Well it's bound to happen sometime, travel problems. Getting your flight cancelled and losing all your time and money on a day tour and hostel definitely isn't fun but we've managed to make the best of it!
I've been awake since 230 this morning aka I'm dying! We got on the night bus at 330am for an hour towards Heathrow and an incredible amount of people were passed out drunk from the night before! We finally got to Heathrow and we had to do some major speed walking to the gate because its such a huge airport!
I read for a few minutes on the plane, and then passed out and I feel like 2 minutes later we were landing! It was one of the fastest flights I've ever been on.
We took a taxi to the hostel and checked in. It was my first time staying in a hostel, and I was pleasantly surprised! It's definitely not the Four Seasons, but it's perfect for college students staying for a few days. We ate breakfast at the hostel which was cocoa krispies, and cereal is a hot commodity.
Trinity college was our first stop, we saw some pretty architecture and where they keep the book of Kells.
Dublin castle attracted our eyes next, we took an hour long tour and got to see the State Apartments, which included a throne room and some gorgeous chandeliers. We walked into a banquet room where they had held a reception for the Fulbright scholars the night before.
We headed towards the old part of the castle and got to see the moat and the secret staircases they used during war times. At this point we'd been awake for about 10 hours so we took a 5 minute nap on the bench.
Next stop: Temple bar; an up and coming area with tons of pubs. We stopped at Quay Restaurant and ate cottage pie. It was super interesting and incredibly filling, so yummy!
We took the trek to the Guinness Storehouse, which was fascinating! It was 7 stories shaped like a pint glass and each level had amazing amounts of information! We got to see exactly how the beer is made, all of the advertising campaigns through the years and some celebrities who had visited the storehouse. We went to the Guinness academy to learn how to pour Guinness exactly. First you hold the pint glass at a 45 degree angle and pull the draft thing all the way down. When the beer reaches the bottom of the letters on the glass you put the glass back at a 90 degree and stop when it hits the bottom. Then you let the glass rest for 90 seconds and push the lever back and fill it to just above the brim with foam. I did it correctly and got a certificate, this is going on the wall of fame!
The top of the factory was a 360 degree bar which had spectacular views of the city. We then stopped at the gift shop before heading back to central London. We walked around for a bit and then headed back to the hostel to get ready for the evening.
Andrew, Megan and I went on a musical pub crawl. Two musicians led us around to different pubs where we had private listenings to their sessions. It was beautiful Irish music and they played very traditional songs. We made quite a few friends along the way.
Afterwards we hit up one more pub for dessert which consisted of Baileys Cheesecake, and Baileys ice cream and butter bread? Not entirely sure what it was, but there was no question that it tasted fantastic.
The next morning we woke up early and headed to Howth, a place along the coast that we took the train to, the views were stunning.
We walked all around the coast taking pictures and soaking in the views of the water.
We trekked back to Dublin for lunch, which consisted of mouth watering fish and chips and I was quite the happy camper.
We did some souvenir shopping and then headed to the hostel to catch a taxi to the airport. There was no line at security so we had plenty of time in the airport to order a Baileys Chocolate Mocha, aka the greatest drink ever invented.
Then we took the short flight home. Now it's time to cram an incredibly long to do list in a very short amount of time, so sorry for a probable lack of communication as I scramble through my remaining two weeks!
Love Alexa
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