You're so vain...you probably think this song is about you...

I'm not sure if it is the lack of a language barrier or just Meryl and I's irresistible charm, but everyone loved us in Ireland. Dublin was so amazing and I definitely am planning on going back to Ireland to really explore the countryside because everything is beautiful and the people are so friendly and fun. It was exactly like I expected it to be in terms of the dynamic of the people. As soon as we walked into the bars, people were just drinking pints and singing songs at the top of their lungs, even at like 3 in the afternoon. Once we even walked into a bar and a guy gave us kisses immediately and then when we left, another guy stuck his tongue out at us, presumably for being party poopers.

So I guess I should start at the beginning. Friday morning, we woke up to get ready for the airport and surprise, surprise, Harris had not come home. We got a message at 6 from our friend Megan telling us that Harris had been sick in the morning, but he was on his way. Keep in mind that we had to leave at 6:45 and it takes about 45 min to an hour to get home. Miraculously though, Harris knocked on our door at 6am, but he definitely looked one of the worst I'd ever seen him. On our ride to the airport, Harris kept looking as if he was going to puke and sure enough at the end of the metro ride, he grabbed a bag and started puking.

Harris not looking so hot on the bus (and the last sighting of my sunglasses...tear)

Fortunately, we made it to the airport in one piece and on time. Then we got breakfast, which made me sooo happy. It actually had real fried eggs, something I have not had since I left, and ham. When we were landing, it was really clear and you could see all the cliffs on the coast. It was so beautiful.

The Crystal Airport Lounge

So excited to be flying to Dublin!!

Landing in Dublin

After we got off the flight, we checked into our hostel, the Four Courts Hostel, and met up with our friend Taj from law school who came to Dublin with us before his law summer abroad program. Then Meryl and I walked around while Harris napped. The hostel was right across from the Courthouse, so we saw that, and then we saw the Christ Church Cathedral. We also saw the Viking area and the city wall from 1260 AD. We were hungry for lunch and we kept seeing people walking around with paper bags so we followed one of them and asked them what they were eating and where they got it. It was the traditional fish and chips meal and it was from the oldest chippery in Dublin so we walked over there and got it. It was so delicious-fried cod and fries. Dublin definitely had the best food of any place we have been so far. We also saw a few statues and the Garden of Remembrance of Irish soldiers.

The court

Me in front of the church

Christ Church Cathedral

Teeny tiny doors!!

The city wall
Statue
Garden of Remembrance

We walked along the river and then went to see Trinity College. I was surprised to learn that the reason Trinity College was founded by the English was to try to weed out Catholicism in Ireland and convert everyone to be Protestants. But it didn't work and now it is one of the most famous/best universities here!

River

Trinity College

After that, Meryl and I decided that it was time for our first Guinness and our first shot of Jameson so we stopped at a pub and ordered Guinness and Jameson. The bartender told us that no one in Ireland orders shots of Jameson and kept referring to us as "The Americans". We asked him how we are supposed to take it and he told us that it's more customary to drink it with a small bit of water, so we told him to make us that. He told us that the old men always drink a pint of Guinness and a shot of Jameson, so apparently we are old men!! He also told us that not that many people drink Jameson (which was later refuted) and that if you want to mix it, it's best with ginger ale, cranberry juice, or red lemonade (which is kind of like a shirley temple).

First Guinness and Jameson!
Leprechaun man playing music outside the pubs

After our drinks, Meryl and I went back to the hostel and took a naps and then got ready for our night. We had planned to meet our friend Stewart, that we had met in Prague the week before when we met him with the soccer team from London. He works in London, but is from Dublin so was going home for the weekend. We had exchanged email addresses and he had told us he would take us out to a place called Club Krystle. We got there and it was awesome. They had a table with bottles of Grey Goose and Moet champagne. We mainly stayed inside at the table and danced downstairs, but we also went outside for a few minutes which was really cool too. There were several bars and another dance floor and the whole thing was open air. The reason we stayed inside is there is actually no smoking in Ireland indoors, which was really nice for a change! I've been really bummed about my birthday because it's two weeks after we get back and I just feel like it's going to be so boring and anti-climactic after all my adventures, so we told everyone it was my birthday and one of the guys, Simon, bought me my favorite drink, Bourbon and water...it was great! When we left, we actually took a rickshaw home, which was so hilarious, but a little creepy because I just can't believe they allow people to pull other people in a cart. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer wants to start a rickshaw business. Here are some pictures from the night...

