Day 4 and 5: Dublin, Ireland

Day four... let's see... I have to jog my memory. Ah yes, there it is.

I said farewell to Jacob's Inn which has been my home since I arrived in Dublin. I headed over to the busy and touristy O'Connell St where my hotel for the night is. Thank goodness it stopped raining, that helps a lot mentally in trying to get around and just appreciating the city in general.

After leaving my pack in the luggage room (this was a hotel, not some ghetto hostel), I set out for Dublin Castle which was quite far from my hotel. When I got there, it looked like it didn't open till 2pm though so I decided to change my plans and head to the Guiness Storehouse instead.

St. Patrick's Cathedral was on the way there so I stopped there. As I was walking there, a group of senior citizens (is that PC?) looked a little frazzled then asked if St. Patrick's was nearby. I told them I hoped so as I was heading in that direction too. Apparently they were late for a rehearsal to sing at that evening's services (or something to that fact). Luckily we were on the right track and arrived at the church shortly after. Like many Catholic churches that I've been to, it had that dark, mysterious feeling inside. It was a lot more... garish? than I expected. There are loads of memorial plaques and statues lining all the walls across the church. Interestingly, I didn't know Jonathan Swift was so involved with it, he was even the Dean for awhile. Oh and he's buried there. I find Catholicism fascinating... all those rituals and secret things going on for centuries and centuries.

After that soul cleansing, I walked over to the Guinness Storehouse which is where they have the exhibition. You don't actually get to see the working factory itself but they have a pretty impressive exhibition covering 3 floors. It's modern and really well done, in my opinion. Lots of big glass things, videos, and bright colors. I didn't really know how beer was made before and I liked getting to read about the ingredients and processes. What a nerd. Of course at the end of the tour, you get to go to the top bar called 'Gravity' where you snap off this ring from your souvenier and get a free pint. Well, not really free since you pay €9.50 to get in, but you get the point. The most rad part of the bar is that it's in the shape of a circle, all windows ceiling to floor, 360 degrees seeing Dublin. There's a bunch of quotes from 'Ulysses' and you can see most of the big landmarks around the city. I sat down with my pint, probably the only person there alone and just enjoyed the view.

I had to walk all the way back to the hotel but it wasn't raining and it was a nice walk. I really love Dublin, I could see living here for a few months for work or something. (Don't go having a heart attack, I'm not seriously thinking about it, well not yet at least). When I got to my hotel, I got to check in and when I walked into the room, I was thrilled. Even though it was the size of a shoebox, it was nice to have the luxury of a hotel. Thanks mom and dad!

DAY 5

Sadly, I had to check out of my hotel but it wasn't until 12noon. I still have not completely caught up on sleep and hostels are not a conducive way to do so since you have to be out of the hostel between certain hours. Since it's Sunday and much doesn't open to late, I took it a bit easy before heading over to Dublin Castle. On my way there, I stopped for lunch in Temple Bar which I hadn't really gotten a chance to explore. I like it a lot though and if I ever come back to Dublin with people, I want to party hardcore there.

This time the castle was open when I got there and they only offer guided tours so I paid my €4.50 and joined everyone else. For some reason, there are a ridiculous amount of Italians in Dublin right now. Anyhoo, I liked the castle a lot, it was totally sweet. The rooms are opulent and the history thick. I won't bore you with all the history that interested me, just know that I had a good time. On the grounds they also house the Charles Beatty library which has a huge Asian, Western, and Islamic art center. Apparently the library has one of the biggest collections of jade books in the world. Who would've thought I'd find a piece of my cultural history in Dublin, Ireland??

The grounds are really pretty so I just walked around and chilled out for awhile before heading back over to the hostel. I'm currently sitting at the Internet Exchange where I've visited almost everyday since being here. It's my last day here! Can you believe it? I have survived my first country on this crazy European adventure.

I'm missing everyone a lot and although traveling alone has been great, it'll be nice to start meeting people too. Hopefully I'll be over this jet lag when I'm in Scotland and the week after that I'll be headed to Barcelona to hang out with Julie (who I met through Kurtis) and Crissy! I think this is where a lot of the challenges will present themselves, but I'm up for it.

Well, that's it folks from Dublin, Ireland! Next time I'll be posting will be from Glasgow, Scotland. Till then, cheers!

P.S. Your emails and comments are dropping off. Quit it, people, especially those who haven't said anything yet!