November 24-29

Forget going to sleep on Friday November 24; Katie Tuten and I had to catch the train at 11:45p.m. in Bamberg to Frankfurt airport, where our flight would take us to our final destination of DUBLIN! Obviously we didn’t get much sleep Friday night with having to transfer on three different trains on the way to Frankfurt; but that’s not it! We also had to take a bus to the small Frankfurt airport, where our flight Ryan Air would be taking off.
**For future reference, Ryan Air should not be one’s first choice of airline. Although it is really cheap, it is inconvenient to get to, for it only flies out of small airports, and the crew speaks in the microphone throughout the entire flight. Therefore, even after we were seated on the plane, we couldn’t sleep. We finally arrive in Dublin Saturday morning around 10a.m. The first Irish resident that we met was our taxi driver. He had the strongest accent; I could barely understand him and had to look to Katie for help when he would ask me questions.
That day we mainly toured the city, which was beautiful! We took the city tour bus that brought us to 21 tourist sightseeing destinations. Around 6:30p.m., we went back to our hotel room and called it a night.

The next morning was an early start for us. We were out the door by 9:00a.m. and took a taxi to our hostel. Unfortunately, the two nights that we spent in the hostel we didn’t meet anybody. Everybody pretty much checked out Sunday or Monday. Anyway, Sunday was a successful tourist’s day for us.

Sunday’s Itinerary:

After eating the delicious breakfast that our hostile provided, consisting of toast and cereal, we attended church at the Trinity College. We also walked around the beautiful campus of Trinity College, and made a visit to the famous Book of Kells.
**The Book of Kells was written around the year 800 AD and is one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world. The Book of Kells Turning Darkness into Light explains the background of the story of the famous gospel manuscript.

We also visited the National Museum. There on display were the guitars of famous artists. Some of the more well known guitarists included: Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beach Boys, and U2. The main part of the museum contained Irish artifacts and clothes dating back from the 1600s.

After walking around for many hours, we decided to enjoy a Bailey from the famous Temple Bar, which was gorgeous! It was my first Bailey and definitely won't be my last. It was sooooo good!
We ended the night with the American movie ‘The Prestige.’ Fortunately for us, on our way to the movie we saw Dublin’s Christmas parade and lighting of the Christmas tree. The parade was very different from what I am use to seeing in America. The parade went along with the theme of a ‘snow-like-world,’ instead of the typical Santa Claus and elves.

Monday’s Itinerary:

Today we decided to see the bay area outside of Dublin. It was beautiful! I wish we could have stayed longer, but our tour bus was on a schedule. An interesting fact is the Irish swim in the ocean year round as long as the tide isn’t too high! Crazy! Besides touring the beach area, we visited Malahide castle. It wasn’t the most amazing castle, but Ireland was also not the richest of countries.

Being tourists, we had to try the fish and chips (fries), which were amazing!! And of course we went shopping.
Tuesday’s Itinerary:
This was our last day in Dublin…very sad! Strangely enough, we began this day with touring the Guinness Manufacturing plant. At the end of the tour we received a free pint of the Guinness beer, which wasn’t so bad for a person who doesn’t like beer so much. The rest of the day we went shopping for tourists’ stuff!

This was a very relaxing vacation for me, for it was country where I could understand EVERYTHING! Overall I LOVE Ireland. I hope someday to return!

PICTURES