Ireland was quite nice. Right away while we were flying into Ireland I thought it was incredibly pretty. Even more, once we landed and got into a cab, the cab driver was so friendly and nice. We then got to our hostel. It was the Generator Hostel in Dublin, and it was absolutely amazing! It was possibly the comfiest bed I have slept in all year. It also just had a cool atmosphere.
Highlights from the trip:
Cliffs of Moher: We went to the Cliffs of Moher which are on the western coast of the country. That day we went on a full day trip that included the cliffs. It started out with waking up at 5 in the morning to walk to the start. We almost missed the bus because the starting point was incredibly difficult to find. The lady wanted to get to know us, so when she got to my name, she asked if I knew of any famous Brian’s. Naturally I answered Brian Barou who was a high king of Ireland, and she was incredibly impressed with my answer. We then continued on a bus and went driving throughout the country and it was absolutely gorgeous. Even on a cloudy and rainy day, the green was beautiful. We ended up at the tour guide’s cousin’s house (this trip was a “family” trip where you see their old home and farm) and we went on a short easy hike throughout their farm. It was pretty interesting.
We then got to the actual cliffs themselves and they were absolutely unbelievable. The sight was breathtaking and was a great picture scene as well. We then toook a long drive back which ended up just being a nice 2 hour nap.
National Leprechaun Museum: On Friday the 13th, we were all pretty tired and were looking for things to do on our last day there. After going on a free walking tour where we did learn quite a bit of general Irish history as well as seeing cool sights in Dublin and Dublin history, we ended up going to the National Leprechaun Museum. Unfortunately, we did not learn about the museum until it was closing. Luckily, it was Friday the 13th, and the managers decided, for the first time, to do a Friday the 13th exhibit/tour of luck and omens. It was really fun, but also really creppy. At the end, we did bloody mary on a mirror that our guide told creepy stories about, and I broke a mirror with a horse shoe.
Guiness Storehouse: We went to the Guiness Storehouse one day, and while we were disappointed that we couldn’t go to the brewery, but it was still interesting. It was a very interactive tour of Guiness history as well as how Guiness is made. We were also allowed to get a complimentary pint, and one of the options was to “Pour Your Perfect Pint”. Naturally I did that, and it was quite exhilirating, but I also learned that pouring Guiness from a tap is not just flipping the tap, but there is in fact more to it. While some may say it was just a bunch of American tourists wanting to go to a brewery, and it probably was, it was still quite interestnig.
Old Jameson Distillery: On the same day as the Guiness Storehouse, we were planning on going to the Old Jameson Distillery. The girls in the group didn’t want to go, and since they couldn’t “go shopping” while we were in France, they wanted to go shopping in Dubling, so Blue and I went to the distillery. We learned specifics to their whiskey as well as differences in other types of whiskey. We were then able to have a taste test, but there was also an “official taste test” where 8 people were chosen to taste 3 different types of whiskeys: Jameson, Johnnie Walker Black Label, and Jack Daniel’s. The whole experience was really interesting and fun.
We also just had general walking around in Ireland and saw a lot of cool things. I’m really glad I could go, and I can’t wait to go back one day to see more of it.
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