Dublin – Day 2 & 3
Day 2 – Partying with the Locals
So after my previous post I went back to the room and played cards while drinking with Billy and one of the other guys in the room. The crazy group of Americans left in the morning so needless to say it was a bit quieter in the dorm, but not nearly as interesting. Four of us from the dorm went out to the pubs in the evening and drank some 14% beer. It’s only brewed one day a year, and I understand why, it was friggin’ disgusting, but…when in Ireland….
We wandered around to a few other pubs and then met some local Irish and partied with them in the Temple Bar area. They were fun, friendly and we hung out late into the night. Learned some new words, such as “locked” which is similar to our “hammered” or “smashed”, so you might say “We got locked last night” in reference to how drunk one was as they were “locked out of their own head”. Also a “skanger” is someone who wears all the sports apparel, such as jerseys and things, but yet doesn’t actually play any sports or know anything about it.
We got back to the hostel by around 2:30 and crashed. I sadly had to be up at 8:00am the next morning for my trip down to Wicklow, although I didn’t mind b/c I was quite excited about it.
Day 3 – Wicklow Tour
The Wicklow tour was the fulfillment of a promise to myself that when I came to Ireland I would go and see the countryside. On the Monday evening I signed up for a “Wild Wicklow Tour” and was excited to get on the bus in the morning even on such little sleep. What made it better was the perfect weather, especially since the previous two days in Dublin were dreary and rainy. The tour ran from 9am – 6pm and our guide Dennis O’Reily (how’s that for Irish?) was awesome, knowledgable, funny and a great story teller. I’d highly recommend that tour for anyone visiting Ireland. The tour was broken up nicely with frequent stops for pictures, small stories about the history of different places and also some really good food. For lunch I had a traditional Irish dish which was a Guinness Stew. Definitely get it if you come here. We saw the sights of a bunch of movies such as Braveheart and Excalibur.
We eventually ended up in Glendalough, which is a monastery built around 600AD set in a valley among mountains. It was stunning, with two lakes in the area. I would love to come back to the area and do a 5 day hike around. There’s apparently a 60mile trail that would be awesome to do, I’m speaking to you Team Trail Mix!
When I finally got back from the trip I had a nice 2 hour nap and then met up with Billy and his god-brother for some drinks. Once they left me and Billy had an easy night, just went to Temple Bar for couple drinks then back to the dorm. So now here I am, typing this up as we burn some time before our plane to Barcelona at 5:30.
I should have pictures up soon, so be sure to check out the links on the right over the next few days as I post them!
Trip so far
It’s bizarre, it’s only been 4 days, but I feel like I’ve been traveling forever. I’ve almost forgotten what Canada is like hahaha. My liver seems to be holding up so far, hopefully it will continue to do so over the next couple months as well, time will tell I guess.
People are very friendly, especially those in hostels which is great. Initially I was worried about the 8+ person rooms, but now that we’ve done them, I think I actually prefer them. It’s such an easy way to meet people quickly, Billy and I were talking and we might actually transfer from our 3 person room in Barcelona to a larger one, but we’ll worry about that when we get there. Hopefully they will have a large common room where people hang out and we can meet others. I’ve heard nothing but good stories about Barcelona so it should definitely be a good time.
Oh, and I still have my fake wallet with Canadian Tire money in it as it has yet to be stolen from my back pocket. I’m not too impressed with the thieves of London or Dublin in this regard. I’m hoping Barcelona will pull through and it will get taken there. I’ll keep you updated on that =)
Cheers!
Look at you with all the ladies in Dublin already – and the trip has just but started. I see the sightseeing you’re actually doing : P (I speak these words only out of jealousy – not of the ladies, but of those gorgeous green rolling hills). Sigh. Have fun in Spain!
so awesome! omg. can’t wait.
pictures are amazing. Wicklow tour was a good call. gotta love the irish! that must have been a party. so the large rooms are that good eh? hopefully our hostels will have lots of common rooms. is it cold there ..? ok i’ll stop asking questions.
great blog! keep them coming
lol, well i’m glad to see you reading my stories Jen =) and yes the sights are wonderful, especially now that i’m in barcelona muahahaha
Sonia, yeah the Wicklow tour was really amazing. As for the small 3 person room, here at this Barcelona hostel, it actually won’t be a problem, as the way the hostel’s set up is a lot more social than the other ones we were at so I think it will be great! already meeting a lot of people here and going out partying tonight which should be good.
Barcelona was kinda cold, but only down to about 10 at night or so and it warmed up during the days. Barcelona is perfect at about 28 during the days and nights around 20, so very very nice. Wohoo europe we’re gonna have some fun when you get there!
Its skangers not skaggers! Tut tut tut…
Why whatever do you mean? It’s written as skangers in my post =) muahahahah the power of post-editing!
Don’t try make me look stupid!
lol, I´m sorry I´m sorry =) so did your boyfriend enjoy the toblerone that should have been mine??
I don’t have a boyfriend anymore. He probably did, dunno really.
I’m sorry to hear that Lauren. But when you come visit Montreal we will party it up then and eat all the toblerone we can =)
WOOOOO!!!!
lol, so are you doing any other traveling for the summer months?
I don’t know yet, if i have money i’m up for anything. I’m so jealous of your amazing holiday after reading your blogs.
Hmm well if you do get to, you can see where I’m gonna be travelling here: http://mike.apostol.ca/archives/planning/june-23rd-to-aug-9th-schedule/
Everything is still pretty accurate except for Italy as we’re staying with some friend’s family and such!
Oh and btw, Ios, Greece is filled with Irish! It’s crazy!
Im going to Paris on the 10th of July, Amsterdam on the 16th and Berlin on the 19th. You’ll be in completely different countries. However, two of my friends were talking about going to Amsterdam in August so we might see you there.
Nice Irish or “skaggers” ;o)
Aww damn so we’ll be missing eachother! Alright well let me know about Amsterdam in August, I think we’re there the 7th to 9th so if you end up coming by around then we’ll all hang out again!
Actually, change of plan. I went to South Africa. Still going to Amsterdam tomorrow but Cologne on the 19th. Still missing each other though.
Oh man, how was south africa? And we met some German girls here in Italy that swear the Cologne is the best city in Germany, so that should be fun!
It was great, alcohol four times cheaper than in Ireland. Had lots of fun going out drinking with my cousins and catching up with them. Cologne was good, but as i went there with my family there wasn’t much partying to be done. Theme park and chocolate museum though!
) I REALLY want to go back to Amsterdam now after going.