Dublin

I finally went! I have been wanting to go to Ireland for a long time. For the same reasons everyone else wants to go: the supernaturally green landscape, the history, the nightlife, and the irish accent. Although unlike the rest of America, I did not go to Ireland to rediscover my heritage. I cannot, for the life of me, understand how about 60% of the US has Irish in them. After the potato famine, I guess the only thing they could do to pass the time that was free was have babies, and lots of them. And you could tell in Dublin. Many tourist shops offered plaques with your Irish last name, and then they would include the history of your tribe, or your clan, or whatever you call it. I thought about making up an Irish name... how about Eileen O'Donnell in honor of my favorite song.

Dublin is surprising a pretty city. When people come to Dublin, they don't really say, "Oh my Gosh, Dublin is just a breathtaking city!". They actually say, "Oh my Gosh, the beer in Temple Bar is 9 euros! But I don't really remember paying, so I guess it doesn't matter...." Temple Bar is everything you expect it to be: expensive, touristy, crowded, strange, and beyond all else fun. I almost expected for myself to hate it, because that seems to be the general trend for me (I know, I know, sue me I don't like the Eiffel Tower). But you can really get in the mood! Everyone around you is having fun, so you have fun. The best part is the live music. After bar hopping to about 7 different bars, we finally settled on one that we really liked the music. We were once again the only girls in the bar. What is it with these ratios in the UK? But I soon realized that all the men standing around us had smiling, rosy faces, all were drinking heavily, wearing strange clothes, blonde hair, and blue eyes, and were singing badly. Oh God, my people followed me to Dublin. I think about 70% of that bar was Dutch. And the fun part was they thought we couldn't understand them. Hehe. Apparently I smell good. Regardless of the lack of Irish company, we still had the time of our lives.

The next day we went to Trinity College, which is one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen. But no fair, because I'm pretty sure they spray-paint their grass green. The Book of Kells was there, but I didn't get to go in and see it because it cost 7 euros, and I was the only one in the group who had heard of it, and I didn't want to drag them all in there and make them pay. So I consoled myself with going to Dublin Castle. But once again, traveling on a student budget bites the big one. So eating won out over touring inside the castle. Oh well, it was a good mashed potato.