As I sit here writing this, I have to say that my heals are covered in Band-Aids, my head is still healing from a recent burn incident, and there are so many travel brochures and clothes covering our room that we can barely see the floor. With that said…
I.LOVE.IRELAND.The past two days have been incredible. From Steph finally getting into Dublin to a traveling tour that lasted for 5 hours on foot to eating traditional Irish Guinness stew, the memories made here have already been un-forgettable.
I’ll start from the beginning.
Upon the rest of the group’s arrival, Professor Love took us into the city for lunch and a small tour around the St. Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street. The culture in this area is amazing. Celtic bands were playing on every corner while men were having their daily dose of beer for lunch. Steph and I toured four different churches, including the famous Newman University Cathedral. This building was also home to the University of Dublin’s old campus. Since we’ll be studying at UCD, it was interesting to see the roots of the college and its historical background. We went around the shops of Grafton St. and tasted “smoky” Irish whisky while looking for a decent priced clothing store. Shelbourne Hotel is also on the outer-skirts of the green and is known as one of the nicest hotels in all of Europe (so obviously we’ve vowed to come back dressed up and hang-out in the pub area, eager to meet any politicians that may pass by).
Day three would not have been amazing if it weren’t for our incredible tour guide. Exhibit A:
His name is Garbhan and he led us ALL OVER Dublin. We visited the Cathedral District of the city, which includes such historical cites as Dublin Castle, Chester Beatty Library, and City Hall. One of my favorite places we went in this area was the St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was unlike any Cathedral I’ve ever seen. Intricate hand carvings of angels and saints lined every corner. The stain-glassed windows were gorgeous, clad with every color an artist can think of.
We also visited the Viking/ Medieval Area of the city. Here we went to St. Audden’s and Old City Walls, where I learned the most important lesson of the day… Vikings NEVER had horns on their helmets. No. In fact, their helmets were shaped like “V’s” or a steeple, so oncoming swords would slide down the helmet instead of hitting the Viking in the center of the skull. Horns would do the opposite effect and direct the sword to the center of the head. They were also very simple men, so why would they go out of their way to decorate their helmets with horns?
At this point in the trip every girl was enamored with Garbhan as he showed us around Trinity College and the O’Connell Bridge. We visited The Spire in the center of the city, which is known as the Monument of Light. It towers 398 ft. into the air, deeming it the tallest monument in Europe.
We walked across the Millennium Bridge and entered into the Temple Bar District (which is SO much more entertaining than 6th street). We ate at O’Neill’s in Temple Bar, in which I had beef and Irish stew, with a touch of Guinness. During this time is when Garbhan told us that we were about to embark upon the greatest part of the tour- a pub crawl.
(Of course at this time Professor Love left us to our college ways and went back to Ariel House for the night.)
At approximately 7:20pm the pub crawl began. As I said earlier, Irish people don’t drink the same that we do. I don’t know if it was our attire or blonde hair, but almost everyone could tell we were from America. Every time the word “yall” came out in conversation, Irish folks would start laughing and shouting things like “Ah, you nice little Texan girl.” Needless to say, four pubs later, a nearly lost shoe, and countless pictures with Garbhan, the girls and I walked back to Ariel House laughing at our night together and the many memories we’d made.
Texas fight.
