That's a wrap, folks! Gillian and I are on board the British Airways flight back to the States from London to Baltimore. Our connecting flight from Dublin arrived late, so we had to rush around Heathrow before we made it to our plane just in time for final boarding. This will be the last posting from this round of European adventures. Although it was my shortest venture to Europe yet, I throughly enjoyed my time in the UK and Ireland. People here are so warm and welcome to visitors, and I made connections with so many different people this go round. I can't wait to plan another adventure abroad soon, but that will have to wait for another day! For now, let's talk about Dublin.
After our adventure in Belfast in Northern Ireland, we took the Enterprise train south on the Irish Sea coast on the eastern side of Ireland down to Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland. This is my second time in Dublin, and I was happy to return after I had such a great time when I was here in the summer of 2010. Upon our arrival at Connelly Central station, we took the Luas ("speed" in Gaelic) light rail to our hostel on the south side of the River Liffey. We had a traditional Irish pub meal for dinner at The Brazen Head, of course accompanied by Guinness. I had my favorite dish in Ireland, bangers and mash or sausage and mashed potatoes. To our dismay, we learned that on Friday, which is the feast of Good Friday in the Catholic tradition, all pubs and stores would not be allowed to serve alcohol per an old Irish state law. This is one of those footnotes in a guidebook that you always ignore, but our spring break ran right in the middle of this traditional Easter weekend. To prepare for the dry spell, we went out our first night in Dublin at The Temple Bar. It was jam packed because of the upcoming holiday, which I dubbed Black Friday with the lack of alcohol in Ireland of all places, and the live music. They were very serious about the rules and closed at midnight! Regardless, we had a great time listening to music and talking to other travelers in the bar.
On Friday, we expected everything to be closed and dead for Good Friday; however, all the streets were more crowded than I'd ever seen in Dublin! Apparently all the locals leave for Easter because so many tourists arrive in Dublin for their own Easter break. We took a walking tour of the city, led by the same company as the one in Edinburgh. Our tour lasted nearly 4 hours winding through historic Dublin, and our tour guide James gave us plenty of history and stories along the way. Some of the sights we saw were Christchurch Cathedral, Temple Bar, the River Liffey, the Ha'Penny Bridge, Irish Parliament, and St. Stephen's Green. Ireland has such a rich yet tragic history, and it did not gain its true independence until 1949 from rulers like the Vikings, Anglo-Normans, and British Empire. Despite these troubles and events like the famous Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s that expanded the Irish diaspora across the globe to places like the United States, the Irish are such a happy and friendly people always willing to share their traditions with others.
After the tour, we decided to purchase tickets for a day trip and pub crawl on Saturday to make up for the Good Friday alcohol ban. We headed over the Kilmainham Goal prison, which I visited last time, because of its rich history as a prison and center of unrest against the British Empire. Because of the Easter crowds, we were taken on an alternate tour to keep up with the demand, so I got to see a different part of the prison that I had previously. We grabbed dinner later at a small noodle place where even the old Irish man at the counter was so friendly to us. He even gave me the special price on the meal despite mine being different that the perscribed choice. We ate at hostel and got to know a few other travelers like a girl from University of Michigan who just left Prague before arriving in Dublin. Although I was very much craving a Guinness with dinner, we were sadly out of luck on Friday. Or so we thought! Our hostel, which we will leave unnamed for their protection, sold us songs for €3 that included a free Guinness with it! Must have been a leprechaun watching over us.
On Saturday, we rejoined our tour guide James and some friends from the walking tour including other Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Swiss Germans. We took the DART train about 30 minutes north of Dublin to Howth, a sleepy sea village in the far suburbs of the city. On my last visit, we went all the way across the country to the west coast with Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. This time I'm glad we decided to stay closer to Dublin for a day trip, although I am always amazed at how many different places there are to see in a small country like Ireland. Our tour of Howth led us around the peninsula past castles and up to the top of a hill with spectacular views of the surrounding area with green land for days that makes the name of the Emerald Isle fitting. Along the way, James filled us in on stories about Howth and other Irish myths including leprechauns folklore. For lunch, we stopped at a pub on the cliffs for yet another round of bangers and mash and the return of Guinness taps! After a long lunch, we finished the day trip with a hike along the Howth cliffs overlooking the Irish Sea. The views were stunning and so often taken for granted by Irish according to our guide.
After our trip to Howth, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before starting our pub crawl through Dublin on our last night in Europe. We started at 7:30, and I certainly lost count of how many Guinness pints I had before we finally got home at the wee hours of the morning. We had a blast socializing with the friends we made on our day tours, and it was sad to leave our new friends from around the world. Bright and early on Easter morning before our flights out, we went to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour and a pint as any good Irishman would celebrate the holiday. Since I was there last, they added a new part where you learn how to properly pour a pint before snapping a photo and taking your freshly poured Guinness up to the top floor for a view of the whole city.
This has been yet another amazing trip through Europe, but I already feel like there are so many more places to see! Just to think of all the cities and parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland that I have yet to see makes me want to come back soon. Alas, it wouldn't be a vacation if it happened all the time. I love this part of the world, and I could easily see myself spending more time here. The people are great, the sights are amazing, the language is manageable (expect maybe in Scotland!), and the possibilities are endless. Cheers to another trip in the future, and I hope you enjoyed this round of Beegs in Europe!!
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