Thursday, December 16, 2010

Shoeless and Pantsless and the land of the Gingers



I spent this past week in IRELAND! 

View of Dublin from the River Liffey

On Tuesday, I flew in to Dublin Airport and took a bus to UCD (the college where my friend Jerilyn lives).  Unfortunately, when I got off the bus, there was no college.  To make matters more interesting, it had just snowed and everything was covered in ice (even though it has not snowed in Ireland since the 80’s).  So, I made my slippery way, hanging on to my suitcase, through a very treacherous 2 hour trek.  Somehow I made it to her door, and thankfully she let me in, even though I looked like a wet and frozen zombie.  I don’t think I even spoke in greeting, but she must have known from my wild look, that I needed to warm up and dry off before could function properly.

Fortunately, I did not die of exposure, but unfortunately, my poor old boat shoes had never been so wet.  So after an omelet, I borrowed Jerilyn’s shoes and we went into the city of Dublin.  I got myself a blanket, a pillow, and some very stupid looking boots. These 6 euro boots gradually fell apart through the week, and in the end they were left muddy, salty, holey, furless and gravel filled in Jerilyn’s dorm, never to be worn again.

Here is a side note on the snow in Ireland.  They do not get snow very often, so they had no way to deal with it.  So mostly, I think they ignored it and stayed inside.  But a few sidewalks in the city were cleared by heavy machinery (ie back hoes) because there were no plows. And some sidewalks had gravel thrown on top of them, which was easier to walk on, but became painful as my holey boots became both wet and gravelly.

Anyway, that night we had a very relaxing night with freezer pizza and catching up and such.

The next day we saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College.  It is the oldest manuscript of the Bible in existence.  (very cool). I also bought myself a true Aran sweater, and it is lucky that I did, because it was FREEZING in Dublin.  I also did some souvenir shopping.  For lunch, we went to O’Neill’s and got some traditional meat and potatoes food.  I had Irish stew. We walked through St. Stephen’s Green, which at this point was more white. This night was also very relaxed as we ate cheese and crackers (the meat and potatoes were very filling) and watched a documentary about Meth addicts.

St. Stephen's Green

On Thursday we went to Kilmainham Jail (Gaol(?)) which was kind of creepy and a bit of a downer, but also very interesting.  Here is where the leaders of the Easter Rebellion were held and executed.  

Inside the jail

Looking scared in a cell

So patriotic!
We then got a very disgusting lunch at a Spanish restaurant. But fortunately afterwards we went to the Guinness Storehouse, where all the magic happens.  our tour we went to the Gravity Bar where we, of course, drank Guinness and saw Dublin from above. 

Inside the Guinness Store House

At the Gravity Bar

Here is where my first pair of jeans ripped.  Well, they had actually been ripping all along, but things got out of control and I had to throw them out. 

To make up for our disgusting lunch, we went back to O’Neill’s and got our fill of meat and potatoes for dinner.

Later that night we went out to a lot of different bars including the (in)famous Temple Bar itself (what the Temple Bar District is named for).   I made a lot of new friends.  Actually, I had quite the crowd of men around me.  Except they were all over 70.  And very interested in my hair.  The way they were clamoring to touch my head it was like they had never seen red hair before. They all wished their granddaughters could have hair(s) like mine.  They also thought I was from Australia.  I was confused.

At Temple Bar

They next day we went into Dublin to a Christmas market, which wasn’t much of a market, but they did have superb sausage sammies. We then met up with our friend Sinead’s mother, Mrs. Cummins, and her nephew for drinks at a very traditional Irish pub. 
We took the bus with Mrs. Cummins to her parent’s house (her childhood home) outside of Dublin.  There we chatted and watched the Late Late show with Mrs. Cummins and her parents.  They were all so cute! 
We slept in the warmest bed in the entire universe!  And then woke up to a true Irish breakfast which included, black and white pudding, ham, sausage, a fried egg, a biscuit, and tea.  So good! 

The snow and ice finally melted today, which was convenient as we planned a trip to the Cliffs of Moher for the following day.

We got back to UCD, ate burritos and pretended to study. We took a nap, which unfortunately, turned out to be the extent of our nights sleep.   After the nap, Jerilyn’s friend and her boyfriend came over and we went on a mini pub-crawl in Dublin.  It was all very fun, and luckily I avoided the hoards of men clamoring for my hair.  Although we did meet a lot of people in very stylish Christmas sweaters (or cardigans as one guy kept reminding us).
We ate the biggest kebabs I’ve ever seen (these were our breakfast) and went back to UCD. 
One hour later we went back into Dublin, boarded a bus and went to the Cliffs of Moher.  It was quite a miracle that we made it there.  We were quite grumpy:
Jerilyn: I am too fat to go
Me: The Cliff of Moher don’t care if you’re fat, get up!

A bridge named for my darling cat, Clancy


In front of the Shannon River, the longest river in Ireland

We almost committed mutiny by pushing the bus over the cliffs.  As our bus driver talked the entire time, and sang, and recited limericks about bestiality, and tried to learn everyone’s life story. 
Anyway, with a few stops along the way, we made it to the cliffs.  They were absolutely spectacular and getting there was absolutely worth it.





As per usual, I climbed a tower.  This one was O’Brien’s Tower, where Cornelius (Horny Corney) allegedly took his mistresses.

O'Brien's Tower
We also were able to walk on the Burren, an odd limestone formation.  It was a very strange place.

The Burren

Here is where my second, and last pair of jeans ripped beyond hope.  I had luckily worn tights under them, so it was not completely inappropriate, just sad, and a bit cold.

We slept on the way back and ate cheeseburgers in Dublin.  Then Jerilyn studied for her final and I packed. 

I left a few hours later, in the middle of the night, without pants. 

But all in all, we had a grand time! 


Hasta la Vista,
Hilary
 P.S. Tonight is the farewell dinner. I can't believe this semester is almost over.  Rachel and I will be posting our last blog post soon :'(.

4 comments:

  1. That seems like an excellent visit! I want to go to Ireland now! Although I might pass on the two-hour snow trek and the black and white pudding...

    I laughed like the maniac at the part about the bus-driver's bestiality limericks. I hope you memorized at least one to share at home!

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  2. Your posts are hysterical. What am I going to do without the two of you in my life all the time next semester?

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  3. Poor Hilary - I hope Santa brings you some new clothes.....you do have a very nice new sweater though! AML

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  4. so jealous of all your crazy travels! see you in the promise land!

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