With our friend Simon at our super VIP table

Birthday Moet!
Stewie and Simon

Saturday, we woke up and got lunch at a grocery store in Dublin. I had the best meal ever. I actually got to eat mango (so exciting), which I had with a pesto pasta, spinach, tomato and pine nut salad. Taj gave me the rest of his fruit salad as well which had mango, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. I was soooo happy!! Then we went to the Jameson Distillery, which was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. We got to see how the Jameson is made and we had been told ahead of time that usually, you only get one free drink but if you are a volunteer, you get six!! So of course, since I am a whiskey girl, I volunteered. Only one other girl raised her hand, so Meryl volunteered too! When we got to the end of the tour, we got to do a whiskey tasting. We got to try one shot each of Jameson, Paddy, and Powers and then we got to compare it to a shot of Jack and a shot of some sort of scotch. Everyone decided that Jameson was the best, which surprised me because I really love Jack, but the Jameson was really great! Then Meryl and I finished all our shots in a row and even took some of the other people's leftover shots. After, we were all given ANOTHER drink of Jameson (but this time I got it mixed with ginger ale) and we were presented with diplomas, which was fun.

Really old bottles of JamesonDoing our whiskey tasting

Finishing up the shots...there is a great video that I'm going to get from Taj ASAP of this

After that, we walked to the Guinness Storehouse, but the line to get in was over an hour so we decided to come back the next day and went and got falafel for dinner, took a short nap (which was awful considering that there were 28 girls in our room so it was really hard to sleep). Then we got ready to go out the Temple Bar area, and Temple Bar specifically.

The fabulous trio

Ready for trouble

Harris's prissy face

We got to Temple Bar and walked in and everyone was dancing and singing...it was so much fun. There were like ten stag and hen parties (equivalent to our bachelor/bachelorette parties) so everyone was pretty crazy. We had so many boys hit on us that night. It was a little ridiculous. Right when we walked in we met a guy named Alberto from Italy who told us he wanted to hang out with us all night. Then we met some guys that were from Belgium, but one of them had lived in Tampa. They bought us shots of Sambuca and Meryl accidentally dropped her shot glass after taking it. The guys thought this was hilarious, so they started throwing shot glasses on the ground. Then we met some guys from the UK who kept trying to convince us that they were 23, when I'm sure they were about 17. We also met up with a group we had met at the hostel from France that were fun! We also made some friends from Ireland, and Meryl was very excited because one of the girls was from the same area that her family was from so she got to hear about that. They were really nice and we wanted to stay out, but we went home early because we had a big day planned for Sunday.

French friends

UK friends

Our last day in Dublin, Meryl and I woke up early to go to the Guinness factory so we didn't have to wait in line. It was a really fun experience. The museum was actually about 7 floors I think. They showed the entire process of making beer and then advertisements from as early as the 1950s. Apparently, doctors even used to diagnose Guinness to help people get better when they were sick! In the middle, there was a tasting lab, where we got to try different drafts and then of course your ticket comes with a free pint so we went to the bar on the top floor to enjoy a pint with everyone while looking at amazing views over Dublin.

The front of the Factory

Special water used by Guinness

In the tasting lab

At the top floor bar enjoying our free Guinness (views of Dublin in the background)

The Guinness harp

After the Guinness factory, Meryl and I got lunch at a bagel sandwich shop and then bought tickets to go to Howth, a small coastal town about a half hour from Ireland. It was the perfect afternoon. The town is adorable. We got off the train and walked to the center of town where there was a huge outdoor market. We decided to take a nap in the grass, where I peacefully slept to the sounds of the ocean, music and a man yelling for people to buy mangos! It was really nice and cool so it was very enjoyable. When we got up, we walked through the market and sampled all kinds of bread, salami, cheese, hummus, bread dips, falafel...everything you can imagine you could sample! The people were all so friendly too! Then we walked down to the water and walked along the coast to a lighthouse. We actually saw three seals too! A woman and her two kids were feeding them fish. There are a lot of cliffs and I just really wished we had more time in Ireland, because although I enjoyed Dublin, I would have liked to see more places like Howth-more of the countryside and more of the less touristy areas. Maybe next time!

Our seal friend

Part of the marina

Our outdoor market

Me in front of the lighthouse

Amazing scenery

Tampa Bay Buccaneers!! :)

Meryl and I in front of the cliffs

Lighthouse #1

Lighthouse #2

Touching the ocean!!

After getting back from Howth, we picked up Harris and got pizza for dinner before going out for one last pint of Guinness. I was very tired and we had an early flight, so we went back early, but not before I got invited to an exclusive party in France! Too bad I couldn't go... We had an uneventful flight back to Prague where we ended up catching up on sleep and doing a bit of studying to prepare for our last week of school!