The Girls from Vich Infect Dublin
Trip Start
Aug 28, 2007
1
6
10
Trip End
Ongoing
Dublin,
Ireland
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
During my research, I found some info on Dublin, Ireland. So I asked everyone and yep, decided to go there instead. If we couldn't be at the world's biggest beer festival, we would go to where they love to drink, Ireland. Seven us were off to Dublin, Kate, Chelsea, Stacie, Ashlee, Victoria, Katie and of course me. It's a little bit of a mission traveling with so many people, but its also a blast as well. Furthermore, this would be the first time we were in an English speaking country since we left North America, and that was pretty exciting for all of us
at the bar
. Our flight was on Thursday night, and it was a little bit of a mission to get there. First there was the 3 hour train ride to Paris. We just ate so much on that train ride, we scarfed down like a huge bag of peanut m &m's and everything else that we brought for the whole trip. Then the Metro to get to the place where the airport shuttle picks you up, then an hour long ride to the airport. Now, we flew with Ryanair, which is a discount/no frills type airline in Europe. And all I can say is you get what you pay for. The airport was so far outside of Paris and its quite small. So we had a few hours to wait in the airport which wasn't too bad. I paid 5 euro 80 for an English magazine, however it did have Mary Kate Olsen on the cover so, the price really didn't matter, plus it was in ENGLISH! Another feature of the discount airline is paying to put your bags underneath the plane, instead of carry-on. Since we are cheap and it cost like ten euros or so to put you bags under we opted for carry-on only, since we were only going to be gone for the weekend. Chelsea and Stacie kill me, seriously. These two girls show up with a couple bottles of wine, and a box of Sangria. Seriously, lol. You can't take that on a plane, they have the same restrictions as in the US. SO Security just loved us. We polished off the Sangria on the train ride, but the bottles of wine, just made security laugh. It was hilarious. We continued to drink at the airport. Luckily we got to sleep on the flight
Blarney
. Arriving in Dublin. SO EXCITING. We took a shuttle to downtown to find our hostel. This was all of our first hostel experiences. None of us really knew what to expect. We got there around 2am and our booking was just a such a mess! I don't really know what happened when I booked it, but it was literally the most complicated thing of my life. It took about an hour before we could even get to our room, because they had to figure everything out. We were one bed short, not quite sure how, and they over charged me! I was a little ticked off, but too tired to try and figure it out then. In the morning though, the manager was great, returned what they over charged me, and ended up upgrading us for our last night. It was awesome. And she wrote me a huge letter apologizing for the mess and inconvenience. Anyway, the night that we got there Ashlee, Chelsea and I were starving after the whole booking mess. The other girls went right to sleep but we wanted to go check out the scene. And there was actually a night life! Unlike in the Vich, where everything shuts down when the sun goes down. It was awesome. We ate at the Irish fast food place and then went home and passed out. But the food was soo good! I had a ranch chicken sandwich. I miss Ranch soo much. I can't even describe the taste it was just fabulous.
The next day we were off to explore the city. We had booked the Dublin bus which is a double decker bus that allows you to hop on hop off to explore the city
Bus tour
. We also got the Dublin Pass which cost around 30 euros and gave you entry to various sites around the city. The Dublin bus was such a great investment. The drivers were hilarious. We stopped around the various sites around the city. We went to see the Book of Kells which is the first edition of the four Gospels, Christ the King Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The churches there were really spectacular. Then we started to get into the good stuff. We first stopped off at the Guinness Brewery. It was pretty interesting to see how they make their beer. I was even chosen to start a new batch. Batch 1756 is label Rebecca Kiczma on their computer. So that was pretty neat. I started the whole brewery process. So the next time anyone enjoys a Guinness, it could be mine. We were also given a free samples. No dice for me. That was the worst thing! We then went to the Jameson Whiskey Factory. Which was also pretty cool, but by that time we were dead. While we were waiting for our tour, some of the girls passed out while sitting in some huge leather chairs. It was Victoria's birthday so we voted her to take the whiskey test. Kate also volunteered with her, since that girl just loves her whiskey. It was a great time. I tried whiskey and cran, it was fantastic. I usually just stick to my vodka and rum, but I could definitely drink that frequently. We went home and took a quick break, showered and got ready for Dracula's Maison. This was free with our pass so we went
Dublin
. The building that it was in was so bizzar. It has an athletic centre, with a pool, a club, an arcade and this haunted house. Now this was one of those cheesy haunted houses, like the ones in Niagara Falls, but with seven of us girls, and us being the only customers there, it was super scary. Kate and I held onto each other for dear life the entire time. Ashlee video taped it, and its soo funny. Kate and I screamed and jumped at everything. At one point she dropped her coat, and seriously considered leaving it. haha. In the end that corny thing was such a blast.Some of us were hungry, and others not so much. So we separated and I got to eat my fish and chips, which I was throughly disappointed with, but whatever. We ended up having some miscommunication and didn't meet back up. Katie, Victoria, Ashlee and I decided to go the Temple Bar area. It was absolutely insane. I thought that Hess Street in Hamilton was a sweet place to go drinking, until I saw this place. Literally a labyrinth of streets lined with bars and pubs and other watering holes. Some of the bars were 21 plus and not everyone we were with was 21 but there were so many other options that it didn't matter. The first pub that we went to looked pretty neat, but it ended up being a bust. However, we did grab a quick drink there. We tried to call the other girls but it didn't really work out. So we decided to find another bar that was more of our scene. As we were walking through the area there were some cool street performers
Kate and Vic at the airport
. The nightlife there was sweet. We walked around for a bit and found another bar that was more suited to us. They played some awesome music and the crowd was just better. I went up to get our first round at this bar and I ended up meeting this guy. He bought my drinks and we were chatting and found out that he was there with all his cop friends for one of the guys stags (bachelor party). So I grabbed the girls and we danced all night with these guys, they bought all of our drinks it was a blast.One of the guys bought me a Guinness shot, I really don't know what was in it, but let me tell you, SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE BEER. Then they wanted to go to "their bar". So we walked down the street to Coppers which was such a pumpin place. The line was crazy long and there was a 20 euro cover charge. Since we were with the cops we just waltzed right in and didn't have to pay. Then we got more free drinks for the rest of the night. It was just so much fun. We totally felt like celebrities. It was awesome. We finally made it home around 5 am. So worth it.The next day we were off to Cork and Blarney. We finally made it out around 12. Our bus wasn't ready to leave until 2 so we decided to grab some lunch. We went to this Begal Place and I had the best begal ever. It was a poppyseed begal with chicken Caesar and tomatoes on it. So good. When our bus was leaving I feel asleep right away. But I woke up pretty early on into the trip. The Irish country side is exactly what you would picture it to be
VIchy in Dublin!
