Dublin Adventures

I didn't have my computer with me on this short trip, however I did have my journal, so I recorded the whole trip in there. Now I'll put it all up for y'all to see, (so if some of it's written in present tense, then other parts past tense that's why)!

4.4.07 -- 10:10 p.m. : My journey to Dublin has officially begun. I am on the train now to Birmingham International Airport, where I will spend the night and then catch the plane in the morning. I'm quite excited about going on my own, I was only nervous about an hour before I left for the train, but now that I am en route I am very excited and tired! It's a short trip to Birmingham New Street tonight at which point I will change trains and head to the airport, where I will then catch the tram over to the actual airport and spend the night. Well tis all for now, I'm when it hits 2 a.m. and I'm struggling to stay awake, I'll be writing again.

11:20 p.m. : I arrived at the airport. It's now 11:45 p.m. and I've gotten myself a coffee in hopes of keeping myself awake. Right now I'm reading my Dublin guidebook and picking out a few more places I would like to go. It's good to know that I'm not the only spending the night in the airport there are several others. Apparently it's a popular thing to do in the UK/Europe.

4.5.07 -- 3:15 a.m. : Well it's officially Thursday and I can check-in in about 2 and a half hours. There is loads of activity going on and there are actually quite a lot of people here. I know I'm going to sleep well on the flight. I've made it through the guidebook picking out locations, it's going to be a lot of walking, but will be awesome and should get some great photos. What you won't see... my exhausted face!!!

3:50 a.m. : The airport is quite alive and bustling. I didn't think it would be this early, but I suppose it makes sense... any flight that takes off at 6 a.m. Quite busy with people checking in and a loud piercing alarm that has now been going off for about 3 or 4 minutes. Check in time is slowly creeping up... thank goodness for music and my new book!

8:50 a.m. : We touch down in Dublin, ten minutes ahead of schedule. I would say it was a great flight, but to be honest the minute I buckled my seatbelt I was out. Though I do remember waking up at one point as we were hovering over the water and I was able to see all of Ireland and thinking wow, that is an amazing photo and then just shutting my eyes again... because really I just couldn't be bothered to bend over, get my camera out of my bag and take a photo. haha. I do kind of regret not getting the shot, because I didn't get a shot like that on the way out either, but oh well another time. At any rate, we got off the plane and I landed in the non-EU line to get my passport stamped :D I was really excited, because this was the 2nd stamp I received and it's just kind of exciting to watch your passport get stamped with another country! I got through and then had to figure my way to the bus. It was actually quite simple though, because not only did I already have directions printed out, the airport had a nice billboard with the buses and their locations outside. I hop on the bus and it's about a 40 minute bus ride with traffic and all, but that's okay, because I got a photo of a palm tree... who would have thought, palm trees in Dublin?!

10:49 a.m. : I am officially checked into the Avalon House, I can't actually have my keys yet because the rooms aren't done until 2 p.m., however I am able to leave my luggage in their free locked facilities, so I do that and decide I'll come back at 2. Driving in we had passed the House of Lords and I wanted a photo of that, because I really liked the building itself. I found the tourist information building by accident, because I thought it was a church, turns out it used to be and then they turned it into the tourist information facility. I didn't actually go in, just took photos! Now at this point I didn't really have a direction was just making sure I made it back. I was walking along and saw this gorgeous building turns out it was another cathedral. (A random fact, that I learned on my bus-tour I took the next day, the majority of cathedrals in Dublin are Protestant not Catholic). Then I got to the outside of St. Stephens Green Shopping Centre, which happens to be gorgeous inside and out. I took a photo of the outside of that and then headed over to St. Stephens Park. It was a really beautiful day out and it was just a nice relaxing walk about. After leaving there, I somehow found my way to Dublin castle, I say it that way, because I thought the castle was in the opposite direction I was going, which was quite unique on the outside, however I couldn't go in, because it was closed for the day. Then I came across another cathedral, seriously they're everywhere and they're all beautiful. By that time I had walked a fair bit and I was getting sleepy and hungry. I was really trying to find this fish and chips shop that I had read about in several different books, called Burdocks. Sure enough it ended up being right near the last cathedral. I had fish and chips wrapped up in newspaper! There was loads of it though and the fish still had it's skin on, it was good, but the portion was so large it easily could have fed two people, I think. I decided to head back, but ended up at Wellington Quay instead, which isn't where I wanted to be at the time, but wasn't far from the where I needed to be and it ended up killing time as well. I got myself turned around and got back to the hostile. I took some photo's of the hostile and of the 12 person room I was in, it was pretty cool, because it also had a spiral staircase in the room. The people who worked there were nice and so were the people that I met. Tomorrow I'm going to take a bus tour around the city, to make sure I get to where I want to go, plus it's easy to hop on and hop off. I'm going down one last time for the internet then I'm calling it an early night. Another long day and night tomorrow.

