Ireland

And my European travels continue! This weekend, I went to Ireland. Let me tell you, this is something I have dreamed of my whole life. Ever since I was a little girl, I have imagined visiting Ireland and what it would be like. So early early Friday morning, Mary Grace and I boarded a plane for Dublin!

Standing by Liffey River

We arrived at only 7:30 am, local time. So dropped out things at the hostel, and then we immediately hit the town! First things first, we went to Queen of Tarts for breakfast. If you ever in Dublin, do not miss this! Not only was it charmingly decorated, but the food was incredible! I had the best scone I have ever eaten. Yum!

Raspberry tart!

Next we wandered around Dame Street for a while, up through the Temple Bar area, including a stop at the best bookstore! Then we headed back to the City Hall for a free walking tour. Dave was our tour guide, and he started off as a very entertaining guide. We heard a brief history of Ireland, as well as some fascinating stories about the places we visited. Our first stop was Dublin Castle, followed by an interesting wall, on up to Christ Church Cathedral, and then a break for lunch. Dave was getting a little too political on us, spouting a lot of anti-capitalistic ideas about the financial crisis that we really not what we wanted to hear, particularly on vacation from our internships where we talk a lot about the financial crisis in Europe! So we went with them to Trinity College, but then we split apart from them. We wandered around Trinity for a while and then headed to St. Patrick's. There is a beautiful park outside St. Patrick's that was fun to walk around in. And the inside of the cathedral is beautiful as well! Jonathan Swift is buried there, and it was interesting to see many fascinating stories and details written on plaques around the church.

This gate was built to hide the slums from British aristocrats visiting the British who were ruling Ireland at the time. It serves no purpose except to pretend that the slums don't exist.

After St. Patrick's we headed along the Liffey River to the O'Connell area. We stopped in at the famous Post Office where on Easter Monday, April 1916, the Irish rebels announced that Ireland was an independent republic. After wandering a little, we freshened up at our hostel and headed to O'Neill's for dinner! We split fish and chips, and it was delicious! Plus the atmosphere of this traditional Irish pub was fun. Then we wandered down to another pub where we heard there was free music and Irish dancing. We sat at the bar, ate dessert, and "split" a Guinness (I only could take about two sips). The music eventually started, and it was fun to hear people sing along. It was getting late, and we had been up since the wee hours of the morning, so we called it a night before the dancing started.

St. Patrick's well

You can find this "Door of Reconciliation" in St. Patrick's. Sons of two feuding families chased their way throughout the town, and one barricaded himself inside the church. The one outside finally said, "I am tired of this. Let's call the end of this feud and live in peace." The one inside didn't believe him, and so to prove himself, the one outside the door cut a hole large enough for him to stick his arm through to show he was serious and had no weapon. This is where the phrase, "chance your arm" comes from!

On Saturday, we got up, had breakfast, and then parted ways. I headed to County Kilkenny! The train ride was beautiful, and when I arrived to Kilkenny City, I hurried to meet my bus to Inistioge! That bus ride was perfect, winding through a number of towns and alongside a river. I departed at Inistioge, and the town was so beautiful! My family originally came from The Rower, which is 8 miles from Inistioge, too far by foot with no bus going there. I was very sad that I did not get to find my ancestor's graves or see the area where they actually lived. At the same time, Inistioge is beautiful, and it is the nearest town, so I'm sure my family spent time there as well! It was a perfect afternoon. I wandered around the town for a while, but I spend most of my time by the river, next to the Ten Arch bridge. There were a few cows and sheep, and the river trickled over some stones near where I was. I just enjoyed the day, had some much-needed time, and even got to sing a little!

Ten Arch Bridge in Inistioge!

Inistioge Town Square

Eventually, I headed back to Kilkenny City. This area reminded me of Bruges in some ways because it was a smaller medieval town with a similar feel. There is a castle and a huge park and a number of churches. St. John's Church in particular was neat to visit. I wandered around Kilkenny City for a while, and then I met my train back to Dublin. Mary Grace and I met up and headed to the O'Connell area. We grabbed a quick dinner and then just wandered around, taking in the sights. Finally we made our way to a pub with some more live music (but wasn't too rowdy - we were both tired from our days of travelling!). We sat at a table in the back and talked and laughed and listened to the band play good Irish standards like Mustang Sally and Rolling in the Deep. (They actually did play a few Irish standards, but it was funny to hear them sing unexpected songs too.) Eventually we returned to our hostel to go to bed, and the next morning we returned to Brussels!

Kilkenny Castle

Old church in Kilkenny

It was such a nice and relaxing weekend. Dublin was fun to visit, and I loved Inistioge and Kilkenny City! I really want to go back to Ireland to visit other areas like Donegal and Galway and The Rower. I'm already trying to talk Mama into going there in the next few years! We added it to the five year plan (you know, the one we made up just so we could add this trip to it!), so hopefully it will happen! Ireland, here's to you.

Last night in Dublin