Ireland

Ireland:

To continue my exploration of the world, my roommate Zoe and I went on one final trip. We spent this past weekend enjoying all the wonder that is Ireland. I now have visited six countries in three months, something of which I’m quite proud. Ireland was one of my favorites. It really is amazingly green, with fields stretching between rolling hills. I saw sheep and cows and realized I haven’t seen animals in quite a while. We arrived in Dublin Friday afternoon and hopped on a bus to Casteblayney, where Great-Grandpa McDonnell was from. Unsure of where to get off we asked a young guy if he knew which stop it was. He told us and politely inquired, “Why the hell would anyone go to Castleblayney?” What a gentleman! After arriving in the essentially one-street town the roots of his question became more evident. We checked in to the Rockville House B&B and Joan showed us to our very violet room. After layering on more clothes (turns out Ireland is colder than Sevilla, who would have thought?) we set out to explore the town. The main street was lined with pubs and cafes and we stopped in at Café Cuisine for a delicious, hot latte. Zoe taught me how to play backgammon which is actually a fun game. After a few games we left in search of fish and chips. We ended up at Corrigan’s Kitchen a gothic themed bar. It was cozy inside and we got a table right by the roaring fire. Dinner was great, potato-leek soup, garlic-tomato-cheese bread and an order of fish and chips. It ended up being way to much for just the two of us, but it was great to have food with flavor after so much Spanish food. As the group at the table across from us was leaving they told us they were all in a play that night and said they would put two tickets in our name if we wanted to go. After another game of backgammon and a rough tutorial in chess for Zoe, we went off in search of the theater. We barely made it in time, but the show was great. It was about the Americanization of Ireland in the 1970s. Granted, we didn’t understand a lot of it, but it was still entertaining and just something unique to have done. After the show we ended up at Ballymacmanus, a local pub where we met the stairbuilders of Castleblayney and spent the evening learning about Ireland through some locals. Apparently it’s not often that two young American girls stumble into Castleblayney.

Saturday morning we woke early to eat the full Irish breakfast Joan prepared for us. Sausage, ham, fried egg, toast, potato cake thing, and black and white pudding…it was so refreshing to have a real breakfast again after the toast and cereal we’ve been eating for the past three months. We then caught the bus back into Dublin and checked into the shady Litton Lane Hostel, supposedly a former recording studio that housed the likes of U2 and the Cranberries. We were in and out again as fast as possible and wandered down the streets of Dublin. We found a bead shop which had me completely captivated with bins upon bins of sparkling beads sorted in a rainbow of color. We then found the Temple Bar neighborhood complete with an Urban Outfitters. After admiring all the overpriced clothes we left in search of food. A quaint Italian restaurant served us well with spring rolls, fried brie with cranberry sauce, and a shared chicken/pepper pizza. So good!!! After wandering some more we ended up back in the Temple Bar district for the night. We met a gang of middle-aged Scotsmen who insisted we join them in their search for a karaoke bar. The search was fruitless, but we spent a good few hours with them chatting and laughing about how they were all old enough to be our fathers. When we returned to the hostel I discovered that someone had hijacked my blanket and I was left to pile on all my clothes and hope I’d be warm enough for the night.

Sunday morning we took the DART, the public transit system, south to a small town called Dun Leary. It was the perfect combination of Dublin and Castleblayney. It was right on the ocean and the salty air was quite refreshing after our night in Dublin. Marina House hostel was much better than Litton Lane. We were given an upgraded room because Zoe’s last name is Kosovic due to her Croatian heritage while the hostelkeeper was Serbian. We walked all through the town which was completely decorated with twinkling multi-colored Christmas lights. At the far end was People’s Park which was hosting an organic market. There we had a great lunch and some fantastic people watching. We then walked along the boardwalk and out to the end of what seemed like the longest pier in the world. It was so beautiful. The day was overcast and it felt almost as though there was a melancholy mist hanging over the whole town. It was very peaceful and relaxing. We stopped in at a small bookstore on our way back. Zoe nearly bought the place out while I just indulged in a little romance novel. Haha. After relaxing in the hostel with our new books we went to Purty Kitchen for dinner. We split the seafood chowder and the fish and chips. They were great, but still a little fancy for our taste. We called it an early night due to the fact that we had to be up at 7 to catch the bus back to the airport.

All in all, Ireland was amazing. It felt so good to be in an English speaking country again and it was very cool to see where my family had once lived. The people of Ireland were very friendly and the land itself was stunning. I would love to go back one day and be able to better explore the area. Oh, and we met a guy who works in recruitment who said he’d be able to help us find jobs if we ever decided to move there. That could be fun for a year or so, yeah?

Sorry I've written a novel.