Kiss me! I've Been to Ireland!!

FYI - I started this blog when I got back from Ireland however, I have not had time to finish telling my adventure till now...

I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer fly! Mom and Dad, if you ever see me in person again, you might have to pick me up at Los Angles harbor because I can no longer fly and will have to sail home. It just doesn't work for me. After spending 6 days in U.S. airports I think the TSA saw me enough on security cameras, past my information to all airports in the world, and now they all make sure if I, Stephanie S., am scheduled to fly somewhere, something must happen; they must either cancel or postpone my flight.

Now that I have set up the drama I will tell you quickly that after making a 5+ hr train trip to Frankfurt Hahn airport due to weather in London, our flight was cancelled. Jessica and I were headed out for our 4-day weekend to 'english speaking' countries, London and Ireland but no, it was bad weather in London so our flight was cancelled. Did I mention it was already 11 pm? And it was Friday the 13th? Needless to say, we rescheduled our flight to go straight to Dublin and we missed London. :( Con - no Prince William yet. Pro - more days in lovely Ireland!

Once we were on the ground in Ireland, all was okay. The first thing that was glorious was being able to converse with little or no confusion. Communicating in Germany has not been all that bad but it is nice when you can speak, joke, and communicate in your primary language. Jess and I had reserved a car for all the days we were in Dublin but once we were there we decided to just walk around. I'm glad because it would have been really hard to drive in Dublin on the wrong side of the road. But more on driving later...

Of course public transportation in Europe countries are AWESOME! Bus or train - no matter what you need you can get there with public transportation. So we hopped on the bus outside the airport and I knew at that moment that I was in Ireland where they know humor. It was great to laugh. But that driver was a jokester. Of course now I don't remember what happened but he teased me and I was a little bit embarassed but at the same time it brightened my day. Thanks Mr. Bus Driver!

From the airport to our hostel, we drove through a tunnel that I swear was 10 km long! Jess tried holding her breathe at first but there was no way she was going to make it. After our mini-tour of Dublin we found our hostel and I my germ-aphobia came to the surface. The hostel was not dirty...well a little, but this is Stephanie S. from little town of Taylor, USA. I didn't know what to expect but really you can't have much expectations of hostels. Long story short, I had to use the blanket Jess brought because I wouldn't get in the covers (until I got cold during the night) and put my towel over the pillow. Nothing looked dirty, I was just freaking out. Since we arrived one night earlier than our scheduled time we did get a nice view with the 4 bed dorm. Luckily, no one else showed up so we didn't have to share.

Front of Kinley House, our hostel. The window on the 2nd floor in the middle was our room the first night in Dublin.

Our room - not bad eh? I was just germaphobic to much to enjoy it. But what do you expect for 15 euros a night...

Of course we were starving when we got there so we hopped across the street to a pub/restaurant that was recommended by the 'hostel bellboy'. Let's say we THANKED him for the recommendation. And I am sad to say that my first meal in Ireland was not corned beef but a hamburger. But before you get on my case, it was one of the most delictable hamburgers that I have ever had. So flavorful with onions, juicy, with a ciabatta bun. Mmm Mmm good! And the fries...this is proof of my sheltered life. People put malted vinegar on fries and oh my word! There is no other way (except for ketchup) to eat fries. Not even ice cream beats it. I'm craving it as I type this its so good. Anyways, it was a delicious first meal that was greatly needed because we had little to eat since lunch on Thursday at school. And FYI-its not yellow mustard or french mustard in Ireland - its English mustard. Go fig...

After filling up our tanks, Jess and I walked around to burn off the several hundred calories we ate and toured a little bit in our neighborhood. Just a street away from the Dublin Castle. Unfortunately we never got to go on a tour but here are some outside pictures.

After that we headed to Temple Bar. No it is not a drinking bar filled with 150 guiness beers, it is names Temple Bar after the Temple family and is coined "Dublin's Cultural Center." Really it was little tourist shops, little cafes with a few pubs. But it was cute and magical.

That was the first day. Second day had a few highlights too. To save our feet we purchased tickets for the city tour double decker tour bus. We were able to do Dublin in one day with the bus and it was very nice. If we had more time we would have spent more time doing things but we did get to see a lot. Instead of a play by play, here's a pic by pic...

Dublin is famous for its different colored doors. The reason for the colored doors is decades ago it is said that one night a man was so drunk that he wandered into the wrong house and went to bed. Well when the real husband got back and saw his wife in bed with another man he shot the drunk that was 'in bed with his wife.' So to make sure drunks at night don't wander into the wrong house, each door is painted a different color on each street.

Me on Half Penny Bridge (pronounces Ha'penny). When the bridge was first constructed you had to pay half a penny to cross the bridge. It is one of 17 bridges in Dublin that cross the Liffey River.

For lunch we eat at M.J O'Niell's pub. Who is M.J. you ask? I don't know but the restaurant is over 300 yrs old and the food was delicious. I couldn't eat another meal without eating authentic corned beef and potatoes so I did it. Oh my, no offense to you mom but M.J.'s is awesome! Maybe it was the Guiness beer gravy (which I honestly didn't know was the ingredient until afterwards but it was awesome. The roasted potatoes - I've got to learn how to make those. Honestly the best potatoes ever! Oh and I must mention the bathroom. Yep, the bathroom ROCKED! Of course you go two stories down into the dungeons of Dublin but with blacklights and the coolest hand dryer by Dyson, you forget you are deep down in the earth. Yes, each stall was lit by a blacklight. Very interesting but very cool at the same time.

Corned Beef w/parsnip gravy, Cabbage, and roasted potatoes.

My Valentine gave me this rose. And it doesn't bother me that everyone else in the restaurant got one either.

This had been a heavy day already so we headed to the bus and rode it back to our hostel where we hung out in the t.v. room. This is where I literally almost lost my delicious food and really wondered what kind of place I was staying. There was a not so clean woman in the t.v. room and I actually saw her...sorry while I settle my stomach...I saw her eat a scab!! OH yes! It was the most grotesque moment of my life!!! Sorry but I had to share.

Day 3, Sunday, we decided to take a drive through the country. Even though it was mid-winter, we were still able to enjoy some beautiful scenery. Oh before I go on about that, yes Ireland drives on the left side of the road so I was very nervous picking up the rental car. Ask Jess, I was nervous and so grumpy. I was so afraid I was going to run into oncoming traffic. Luckily nothing happened, well except for when Jess drove. She accidently headed done a one-way road (but I probably assisted in that with my directions so I don't blame her 100%) and luckily there was a turning lane that no one was in so all was okay.

Our drive was to Blarney castle where we headed to kiss the 'stone' was beautiful. Ireland is still green in the winter time. I know they say that you don't know what people have done to that stone and hundred or so people kiss it a day so that is just plain gross. Well, I did feel safe because they had bottles of sanitizer there so I know it was not covered in centuries of left-over kisses and more. Blarney was absolutely beautiful!! Definitely the top destination so far in Europe! Oh the scenery, oh the climb! To get to the stone you had to climb the most tightly wound staircase for 5+ stories. If you see the pics, you will understand. Enjoy as we did at the castle.

The VERY nervous driver - can't even give a smile for the camera...

Our Little Speedster - How cute!

Outside of Blarney - don't take the size for granted...especially if you go up to the stone.

How many steps you say? I lost count after the 2 floor.

Stuck in the wet, cold, dun-dun-dungeon

Well that is all for Ireland for now. I have a LOT more to tell about Ireland and LOTS more pics. (I am averaging between 100-200 pics per trip). I have 3 pages in my notebook full of memories. But another time and another day.