We got to our hostel around 8 on Thursday night. We had the day off school because it was Labor Day in Italy. The hostel was connected to a really popular bar that played live music from 2pm-2am daily. We also got a coupon for a free drink at the bar, so that was a bonus! We went out for drinks and dinner at this pub called Vat House and we got to sit in our own little room. We all had beer of course and I had breaded chicken that had a mixture of spices on it..it was a nice change from Italian food. They had a band in the pub and they played traditional Irish songs and also Johnny Cash! Loved that.
On Friday we woke up early and took the dart (their version of the metro) to a town called Howth (it's about 20 minuets outside of Dublin.) My friend Cassie studied abroad in Ireland last summer so she told us to go and we loved it! It is a fishing town with a marina right in the middle. There are cliffs and houses that overlook the sea and there is also a light house. We walked around there for about 2 hours and decided we wanted to buy a vacation home for ourselves.
When we returned to Dublin we walked to the Guinness Factory and took a tour. It was so cool and they give you free Guinness! They have a bar at the very top called the Galaxy Bar. It's the tallest bar in the city and you get a 360 degree view of Dublin. After the factory we took a cab to Kilmainham Goal, the old jail in Dublin. The cab ride was fun because they drive on the opposite side of the road and our cab driver was a cute old man. He kept talking about how unlikely it is to get shot in Dublin and he also told us his son lives in Indianapolis and does landscaping work..we learned a lot about him. The jail itself was very interesting. It looks exactly like Shaw Shank Redemption..I even asked the tour guide if the movie was filmed there but it wasn't. He said that a lot of prisons during that time period look the same. The conditions in the prison were some of the worse prison conditions ever. They could only walk in circles with their heads down and hands behind their back in a small walled area when they were allowed to exercise. Also, kids were sent there for stealing bread and they had public hangings at the entrance of the jail.
After the jail we went to get our free drink from our hostel and the place was packed for a Friday afternoon. There was live music and also a bachelorette party. We left and got ready and then had dinner and then came back to the bar and the bachelorette party was still there! They were very entertaining..I want to have my bachelorette party in Ireland now! We also went to some other pubs Friday night, including Temple Bar, which is one of the most famous pubs in Dublin.
We walked down Grafton Street Saturday before heading to the airport. I am happy that we picked Dublin as our last trip outside if Italy because we had so much fun! I will definitely be returning to Ireland in the future!
We have one final trip left to the Tuscany area and then we have finals and then America...it is crazy how fast it all went!
Pictures:
1-8: Our first night out! The first 2 pictures are of our hostel and the other pictures are from Vat House, the pub we ate at. We had our own little closet room and live music the whole time!
9-18: This is Howth,Ireland. This is the marina in the middle of town and you can see the light house and the "Eye of Ireland", which is the island by itself. The name of the boat in the second last picture is Mater Dei, my high school!
19-27: This is more of the town (we pretty much saw the entire town in the 2 hours we were there.) The residents here have an amazing view!
28-34: This is closer to the beach and up on the cliffs. We were originally going to try to go to see the famous Cliffs of Moher but I'm so happy that we did this instead! We stood there for awhile just to stare.
35-38: Outside of the Guinness Factory.
39-47: This is the first part of the tour that takes you through the brewing process... and yes that is a green waterfall. The last picture reminds me of the movie Beerfest!
48-57: The taste experience lets you taste the beer after learning how its made. Then you walk through several floors learning the history of Guinness and you get to see all of their old advertisements and logos.
58-64: This is the Galaxy Bar with the 360 degree view of Dublin. The Guinness was so good!
65-71: This is the jail we toured. Some of the hardest conditions in jails were faced here and it was a very interesting tour. The inside looks just like Shaw Shank, does it not?! The painting was drawn by an artist who was an inmate. She actually married another inmate the day of his execution ..they were married for 10 minuets before he was hung.
72-77: This is the chapel and exercise area outside, as well as other areas of the jail. The last picture is the front entrance of the jail where public executions would be held.
78-82: We met some fun people at the pubs we went to...the bachelorette party was going on all night and we saw the group the next morning and they were looking a little rough. The last picture is of us posing like the end of the movie Breakfast Club because the band was playing "Don't You (Forget About Me)".
83-84: The street we stayed on...great location!
85: The statue of Molly Malone..there's a really good Irish song dedicated to her..we heard it a few times while we were there.
86-92: Pictures from Grafton street and other buildings around Dublin.
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