4.5.07 -- 8:45 p.m. : It's 8:45 p.m. as of now and I'm sitting in the airport. However, my day began a little after 8 a.m. today. I got out of bed and grabbed a quick shower, then headed downstairs to a very light breakfast, which consisted of one piece of toast, OJ and have a cup of coffee. I then turned my key and bought a tour bus ticket. The guy gave me directions to St. Stephens park, but I don't think it was the right way, so I went the way I knw and ended up going through St. Stephens Shopping Centre. I stopped at Carroll's gift shop, the most famous Irish souvenir shop. I got a few things for friends and then bought myself a zip up sweater that says Ireland across it. It was quite a good investment, because it got quite windy on the bus and cold. I've been wearing it all day! I got on the bus and began the tour. We passed St. Patricks Cathedral and I thought I could just go back to it later and get a tour inside, (I was wrong, by the time I would get back around to it, it would be closed). My first hop off stop was the Guiness Storehouse at around 10:45 a.m. It's actually a huge storehouse that covers 70-acres. The actual storehouse that I paid to get in had 6 floors and then the Gravity Bar on the 7th, which has a 360 degree view of the entire city of Dublin. The six floors gave really interesting information about the factory, Arthur Guiness (like the fact that he was so confident in his storehouse he signed a 9,000 year contract), and how they make the beer. I actually learned things from there. I ended up spending loads of time there and didn't leave until a bit before 2. Then hopped back on the bus, the next stop for me was Kilmainham Gaol Museum and Jail. There was a guided tour that you took through the jail after going through the museum on your own. It was really interesting and I learned a lot about the history of Ireland and the road to freedom and civil war and conflict. I got out of there at 4 p.m. By the time the next bus came it was nearly 4:30 p.m. Note that I still had not had lunch, but there were things that I wanted to see and do before they closed! Unfortunately the museums and Trinity College (where the book of Kellis is) both closed at 5 so by the time I got back around to them on the bus they were closed. I was disappointed a bit and wishing I had done the tour bus the other day, so that I way I could have done a bit more. I did end up riding the bus around again for the full hour and fiftenn minutes and the pedestrian traffic was crazy! I did get to see a lot too, I got to see a lot of sights and I got to learn a lot, so I can't complain there. I finally got off the bus at around 6 p.m. and was able to get something to eat. Then around 7 p.m. I decided I should probably just catch the bus to the airport instead of sticking around shopping, seeing as how I was on O'Connell street, the most popular shopping street in the City Centre. So now it's a little after 10 p.m. and I've got about 6 hours before I can check in and I'm bound and determined to get some sleep tonight! We shall see though, it's a lot different than the Birmingham Airport, TV's in the arrival area!! (yes, where I got to watch Friends and Ugly Betty!)

After Thoughts: I did end up sleeping for a little bit, in half hour intervals I think. So wasn't to bad, still slept quite well on the plane ride and I also slept on the train ride home too! Overall I really did enjoy myself. I had a good time, I got to see things that I wanted to see, do things I wanted to do, not all of them, but some of them, and it was nice. I did enjoy it and I came back Friday at about 9:45 a.m. walked pretty fast back to uni and then passed out until 5 p.m. Haha. I was a little tired, but it was all worth it! :)