Our Dublin weekend started at 2:45AM on Friday. We had to fly out of the airport that is an hour south of Brussels so our taxi picked us up at 3:45AM. We got to the airport and checked in no problem. Our first RyanAir experience was great. I had heard horror stories about this airline but we had a nice flight. We got into Dublin by 9:00 and found our hostel. Abigail's hostel was amazing and on the corner of Westmoreland Street! They told us to leave our bags and to eat breakfast. We were exhausted from our early flight so we ate and rested for a little while. We also researched good places to eat in the city. Then we headed out to explore the city.
We've only missed one food item from the United States-Nature Valley granola bars. While walking we saw a bus drive by with a huge Nature Valley add on the side. Next, we were on a mission to find our favorite snack! We found them in the second grocery store and both bought three boxes. I'm sure they will last us the rest of the trip! Nice to have a little piece of home after a month away. Our friends from Auburn were meeting us at the hostel so we went back to meet them. The six of them are studying abroad in Italy. It was so fun to meet up with some Auburn girls in Ireland! As soon as they got in we made our way to the Guinness Storehouse. I read that the storehouse is Ireland's number one tourist attraction. It was the coolest building. I really enjoyed learning about the history of the beer, how it is made, and the building itself. I did not enjoy the beer. I am not a Guinness girl I guess! The bar at the top was all glass and we could see the entire city. It was totally worth the trip! After the storehouse we had dinner at a traditional Irish restaurant. I had Irish Stew with brown bread. We also went to the bar where P.S. I Love You was filmed. It was an intersting bar in a non touristy part of town. We ended up in the bar next door because it was less crowded and we all wanted to catch up and talk.
Saturday we started the day with a three hour walking tour of the city. Since my Irish knowledge was pretty limited, this was a great activity. Our tour guide taught us all about Dublin, maybe more than I needed to know! We did stop for a break on the tour and Anna and I had an Irish coffee. For lunch we went to the cutest place called Queen of Tarts. I had a chicken, cheese, and vegetable tart with a great salad. For dessert I had a chocolate pecan tart. So good and the place was adorable! We all wanted to see the countryside but with our limited time we didn't know how to make that possible. We chatted with a man at the hostel and he suggested a small fishing village. We rode the bus for about thirty minutes and then arrived in Houth. It was a sweet little town. We walked to the end of the pier and enjoyed seeing the mountains and the water. Exactly what you think about when you think about Ireland! We also saw a seal in the water. It was so cool! For dinner we went to a place called the Bloody Stream. We don't know why the restaurant had this horrible name because it was amazing. I had Irish Stew again....I hate to repeat things but it was just so good. I loved the stew at this place way more too. We also split the apple crumble for dessert. It was the most cozy restaurant. The perfect place for eight Auburn girls! After dinner Melissa, Lauren, Anna, and I went to the Temple Bar. It is a huge pub and was soooo crowded. We left and ended up in a pub across the street. Two guys were singing and playing guitars. It was so relaxing and fun. We all tried some Irish beer, not Guinness!
We said goodbye to the Auburn girls because we had an early flight to catch. We made it back to Brussels no problem. It was also nice to have a free afternoon. We went on a jog to the nearby park and caught up on some schoolwork we needed to do. Today we had our culture class for six hours. So long! But our teacher is so fascinating that it doesn't even bother me. For lunch a few of us went to a cute place called Made in Salad. We all had great salads and then had to stop for some chocolate of course. Favorite of the day-white chocolate filled with dark chocolate raspberry ganache. YUM! After class we stayed at the school to use the good internet connection for a little while. Then we stopped for fries on our way home. I watched the cook as he prepared them. I think I've figured our what makes them soooo good. They fry them not once....but twice! The perfect end to a great Belgian day!
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