Hurricanes, Hops and Hostels

Never having been to Dublin before, I think I expected two out of the three things above. Then again, this is Ireland, where the weather is almost as crazy as that in Minnesota. I was expecting to have a lot of craic (the Irish "fun") this weekend, however, and I wasn't disappointed.

Rousing four people at 7:00 in the morning after a rowdy Thursday night is no easy task, but somehow Megan and I and two other Johnnies, Chris and Matt, managed to wake ourselves up to get to the bus station. In typical college fashion, we booked our hostel minutes before departing our apartment to catch our bus. We managed to load smoothly, and were off on the four hour bus ride through the beautiful Irish countryside. This was my first opportunity to spend some quality time drinking in the stunning green and rolling hills of Ireland. I must say that I was more than a little excited when I spotted my first sheep!

Stepping into the crowded bus station, I was awe-struck by the size of Dublin. The small town girl that I am, I thought Cork was a big city. It doesn't even compare to Dublin, with a population of nearly 1 million. We managed to find a semi-helpful map in order to orient ourselves in the city. The bus station in Dublin is only about a block from O'Connell street, which is essentially city centre. After getting lost for a short while, we ended up checking into our hostel, since that was the only landmark we were able to locate. Four Courts hostel is very much what I imagine to be your typical hostel. Most of the people staying there were around our age. It seemed very safe and like a good "home away from home" for the weekend. Plus you can't beat the location! It was right on the Liffey and only about a 10 minute walk from city centre.

First task on the agenda: Trinity College and the Book of Kells. Although slightly disappointed that the Book of Kells wasn't on display, I wasn't disappointed by Trinity College and the Long Room. Trinity College, as my professor says, is a place of quiet amongst the hustle and bustle of Dublin. It's in the heart of the city, but stepping through the gate is like stepping into another world. We were able to get some background information on the Book of Kells even though it wasn't on display before heading to the Long Room. The Long Room contains some of the oldest books on campus. Imagine the library from "The Beauty and the Beast" and you have the long room. Darwin's field notes were on display there. I must admit that seeing them was quite a moment for me. Yes, I'm a science major.

Next task: National History Museum of Ireland. Although our stop was short and sweet, the museum held a lot of really interesting artefacts, perfectly relevant to my class on Celtic Religion and Mythology, including peat bog bodies discovered.

After the museum, the four of us met up with a friend of Megan's--a seminarian from just outside of Dublin. He took us to this great restaurant just off O'Connell street for my first Irish meal--Celtic Coddle. After some good food and conversation, we headed to a nearby pub to watch the Munster rugby match. One of our other Johnnie friends was at the match, so we had to be sure and watch it. Munster won by a landslide, and after one too many pints, we decided to call it quits for the evening. On our way back, we were able to walk along Temple Bar, however, a sight not to be missed for any pub crawlers.

Saturday morning started off with breakfast with some guys from Belfast that our Johnnies had met the night before. They were in Dublin to watch cage fighting. After parting ways, the four of us headed to the Old Jameson Distillery. This was by far my favorite part of Dublin. We managed to catch the 11:30 tour, and after a 10 minute promotional video, we volunteered to be taste testers of whiskey. At the end of the tour, the four of us were given three whiskeys--Jameson, Johnny Walker Black (a Scottish whiskey), and Jack Daniels (an American whiskey). He told us how to smell and taste each whiskey, and then we were asked to pick our favorite. Of the 8 volunteers, all 8 chose the Jameson. We proceeded to have another sample of Jameson afterwards, as well.

Feeling a little tipsy, our next agenda was lunch. This in itself was an experience. We went to the famous Leo Burdocks--stars like Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, the cast of P.S. I Love You, etc. have all gone there. The amount of food was ridiculous, but definitely worth it.

The Guinness Storehouse was next on our list. (We decided to do all our boozing in one day. In retrospect, I'm not sure how smart of an idea this was). Unfortunately Matt and Chris were in charge of getting us there. We ended up walking around nearly the entire factory before finding the entrance, in the middle of pouring rains and intense winds. It was essentially like being in the middle of a hurricane. Although drenched, we made it there and after a self-guided tour, rewarded ourselves with a pint. It's true what they say, Guinness tastes best the closer you get to the factory. I'm not sure I've completely converted, but it was a good time.

Dinner was spent at a lovely little restaurant. Megan and I decided to have a chill evening--recovering from the days events. We played a little pool at the hostel, and then called it a night.

Sunday brought with it a leisure morning and then a trip to the National Art Gallery. Megan and I could not have been more excited to see this. We are both taking an art history class and many of the works we've discussed are located at the Gallery. It was fun walking down the hall and pointing out many of the 17th Century artists we've been discussing--da Heem, Caravaggio, Vermeer, etc. Sadly, this was our last stop in Dublin. It made for quite the weekend, and I'm slightly disappointed to be back at school.

The adventures never quit though! Last night when we returned we had another family dinner with the Bennies and Johnnies here for the semester. It was fiesta night at the party palace, and we had a fantastic dinner of tacos, chips and salsa, etc. I'm not sure what's in the plans for this week, but it's sure to be great!