
Finally meeting up with Morgan, we girls went out for 2-for-1 daiquiris and then made our way to the club area where promoters gave us wristbands for free entrance into Krystel, which sat just atop and overlooked Dicey’s.
After a late night, the girls somehow on two hours of sleep made their way to Galway for their tour while I slept in to avoid exhausting myself. I woke up and was served breakfast by Mathieu and his roommates: toast, eggs, and bacon. Mathieu and I then spent the day in Dublin as he wanted to show me around as Paddy had. We spent the day having coffee on a terrace, going in and out of vintage shops, markets, music stores, and even found ourselves sitting reading on the floor of Tower Records. Afterwards we met up with some of his friends to watch the Ireland versus England rugby match in a pub to which Ireland (#4) creamed England (#1)! To thank Mathieu for letting him stay with us I cooked us dinner that night while the girls returned from Galway and we all hung over before going to bed to wake up for our early 6:25 flight.
Things I learned:
1. Go to tourism centers, they are helpful (just like the normal person would think)
2. Make sure to top up your phone or figure out a phone plan before you travel to a new country
3. Get rest and go at your own pace. As much as you think you may have missed out on something, you can always go back and something else can make your day
4. Go with the flow and ask what locals would recommend you see (Kilmainham Gaol and Howth)
5. Be adventures and it will pay off. You could find yourself in the most beautiful place like on top of a mountain
6. Don’t be afraid to sit at a bar in a restaurant and eat by yourself, it’s a lot nicer than grabbing stuff to eat on the go to not be embarrassed
7. Be very thankful of what people do for you and make sure to repay them.
8. Send numerous couch surfing requests because once you arrive you will have many new friends who may spot you or agree to meet up even if they can’t host you
9. Arrange meeting times and places and make sure everyone knows them so that people are all on the same page and patient to wait for others.
9.
Countries visited: 6
