16 Decembre 2009 (Day 107)
Today I left for Ireland! I woke up, got ready, and made sure that I turned off my lights this time. I was really nervous about going by myself, but I made it all right. On the flight I met a cute two year old named Matthew he speaks French and Irish English. He kept on turning to me, making faces or saying, “Boo!” By the end of the flight he wanted me to hold him and not his mom. I’m sure his mother didn’t mind too much that I held him while she got everything together. He was quite attached to me, so it was sad to see him go.
I made it through customs without a problem and I was in Dublin! I took the 16A bus to my awesomely fabulous Avalon House Hostel in the heart of Dublin. This cute little old lady was crossing the street in front of our double decker bus and we totally ALMOST hit her. It was really close. She was just totally oblivious to the bus, and bless the driver’s heart, he didn’t even honk at her. But we on the top were worried that we might have hit her! I was greeted by a long haired Napoleon Dynamite-esque Frenchie who really liked me because he could speak French to me. He even gave me two suckers when I checked in (he didn’t give the other girls anything). It only cost 8 euros to stay there for the night and it was really nice! I met two non-denominal Christian girls from England (Joanna) and Washington who had met in Hawaii doing missionary work for their church. They were both really nice and I went around with them. They got soup and The Bald Barrista, the café in front of the hostel and I got some hot cocoa. Afterwards we walked around to St. Patrick’s cathedral, which has been added onto since the 11th century and where Jonathon Swift gave sermons. They still have his pew. I also went and saw Trinity College and saw a glimpse of Christ’s Church, but it was quite dark by the time we got out site seeing. We still went down one of the main streets though and went in to some of the shops to look around. I found some pretty awesome and awful things, including 30 euro gloves that were made of nothing special.
I asked the awesome French receptionist where to go for dinner and he recommended a great place that we went to, The Sheeben Chic. It was this Irish Pub/restaurant that has live music every night and a really cool feel. All the chairs are miss-matched and the décor was really neat. They had paintings on the ceiling, mirrors, and really cool mini antique chandeliers. I got the traditional Irish Stew with potatoes, carrots, barley, and lamb. It was served on a deep plate without much broth, but it was really good. The potatoes were divine! Ireland really does have great potatoes. I decided to splurge and get dessert so I tried the Pannacotta. It was stewed rhubarb with a really nice crème brulee-esque crème/pudding. It was pretty nice, though it left an odd after-feel in my mouth. One of our waiters was really attractive, so he got nicknamed the ‘husband’ he bought Joanna a drink after they kind of forgot about her hamburger.
The two girlies were pooped after dinner so we went back to the hostel. On the way back we stopped in a grocery store and Joanna the Brit told us about all the different candies. I got a *****TRIFLE, like they talk about in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It is rose flavored gumminess coated in chocolate. It was alright, but it is weird tasting things that are rose flavored. I got some gum (it is a lot cheaper in Ireland) and a candy bar that Joanna recommended. We went back to the hostel and I got my bag out of my locker and went to ask for something and my French friend was there. He was playing the guitar and we talked about that for a little bit and then he let me play (after he gave me more candy, twice). I played the one song I still do remember, Viva La Vida. He liked it so much he had me teach it to him. Then he played “Nantes” by Beiruit and taught me how to play it on the guitar and then had me play it with the song blasting around midnight. He told me to go back where I got dinner to listen to his friends play in an awesome band, but by the time I got there they had finished playing so I just went back and went to bed. I didn’t sleep very well because there were people outside shouting and being noisy and they didn’t stop until about 4am and I woke up at 7am.
The Avalon Hostel is really cool. For the 14-bunk mixed sex spacious rooms it is only 10 euros a night. It comes with bedding, a free breakfast, free Irish dancing lessons Tuesday and Thursday nights, free wi-fi, computer access, lockers for rent (1 euro a day), a kitchen, instruments you can borrow to play, you can get a free nights stay if you perform at the café, free showers, and a stellar atmosphere. I really wanted to hang out more at the hostel. It was also awesomely eco-friendly. They solar-panel heat the water, recycle, and do a whole bunch of other things to be eco-awesome. The people in Dublin are super nice. I have had multiple people stop and ask me where I am trying to get to and then they give directions. I love their accents!
