I cannot even begin how interesting my time was in Dublin… All I can say is that I think that going to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day is overrated AND that I am in no rush at all to stay in a hostel again. To begin with, I booked my time in Dublin the week after I arrived in Madrid {at the beginning of January}, and I did it through a program that Devan had told me to do because she won a free trip {air coverage, hostel, and food}. I booked my stay in correlation with her through Weekend Student Adventures, and prior to my arrival in Ireland, I was STOKED!! I flew out of Madrid on Wednesday night, granted I was delayed an hour and on a different flight from Devan because she wanted to save about twenty euros by going on another airline. We arrived at two different times, and by the time I arrived, the customs and passport check line was INSANE!! We weaved around a multitude of times and even curved into a whole new part of the airport, BUT it was a breath of fresh air hearing soooo many people speak English {not to mention there was a really cute guy in line that helped me pass time}. By the time I made it through the passport check, I had less than five minutes to purchase a bus ticket and get on a bus that was going to take Devan and me to the closest place it could in relation with our hostel… we walked about one mile around eleven o’clock, and when we arrived the hostel seemed WAYYY JANKY.
I paid thirty extra euros for us to have our own room and then we were told by the front desk that we would have to move to a different room the next night: room 202. We were hoping to have the next room to ourselves for the following two nights, so we got in contact with the group we booked our weekend through and they had told us they would put us in room 202 so that we wouldn't have to room with randos… BUT I’ll come back to that later. We walked up to our small room that had nasty floor, a shower with nothing to block the water from getting into the rest of the compact restroom area, and our window was wide open with bugs flying in… We were even shushed by our next door neighbor for rolling our suitcases past his room {who knew someone’s ears would be so sensitive to suitcase wheels}. We put our stuff in our room, remained as quiet as possible, and then headed to get food cause we hadn't eaten since lunchtime that afternoon. When we got back to the hostel, Devan got into bed and I took a shower, continuously pressing the water pressure, trying not to touch the wall or the nasty plastic curtain, and watching as the water flooded the rest of the bathroom. We managed to make it through the night, after covering our beds with our own sheets and sleeping like little bugs in the tightest balls.
Early in the morning, we packed up as though we were leaving, got dressed and ready to embark on the Cliffs of Moher tour that we had signed up for online, and put all of our luggage into a small locker at the hostel until we were to return and be able to check into our next room officially. The cliffs were ABSOLUTELY beautiful {or at least I thought so}. Being seven hundred something feet above the water and disobeying the signs to stay on the pathway gave me some sort of rush. Looking down was crazy, and it was even crazier to hear that about one person, every month, accidentally falls off the side of the cliff every month; however, I cleared my mind of those visuals and just took in the natural beauty of it all. We took tons of pictures of the view, of each other, and with each other.
There were some parts that were EXTREMELY wet and muddy making it had to maneuver around, especially being with some people who were afraid of heights, but I continued along the path by myself, risking the cleanliness of my Converse for the view of the cliffs in their entirety.
At a designated time, we were required to meet back at the bus which would take us back to Dublin… eventually. Our driver thought he was so funny, yet in actuality, he was really rude. We had a group of seniors from North Carolina on our bus that were fun, we had some older people that stayed more towards the front, and then right behind us, we had some dude that was from New York that wouldn't stop talking about all the drugs he's done {as he was rolling up a blunt}. We had quite the group of people. Our driver would stop at the most random places. We stopped at a grocery store and were given about fifteen minutes to get whatever we wanted, we stopped at a gas station a little later, but not to get gas, solely to get snacks, and we stopped at some place that was infamous for their fish and chips… To say the least, I was pretty excited to be back in Dublin that evening. Eventually making it back to the hostel, we moved all of our luggage into our empty room with two bunk beds, got ready to go out, and then met with my friend {Courtney} to head to some of the well known bars. Because it was St. Patrick’s Day the next day, and the parade was scheduled to begin at noon, we did not want to go CRAZY that night, so I went to a couple places and then headed back to the hostel to shower and get ready for bed as Devan met up with her other friends from USC… We still had the place to ourselves by the time I got home {and when she got home too}.
