Dublin up on Fun

Last thursday evening, I, along with a bunch of folks from my program, headed out to Gatwick Airport and flew out to Dublin. That was a good start to the weekend, but it got better. We got in late that evening, and though some people went out to pubs, I decided to relax with a few folks and rest up.

The next day we got up, had the free breakfast at the hostel (cold cereal and toast, bleh), and headed out for a free walking tour of the city. The tour was far more extensive that I'd expected it might be, clocking in at three hours, and by the end I was sort of footsore and grumpy, to be honest. I was struck, mostly, by how unremarkable Dublin was as a city. The architecture was lackluster, the monuments generic and uninteresting, and the history desecrated--the built the government building on top of an ancient Viking village without excavating it. Lame. The coolest part of the tour, for me, was learning about the local languages. Apparently, "Gaelic" is a generic term which encompasses Irish and Scottish, and therefore our tour guide--a lovely Irish girl--kept referring to the local language as "Irish," not Gaelic. Cool.

After that we headed to the Guinness Factory, where we toured the museum section. Midway through, the power went out, which was weird, but after a stint waiting outside, we got back in and toured around some more. On the right, you can see us outside waiting for the power to come on. The museum was so-so, but they had a cool section where you could learn to properly pour (from a tap) a pint of Guinness. It was neat...if you slow down towards the end you can draw a shamrock in the head with the last few ounces. We also met up with a couple guys from the Northeast US who recommended that we head to the Cliffs of Moher the next day. We thanked them and headed on.

After that we wandered for a bit and went to a touristy (but AMAZING) bar/restaurant that had tables with Guinness taps on them (so you could pour your own), and a stage. There were two groups of performers, who came on around dessert: a 3-person band (fiddle, accordion, guitar), and a few ex-riverdancers. The band was great--the guys were incredibly charismatic and played traditional Irish songs, while the dancers were amazing. They had less of a stage presence, but nonetheless, their movements were entrancing. As unimpressed as I had been with the city itself earlier in the day, I was equally or more impressed with the culture--or their representation thereof) that evening. It was a great show. After that we headed back to the hostel and passed out. Sleep was tough with 10 people coming back in waves, but I managed alright.

The next morning we woke up early and waited downstairs for Bennett and Rob. The plan was to catch a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher, like those guys had suggested the day before. We waited for a long time, until it became obvious that they'd overslept, and Mary went up and dragged them down. Apparently neither of them heard their alarms. Oh well.

We made the bus (barely) and hunkered in to fall asleep. We were with a ton of obnoxious Spanish tourists who didn't speak English or know to shut up at 6 am, though, so it was tough. We drove east to west across the whole island before reaching Galway, where the drivers switched off and, our guide for the day took the wheel. I forget his name, but the guy was amazing: funny, nerdy, goofy, knowledgeable, and utterly eccentric. He was just the sort of guy you'd want to be your tour guide. His wit and oddity made the tour great too. We drove from Galway to the Cliffs, stopping at various attractions along the way.

The first place we stopped was an old Norman fortress (from over 1000BCE!), which was essentially a dug-out hole in the ground with trees planted around the ring to hold steady the dirt walls. According to our guide, the place is now a home to faeries, and he urged no one to walk through the center so we didn't get cursed by the faeries. I stuck to the edges. You can see the faeries in the picture on the left.

Next we stopped off at an old tomb (several hundred BC), which was just a slab of rock laid over two others, like a little shanty. What amazed me is how casual the Irish are about their history...there was an old castle (from 300-400 AD) just on the side of the road. No marker, no plaque, nothing. That blows my mind. The area we drove through was incredibly rocky, too. The rock and the grass together looked quite beautiful, and I'd like to get back there sometime.

After that, we stopped briefly for lunch--I had potato and leek soup with Irish brown bread, yum--before pressing on to the Cliffs. We got there and wandered up and down the path along the Cliffs. The Cliffs were gorgeous. If you glance to the right, you'll probably agree. We wandered around, climbed a castle, and got to the end of a path, where a sign read: "Do not go past this point." Next to the sign was a memorial and some flowers for someone who'd fallen off to their death. There was also a trail, and a steady stream of people going past the sign. So did we. It was a little unsafe, but not to bad if you kept your sense about you, so no worries, parents. The view, too, was amazing.

After that, we headed back to the bus and wearily got in. I slept most of the way, when I was able to drown out the loud Spanish folks. We got back, thanked the guide, and headed out. We relaxed for a while and went out to a really nice Irish pub, where the had a live band and cheap drinks. It was a nice way to cap off the evening, and the trip in general.

I ended up really liking Ireland. The city wasn't much to look at, but the culture and the countryside were as vibrant as anywhere I've ever been. More, even. I'm glad to have gone, and I'd like to go back sometime.