Ireland: The Land of Flowers and Redheads

On May 26th Liz and I landed in Ireland, our last country to visit before heading back to Denmark and finally the US. Now we landed in Dublin around 12:30am and booked it to catch a bus into the city. From just the short walk to our hostel, we could tell we liked Ireland already. People were just getting out from the bars and looked like they were having a blast.

Welcome to Ireland

The hostel we stayed at was a 24 mixed dorm, the largest room we have stayed in. It wasn’t too bad and we tried not to wake people as we got ready for bed. Liz’s stupid shamwow towel was hanging over the bunk bed rail and that thing smelt horrible. Seriously, don’t buy one of those.

May 27th
The next morning we showered and got ready to head out. We had free breakfast at the hostel where we meet a redheaded Irish guy with a very thick accent. It was hard to understand him but it was apparent that Irish people were very friendly and nice. And from this morning on I should have counted all the red heads we saw. I mean they were everywhere!

The Luas

From there we hopped on their public transit system called the Luas to the Dublin central train station where we bought student rate tickets to Cork, Ireland. It was about a 3-hour train ride through gorgeous and rolling green hills. Once in Cork we found our hostel that was literally right across the street from the Cork train station: Aaran’s Hostel. 

Well this hostel was more of a converted home. So we walked right in and no one was there. So after a confused couple of minutes Liz and I dropped of our bags in the living room, found a map, signed our names on the list and headed out to explore. From our research in booking this hostel we knew we weren’t to far from the city center. So we decided to head left out of the hostel. We kept walking and saw nothing but colorful houses and flowers as we walked along the river. Soon we started seeing industrial buildings. Well we were walking out of Cork, whoops. After figuring this out we turned around and headed back to the hostel to hopefully check in for real this time. 

That totally looks like a city, right?

Back at the hostel it turned out the lady left to grab a snack at the train station and the door wasn’t supposed to be unlocked. Once our bags were in our room we headed back out to explore again. This time we turned right out of the hostel with free walking tour maps that our oh so friendly hostel owner gave us. As we were walking into the city, another guy named Ryan staying at the same hostel started talking to us and decided to come explore with us. Ryan dropped his job as a substitute teacher to travel northern Europe as he was a history buff. He was hoping to eventually find a job and travel for 9 months in Europe, crazy.

Cork, Ireland

Next was a typical Leslee moment. As we were walking we passed an elderly Irish man as it was starting to rain. He turned to me and said something that I of course couldn’t understand. After asking him to repeat it 2 more times I just said “Sorry I only speak English” and smiled and kept on walking. A couple of hours later Liz so kindly informed me that he was saying “Trying to kept out of the rain?” Man did I feel brilliant then. So lesson learned, the Irish are all speaking English NOT Gaelic. 

On our self guided tour we say many gorgeous churches, buildings, statues, squares, arches, and bridges. Oh and Carlsberg advertisements on almost every restaurant, it was like we were back in Denmark. Carlsberg sponsors the Irish soccer team. Now it was dinnertime and we wanted something cheap, good, and Irish. We stumbled upon the The Fish Wife where we had yummy fish and chips for a student price! 

Yumm

Next on the stop was a liquor store. My cousin Dana had studied abroad in Cork and gave us a bunch of recommendations and one was to try the Bulmers cider. So we picked up one of each flavor and split it between the three of us while watching TV and visiting with the other people at the hostel.

Rum and Coke in a can? That's a first.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Now this hostel was packed with Minnesotans. Weird. What was even weirder was that they were all flippin Tommies. I mean my whole room was filled with Tommies except for like 3 people. Anyways, we showered and headed to bed as the next day was our last in Cork.

