Dublin

Last weekend the girls and I went to Ireland. Originally the trip was meant to be with Kelly but ticket prices from Italy soared last minute. Luckily I was able to convince my flatmates to take a short holiday. :)
We left Friday night after our block Christmas dinner. Here are the girls being silly in the airport while we waited to board the flight.

The flight was less than an hour with beautiful views of city lights as we took off and landed. Here they are in Dublin airport, excited to start our trip.
On Saturday we went out into the city even though it was rainy and cold. Trinity College was our first stop. It was founded in 1592 and its library holds the Book of Kells, which we unfortunately didn't get to see because of admission prices and how crowded it was. It was cool to see the campus though, and wander around the library bookstore for a while.
We also went to St. Stephens Green, a lovely park that was a nice change from the busy city shopping area.




That night, after going back to the hostel for a shower and dry clothes we ventured out to Temple Bar, the touristy pub part of Dublin. We walked around until our belly's ached trying to find an affordable place to dine. We were thrilled when we found a pub/restaurant/club that had good prices and delicious food. They even managed to squeeze us in with 5 minutes left till the kitchen closed. Here we are satisfied with finding the place.

That night we met up with some Irish girls Rachel knows from her gap year travels. They are a bit older, in their late twenties and were so nice to take us around to some good pubs and clubs and even bought us drinks. It was really fun but exhausting. So exhausting that we slept in Sunday and didn't get out of the hostel till twelve! Here's a picture of the 16 bed female dorm we stayed in.
We went to the Guinness Storehouse and it was really cool. One of my favorite parts. I don't really like the taste of Guinness but learning how they made it let me appreciate the free pints we got.


Rachel took a few sips but had to set down her pint in disgust. Haha. Bex was the only one that really liked the taste.
Here's a cheesy touristy picture the girls took of me in the last pub we went to Sunday night where we heard and saw traditional Irish music and dancing (Lord of the Dance style).


The best part of the weekend was just being able to spend time all together before we broke up for Christmas. Now I'm in Manchester staying with Rachel at her mom's house. Then I'm off to Daniels for a few days in Cheshire, followed by Christmas Eve with Bex in High Wycombe, and finally London to meet mom and Kelly!!
Happy Holidays!