. Lush green rolling hills. Small farms, sheep, cows and horses. It was neat. The ride was a bit long but worth it. When we made it to Cork it was the cutest little town. It was along the side of a hill and the houses were pretty cute. We made it to our hostel and decided to go out for dinner, and the best choice, fish and chips, again. I introduced the girls to malt vinegar, and they loved it, so thats pretty much what we had the whole trip. However, I don't really know what is wrong with Europe, but when you ask for condiments they give you the smallest amount ever. For a whole meal of fish and chips, only give you one packet of ketchup, I'll never understand. Anyway, guess what happens while we are sitting there finishing up? Another stag party walks in. The groom was dressed up as Batman. So, the girls dared me to go ask what they were doing for the night, and of course I did...sober. So I got chatting with them, found out where they were going and they invited us to come. We kept chatting and I was explaining the what a Jagger bomb was. They thought that it sounded sweet and that they better buy me one at the bar. Two of the guys said that I would only get a free drink if I could do push ups. So in the restaurant I sadly attempted push ups. And yes I failed miserably, so now I was responsible for buying them a drink. They went off the watch the rugby game. And we went to get ready.
We took a quick power nap before we went to get ready.
Enjoy beer at the airport
It was soo good. So we started to head out. The town was similar to Dublin in terms of nightlife, but definitely not as extreme, however, plenty of choice. The bar that Batman was going to was packed and had a huge line. So we scraped that idea, and went to another bar. The bar that we went to was pretty neat, however, it was 23 plus, and considering none of us were 23 it was weird that the guy let us in. The bar was pretty classy. It was definitely an older crowd, but the bartenders were amazing. They were making the most insane drinks I've ever seen, using flare. Flare is something bar tenders do, like tossing bottles around kind of like juggling, so it was pretty neat. So the bar wasn't that great and we had to get up early the next day we decided to go home early, 2am. The next morning we were off to Blarney to kiss the Blarney Stone and visit the castle. This place was amazing. It was too bad that we didn't have more time to explore the grounds. It was such a beautiful park. Legend says that if you kiss the Blarney Stone you will become eloquent and acquire the gift of the gab. You must make your way to up to the top of the castle, lay down and kiss the stone backwards. This castle was obviously hundreds of years old and the staircases that you have to walk up were so narrow, and winding that its quite the task to get up there. The stairs were also really steep. There was a seniors tour group there along with us, and I could not believe how these old people were keeping up with us
stac and me
. All of them made it to the top of the castle, got down on the ground kissed the stone, and made it all the way back down. I was in shock. I wish we would have had time to have a picnic at this park it was so gorgeous, but we had to catch our bus back to Dublin. The ride back to Dublin was just as pretty as the way there. We passed some castles on the route home though, which was amazing to see. Its just so amazing how there is so much history and that the castles and walls have lasted over the hundreds of years. We rechecked into our hostel and met back up with the other girls. Kate, Chelsea and Stacie sounded like they has the greatest night ever. They were upgraded to an 800 euro a night suite/apartment since there was nothing else available in the city. This place was spectacular, with such a great view. I wish that I could have stayed there for the night, but Cork was sweet too. So we all went out for dinner for our last night in the city. That night we had tickets to do a Haunted Bus Tour. This was really neat. The driver and the host were absolutely hilarious. We learned a great deal about Dracula, since its author was Irish. We also went to a haunted church and Dublin's 12 haunted steps. It was really neat. They also taught us how to snatch a body from a grave and heard some good ghost stories. All in all it was a great night.
Our flight was leaving early the next morning. We had to catch a bus at 3:45, so instead of sleeping for a short period of time, we decided to hit the town and not sleep. We went back to the Temple Bar area and met up with some people and actually went to The Temple Bar. It was so much fun. Stacie and I went back early to shower and pack, but staying out was a good idea? We were so dead by the time we got to the airport we all passed out.
Dublin was such a great place. The night life was the best, the food was pretty decent, we just had a blast.
