Tuesday, June 9
I woke up very early this morning (5:30) to get ready and head to the airport to catch my flight to Dublin.I was amazed at how easily I made it from the ticket counter to my gate. There was no one in line at the counter and only 2 people ahead of me at security. I can't help but think that security in Brussels (and maybe many other places?) is a lot more lax than it is in the U.S. They check and all but it seems much more laid back.
When they finally called our flight to start boarding I was like a kid getting on a plane headed to Disney World! I was soooo excited to finally be on my way to Ireland. I have wanted to go for as long as I can remember and it was so exciting to realize that my little dream was about to come true. The captain came on to introduce himself and I couldn't stop smiling. His name was S. Fitzpatrick and the flight attendants had equally Irish names and accents. :) It was so great!
When I landed I made my way to the Airlink bus that took me to the street across from my 
hostel. My hostel is located in such a great area! It is on Bachelors Walk which is right across from the Temple Bar area, and on the corner of O'Connell Street. My room was ready since I was staying in a private double so I decided to drop my things off and wash a few things in the sink before I headed out to explore. My room is on the 4th floor and is super cute. There is a skylight and I have my own little bathroom.I had read that Trinity College was not going to be open for some of the time I am here, so I decided to head there first to go check out the book of Kells. It was pretty cool to see the book and learn more about the history of how the book was made and what happened to it over the years. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells) I walked around the college for a bit afterwards and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
Since I didn't really care where I went I decided to just wander the streets until I found something that looked interesting. I walked down many cute streets lined with shops and pubs until I came across the Dublin Castle. I walked in right as the last tour of the day was getting ready to leave-great timing! The castle is actually still a working government building, so the only way to see it is on a guided tour. Our guide was nice, but she talked EXTREMELY fast! It was kind of hard to understand what she said, but it was still and interesting tour. When we went outside to learn about the exterior of the building we saw one of their National news broadcasters. I guess they were having some big thing at the castle that night so he was there reporting on it. After my tour I found the castle gardens and decided to sit and relax in the sun for a while. The gardens have a big green circle of grass in the middle with a design that looks like a snake running through it. (pictures to come at a later date)
My wondering continued after the castle and led me by Christ Church and then through the Temple Bar area. I watched a band performing on the corner and then got lunch at a place called the Bad Ass Cafe (which I later found mentioned in my guide book).
That was pretty much it for today. Lots of walking and just loving the fact that I am finally in Ireland!
Wednesday, June 10
I slept in a bit this morning because I was exhausted from getting up early yesterday and all the walking I did. It was kinda nice to have a slow start to the morning and take my time getting ready.
My agenda for the day included visiting Christ's Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral and I suppose a sort of religious destination for some...the Guinness factory.
I'm loving the location of my hostel because it really is within a reasonable walking distance from most major attractions in Dublin. I walked down Dame street toward Christ Church first. It was really beautiful inside. The floors are tiled with many difference colors/patterned tiles. The one thing I wasn't too crazy about was that they had this modern art exhibit all through the church. They were little art pieces just mixed in with the church stuff and I thought it kinda ruined the beauty of the church...oh well. In one corner of the church they have a little peace prayer corner that was really cool. I lit another candle there and then at 12:00 the priest announced that there was going to be a peace prayer. It was cool because they asked everyone to stop where they were and pray/be in silence with him. I sat right up front and it was nice to get a little dose of church. Afterwards I got to shake his hand and briefly talk to him. I love these moments God keeps placing in my path along my travels.
After Christ Church I walked down to St. Patrick's. I am really proud of myself for being able to navigate Dublin so well! I suppose it is not too complicated of a city to get around, but I rarely have to look at a map and I find where I want to go! :) St. Patrick's has a beautiful park outside that I spent some time just sitting and enjoying the sun in before I entered the cathedral. The church itself has some amazing history and I enjoyed walking around it taking it all in.After St. Patrick's I walked towards the Guinness Storehouse (the factory), which was a bit farther than I had anticipated. It wasn't too bad of a walk though. The factory is pretty amazing. I was glad to find that it was a self-guided tour because once you have seen how beer is made (thanks Coors and Budweiser tours!) you don't really care to go through the whole detailed
process again. I skipped through most of the boring stuff and went pretty much directly to the best part- the free pint of Guinness! They have a bar on the top floor that has a 360 view of all of Dublin. It was beautiful! I realized as I was walking down the 7 floors after the finished tour that they built it in the shape of a pint glass. Each floor of the tour is on the outside, so when you go to the escalators to go up to the next level you are over empty space. Each floor the space gets a little bigger until you reach the top bar where it looks like the head of the stout. I will show you the map later if you want to know what I mean. I decided to try their restaurant while I was there since it had a view of Dublin, they make all recipes using Guinness, and I was STARVING! I ordered the beef and Guinness stew which was delicious, but seemed to be missing one thing...beef. I think there was only one piece in the whole thing!After the tour I headed back towards my hostel but got distracted along the way by a busy street that was lined with nice stores...not just the tourist shops. I shopped a bit, but didn't really find anything I could afford...designer clothes cost too much without the exchange rate! :) I did stop to hear an amazing guy who was singing on the street for a bit. He was SO good, if he would have had CDs I would have bought one. Maybe one day he will and I will be able to say that I saw him on the streets of Dublin. :) I decided to head back to the hostel after that because I had been out all day and I was ready to sit for a bit and update my blog. :)
That's all for now!
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