Loving the good Irish Craic.

Thursday night we took a flight from Rome to Glasgow, Scotland. Once we arrived we soon found that there were no seats available to sleep in. So from 1am to 7am we all slept on the tile floor under the vents that projected ice cold air. Why do you ask? Perhaps because we let boys plan this trip therefore they didn't think of showers/sleeping arrangements/place to leave bags during the day. Just being honest.
After a sleepless night and me having a "tiff" (Pavics will enjoy me using that word) or two with the people who planned this part of the trip, we took a train to the main city of Glasgow and had breakfast there. Glasgow is really pretty and reminds me of Harry Potter, especially the train station! We then took a train to Edinburgh which only took about 40 minutes. Once we were there we walked around the city and went to the Edinburgh Castle. Then we went to a pub for some grub and I got broccoli soup and beef ale pie (so good). We then walked around some more on the Royal Mile and saw a red telephone booth where we tried to fit as many people as we could. Since we only had 6 people we fit 5 and had Josh take the picture for us!

We then went to the Scotch and Whiskey experience where we met some old guys from Switzerland that came for the day just because they love whiskey so much. I soon found out that I don't share the same love of whiskey that they do. There they had a little ride that brought you around and taught us how to make whiskey, and then we went into a room and smelled the 4 main types of whiskey: 1 that smelt like coconut/vanilla ish - another that smelt like flowers and perfume - one that smelt like fruit - and then there was the scary one that smelt like a fireplace. I chose the fruity one. We then tried our whiskey and I decided I was not a fan. After that trip we decided to go climb King Arthur's Seat which is a ginormous mountain that overlooks the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. We got to the top, and took some great pictures and then made it down so we could get to the airport in time to arrive to Dublin.

While waiting on the plane on the runway to go to Dublin our plane's electricity went off and then came back on about a minute later and the pilot began speaking over the loudspeaker but he came in sounding really scary and kind of like an alien which freaked everyone out on the flight. About 15 minutes later the loudspeaker sounded a tad bit normal and they said we were using backup electricity and we took off. We were all pretty scared about that flight (hoping everything wouldn't turn off half way through the flight) but we were so tired from barely sleeping the night before that we passed out anyway.

Once we arrived in Dublin Mick was waiting at the gate for us and brought us to our own personal van driven by his friend John (we totally had the hook up). The van took us to our hostel and we all dropped our bags/cleaned up/ and then met a few friends from IES Rome at a pub called The Porter House which makes some of their own beer (they had strawberry beer! crazy and actually good!). It had about 4 floors and live music in the middle that everyone could see/hear.

The next morning we met up with Liz who brought us to her school Trinity in Dublin. She told us great stories about her "common" dinners that sound like something out of Harry Potter (yet again, I'm sensing a theme here) where she has to finish her meals as soon as the Fellows finish that part of their meal, the Scholars have to stop theirs as well and they get taken away immediately. She also told us about the window where a person can legally shoot a Catholic from (Queen Elizabeth started up this joint and was anti-Catholic for a while). After walking around her campus and running into a few of her friends, she took us to a place to eat lunch that was 3 stories above a "7-11ish store" that we would never be able to find ourselves. We had soup and sandwiches which were great and then we said our goodbyes to Liz.

Our large group of 9 then went to a free 3 hour tour hosted by Sandeman. (This company has people a few years older than me giving free tours around main cities in English. They make it relevant for us and funny so we stay interested. Our tour guide took us to Dublin Castle, City Hall, the Medieval Walls, Viking Remains, Christ Church Cathedral, Adam and Eve Church, Temple Bar area, and Trinity College. Once our tour was over we sprinted over to the Guinness Factory before it closed. We toured around there and enjoyed our pint up on top of the Galaxy Bar which was all glass and had a great view of Dublin, especially at sunset (which was when we were there). After that we all sprinted back to our hostel and changed to meet Mick for dinner.

Mick took us to the O'Neils and treated us to an Irish Dinner. I got potatoes with cabbage and chicken which was awesome! We picked the best seats there because there was a Norwegian singing group that was celebrating their competition by having a private party next to us. Every five or ten minutes they would break out into song and they were so talented - great entertainment during our meal! Mick then took us to The Cobblestone pub which was farther away from the busy city of Dublin. There we saw a real live "session" where people from the community who play instruments come whenever and play together. Mick actually made friends with two of the younger players who played the fiddle and the bagpipes (the one without having to blow air / instead it was under his arm which he pumped ... not sure what it is called). He then told the musicians to come with us to the next place that had a dance floor. Mick took us to "O'Shea's" and had the boys up on the stage in a few minutes. He told them which song to play and got us all up on our feet to dance a set dance! Everyone loved it!

After that we split our ways and then we went to the Temple Bar area before going back to the hostel. The next morning we woke up and Mick met us at the hostel with his friend Claire who drove us to the Boyne Valley. There we saw the Newgrange which was made 5000 years ago ... years before the Egyptian pyramids! This was where bodies were buried or ashes were laid. It also helped the farmers find the winter equinox since that was the only time the sun's rays would meet the right window and fill the area with light. After that trip we went to see some real celtic crosses which were beautiful. We saw many sheep/horses/cows along the way! On our way back to Dublin we stopped for a lunch/dinner near the water and then walked along the beach! (PS. we had AMAZING weather in Dublin! always sunny and warm - very unlike what it usually is!) After the beach we went back to Dublin and me and the girls went shopping for a little bit. Later we went back and changed and Mick met us at the hostel - then he took us to some posh place for our last drink and to say goodbyes. Liz and a friend came as well and we were so grateful and happy to see the both of them again. *Best tour guides / family a person could as for in Ireland!* Later that night we went back to the hostel and took an hour nap before going to the airport to come back to Rome. We were sad to go but we heard it was supposed to rain the next day which made us feel a bit better :).

Monday was all about sleeping in and relaxing. Today I had class and I'm ready for my Taco Tuesday and to go to Scholars and see if they have my new favorite drinks (that i found in Dublin) Bulmers Cider and Kopparberg Cider (Pear/ Mixed Berry / Apple).


Here are my updated pictures from Ireland and Scotland!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039444&id=1376760021&l=a9d81ce17e

Until then,
Ciao!
-Krista