Dublin

I am so sad to leave today but I know I will be back again. The first few days were a lot of fun. I explored the city during the day, walking up Grafton street, through St Stephen’s Green park, up O’Connell street, and even to the Writer’s Museum which I loved. 

I haven’t taken many pictures while in Dublin because I really just wanted to relax and experience the city. After coming across a Tim Hortons in one of the corner stores I had made up my mind completely that I will move here after university. 

I spent all 4 nights here out on Temple Bar at the Auld Dubliner, Oliver Gogharty’s and the Quays. I met a ton of people (some actually from Dublin) and one of the nights I was even taught how to Irish dance!

Some of you who have been reading my blog for a while will remember that I was in Dublin over a year ago. When I first came to Dublin with Mike we went to the Auld Dubliner and saw a performance by Rob Hughes. Luckily enough I got to see him perform again last night and it was the perfect way to leave this beautiful country. I can’t wait to come back!

A Highlight of my trip..

Someone from England in the pub last night asked me if I was from Ireland. I said “no, Canada” and they were surprised and said I sounded Irish!! Hahaha YES!!! Not that I think I sound any different at all, but it definitely made my day. I love Ireland that much.

Temple Bar

I really need to find the place where all the locals go. I went to the Auld Dubliner tonight on Temple Bar and did not meet 1 person from Dublin. I met a bunch of people from the southwest of England, 1 from the west of Ireland, and a couple from Germany. Oh and we can’t forget the 2 bachelorette parties from Wales and Newcastle either… they were entertaining to say the least.

While watching the band play I noticed something in my peripheral vision - two guys across the bar pointing in my direction. I was really confused, until the band started singing the song “Yellow” by Coldplay and they started acting out the words to the song while pointing in my direction. I started laughing because these 2 random englishmen busted out these awful dance moves while singing along to the song. It was really weird to be honest (kind of like that time in Cancun where a group of us girls were serenaded by some guy singing the song from Top Gun - you’ve lost that love and feeling) …and that is why I need to find the pubs where all the locals go!!

Last night in Galway

I wokeup my last day in Galway with awful stomach pains and spent the good part of the morning in bed - I even missed breakfast. Finally I felt a bit better around 1 and went to explore Galway a bit more before I had to leave the next morning. After walking around the harbour I found this place I really wanted to go to called The Millhouse and it was basically a restaurant with a small patio built on the river. I ordered a pint of cider (finally something that wasn’t Bulmer’s - love Bulmer’s but I was ready for some variety) and a grilled chicken breast on top of a rocket salad. I sat outside, overlooking the river and ate my lunch while getting in a bit of writing. 

I spent the afternoon shopping and bought new shoes - a pair of white Birkenstock sandals I’ve wanted for a really long time. I wandered around Galway a bit more then settled on a seafood restaurant called MacDonagh’s and had my dinner there. Right after dinner I wasted no time and took a walk along Galway harbour before heading back to where all the craic was. I went to a pub called The Quays (which I’m pretty sure used to be an old church at some point) to listen to some live music. After I was done there I headed somewhere else and watched a band for a bit and then went back to The Skeff for more music.. it was basically a personal pub crawl. At the Skeff I met a group of people from Belfast who were on an actual pub crawl. They convinced me to come along with them and we went to this awful club called Karma. The group of them were all on a roadtrip around Ireland for a couple weeks and had met someone from San Francisco and invited him on the roadtrip as well. They soon offered to squeeze me into one of their jeeps and take me along the trip as well but I said I had to be in Dublin the next day. They should be arriving in Dublin on my last night here so we’re planning on all meeting up again! Should be lots of fun

I’m in Dublin now safe and sound and just ate dinner so I’ll head out soon for a night of music and pints on Temple Bar!! I’m so happy to be back here.

Galway Girl

I’m really happy I decided to come up to Galway for 4 nights instead of going to Kinsale and Cork. There’s something about Galway that I can’t put my finger on but it has become one of my favourite cities in the world. On the main places to be - William street, high street, and Quay street - all kind of turn into one street that is usually pedestrian.

I went to a bar called The Front Door (Sonny’s) on my second night and it was such a cool place. I met a bunch of people, some tourists but mostly locals, so it turned out to be a great night! 

The next day I took a full day tour up to the Cliffs of Moher and up around Burren National Park. The Cliffs are so vast and beautiful. I didn’t realize how big they would actually be but as I was walking along the paths on the ridge and looked out at them, I was a bit dizzy. I met 2 girls on the bus who were also travelling alone - Shannon from Melbourne and Kayla from Seattle. We spent the day touring around at stops along the way to the Cliffs of Moher and had lunch in Doolin. We had a really cheeky but funny coach driver who kept us entertained the whole way.

My third night in Galway I didn’t venture too far and just sat at a small table in the bar downstairs called The Skeff and listened to a pair of accoustic guitar players, a guy and a girl, play songs ranging from Arcade Fire to Creedance Clearwater to Steve Earle’s Galway Girl. I love this place!

Dingle Adventures

My third day in Dingle I spent the morning at the aquarium and took the afternoon to go horseback riding. I walked about 2 miles to where the stables were and booked an hour trek. The guide took me up, in a group of 4 others, and we trotted up the side of a mountain which had an incredible view of the hills on Dingle peninsula that went on for miles. I was even able to canter on the ridge of the mountain which was a ton of fun and I haven’t done that for a while.

That night I went out to Dick Macks, Foxy John’s, and the Droichead pub where I met a bunch of people, some of which who convinced me to cancel my stay in Kinsale and Cork and head up to Galway (which is where I sit typing this). They said it’s the most beautiful town they’ve ever been to so I decided to take their word for it & I can now say I would have to agree. 

Yesterday I took a hackney out to Dunquin (20 minutes past Dingle) to take the ferry out to the Blasket Islands. I found the story of the islands very interesting but once I visited them I found it to be quite sad. The cab driver told me on the way over “when you visit the islands, imagine that you once lived there” and so I did. All the old houses are completely in ruins and still have many household items strewn about in them. What once was a community is now completely abandoned, the crumbling . In the 1900’s, the islands had a population of about 180 but when emigration happened, it happened fast and the last to leave the islands were a group of 22 in 1953. They had no choice but to leave as they couldn’t survive with such a small number on the islands. The cab driver also said that when the islanders used to live there, it was a real sense of community among everyone. The women would go down to the well during the day and gossip while at night the men would all meet at someone’s house and smoke their pipes and tell Irish folklore. 

I ended my stay in DIngle by taking an early morning walk through the town - the only other people awake were those at the bakery where I got a coffee and a croissant. Dingle was amazing and I hope to visit again - maybe this time I will catch a glimpse of Julia Roberts! (She was in town while I was there!)