At around 4:30 in the morning, I was woken up by some loud noises, and to my surprise, I opened up my eyes to a large man who was naked and had hair down to his butt. After seeing that view, personally, I don't think it’s easy to fall back asleep {but I guess y'all can try to experience it for yourself and lemme know your thoughts}. Confused, because we were told that we were going to have the room to ourselves, I did not get a good night’s sleep, but I did set my alarm for around nine in the morning so that I could just text family back home and get caught up on social media as I hung out in my bottom bunk. Around ten in the morning, I went to purchase myself my dose of Starbucks {typical chai with coconut milk and vanilla} to start my day, I purchased some grapes from a local grocery store, and then I headed back to the hostel. Around 10:30 in the morning, the guy was still asleep {not wearing any clothes} and Devan and I began throwing back some drinks to get ready for the long day ahead of us.
Before we left the hostel, there was a knock at our door, that was a working who only spoke Spanish, so thank goodness for me understanding cause I was put in charge of waking the Turkish man and telling him to lead. Also, let me tell yah: having some drinks, that early in the morning, when all you've eaten the past two days is a bag of almonds {and then a Starbucks tea and croissant that morning}, is not the best. Once our room was cleared or the guy, and our mess, we headed out into the crowded streets of Dublin where we were in search of the popular bars. When we arrived at one, Devan found her friends, so I went to go find mine just down the street. At EVERY SINGLE corner, there is a crew of security that makes people open their backpacks, and THAT is what annoyed me most about the day. They were checking for alcohol, and I was just trying to get through the day, not having to unlock my backpack unless absolutely necessary, but I was forced to open it every five minutes {and to their surprise, I never had alcohol}. We didn't make it to watch the parade which kind of bummed me out because so many of the locations were blocked by a tall fence that was covered in tarp making it impossible to see through. We wandered the streets, hitting up a ton of the bars, looking for the most fun atmosphere and eventually, Megan and I broke up to go back to the hostel to take a quick break {where Devan was asleep, along with a NEW roomie}, so we decided to take our break elsewhere: a Thai restaurant.
After we ate and sobered up, we headed back to to my room where Devan and the dude were still asleep so we took a thirty minute nap, because we were hoping of hitting up a few bars later in the night. To our surprise, we were woken up not long after we shut our eyes, to a FOURTH roomie, reeking of body oder and telling us how drunk he is and that he cant wait to go listen to some “hardcore Ke$ha.” It was then that I met my other roomie: a twenty year old Australian who has been backpacking in Europe for seven months {doesn’t talk to his parents and never attended college}. Based on what you know in regards to my roommates, you can say, I have dealt with it ALL!!
Megan ended up having to leave because one of our {actual} roomies was having a rough night after a long night of drinking, so Devan, the Australian, and I decided to see what the nightlife of St. Patrick’s Day looked like. To say the very least, it was people puking on the road, girls sitting on the curb crying, or people just being obnoxious. Not my type of crowd in any way, so after just walking around for about an hour, we decided to head back to the hostel, as Dev and I had a long day coming up.
After a quick night of sleep, Dev and I packed our stuff up, got ourselves a locker, got a Starbucks in order to get us through the morning, and then met up with the WSA group in order to get on a bus to Howth and then go to the Guinness Storehouse. Howth was a cute and quaint town, having a little street market at the time of our arrival, as well as a fish festival. Although it smelled super fishy it was nice being able to purchase some food at the lil market and then sitting along the water. After being in the town for an hour, we loaded up the buses once more and headed to Guinness. Because Dev and I had to leave for the airport within the hour, we weren't given much time to go through all five floors of the storehouse and truly learn how beer was made, but it was the atmosphere which was neat. The layout of the Storehouse was to look like a pint of beer, so one could stand in the middle and look straight up and see the top floor. The first floor was the gift shop, the next couple floors were the instructions and history of Guinness, the next floor was a restaurant, and the top floor was a panoramic view of the city with a huge bar.
In all, I would say Ireland is EXTREMELY beautiful; however, I am in no rush of heading out to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day again any time soon. Everybody was way too messed up, the bars were too packed {even children in strollers were in with their parents}, and the streets were covered in vomit by the end of the day. I would have to say that it is a bit overrated to go on the Irish holiday, but it is neat having the ability to say I was there {thanks to my parents!!}. Can’t wait for more adventures to come!!
xoxo v