May 28th
Early next morning we jumped on a bus and headed to the Blarney Castle. It was a little rainy but it was so green with many pretty flowers. For those of yall who aren’t familiar with the Blarney Castle you are supposed to kiss the Blarney stone to have eloquent speaking endowed upon you. The stone is on the roof and you have to lean over the edge to kiss it. Before we went to the stone we walked into the dungeons, which was a tiny tunnel that used to hold the water supply. Next we decide to head to the stone before it got too busy (even though the line was long already). Waiting in line you got to see the rooms and informational signs. Once on top it was a gorgeous view of the surrounding area that was of course pure green. So when kissing the stone a worker holds you and if you do fall there is a cage below to catch you, but I doubt that happens. You really have to lean your head back to kiss the stone and I think I missed it by half an inch but I was getting nervous and didn’t want to hold up the line. Liz thinks she also missed it, but hey we got the experience! Well one of the first things I said after kissing the stone was “I feel all eloquent and shit”. So I’m not sure it exactly worked for me, ha. 

Whoops Ireland

Next we went into the adjacent poison gardens where they had Harry Potter plants such as Mandrake and Wolfsbane. They also had Marijuana but there was a sign underneath it saying the police seized it and they hoped to have it back soon. We got a good laugh out of that. Next was the Wishing Steps where there were more flowers (sorry Liz) and a myth that if you walked up and down these stairs, backwards, with your eyes closed while thinking of a wish it would be granted in a year. After that we started heading out but first stopped to snack on some “chips” we bought in Cork the day before. Well it turns out they were more of a sweet cereal and that we were at an Ethiopian grocery store, so no wonder we couldn’t find normal food. 

Now Mahoney is an Irish last name and in the Blarney gift shop that were lots of O’Mahoney family crest information and things. Anyways we spent just over half a day at Blarney before heading back to Cork.

In Cork we headed to the gorgeous English Market to wonder around and eat. They had lots of sausages places where Liz got a great deal on a meal. I headed to O’Brians, I think it’s like a bagel sandwich chain, still yummy.

The English Market

Our next destination was the Shandon Church, one of my all time favorite experiences in Ireland. First off this church has a golden salmon on top of it’s steeple representing the fishing River Lee. At the church you can pay to walk up and see a view of hilly Cork AND ring the bells! Liz and I spent a good half hour ringing the bells. It is set up real cool with the bell ropes labeled 1-8 and you pull the corresponding ropes to play a song. And pulling those ropes isn’t the easiest thing, you gotta use some muscle. The songs like Kumbaya, When the Saints Go Marching In, etc are located in a book and labeled with number 1-8. I’m sure the neighbors get real annoyed with the constant bell ringing. 

So much fun!

After wondering past a graveyard (Liz), another church, and some colorful houses, we headed back into the center of the city. We then worked our way to the gorgeous and impressive St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral. While we didn’t pay to go in we snuck a look inside to see the pretty stained glass windows. Next we headed back to the hostel to pick up our bags and catch a train to Dublin. 

Liz loves these "chips"

Once in Dublin we checked into our hostel (Abigail’s Hostel) and dropped our bags off before heading to the Temple Bar area for food and entertainment. After eating at some grocery store chain we grabbed some cheap ice cream and sat outside of the Temple Bar and listened to some awesome Irish music until around midnight when he finished up. This area was so lively and seemed like a bunch of fun with live music! 

Dublin at night. So pretty.

May 29th
The next morning we enjoyed free breakfast before trying to explore Dublin. We knew that we wanted to do the Guinness or Jameson tour but we couldn’t decide. So first we headed to the Trinity College where we didn’t know what to look at. So we left and headed to find the Dublin castle and some churches. But first we needed some snacks and I decided to buy and return some 2 Euro headphones that didn’t work. Lesson learned again. 

Trinity College... idk what this is.

Anyways we thought we snuck into the castle through the coffee shop, but it turns out that part was free which was just a garden and small walking path. Well we were too cheap to see the rest and went to find some church, but at this point in our travel we were burnt out on gorgeous churches and walking around aimlessly. 

Don't know what the path is for either...

After deciding on the Guinness Brewery after taking into account recommendations from the hostel workers, we headed there. A great thing about that the Irish is that everyone is so friendly. If we were standing on a corner looking at the map, often times an elderly man would point out the right direction for us. This happened multiple times and it just made me fall in love with Ireland more and more.

The Guinness Brewery was very impressive. Sorry Carlsberg. The Brewery was huge, gorgeous, and informative in a fun way! Part of the brewery was shaped as a giant pint! Arthur Guinness who started making the dark Guinness beer signed a 9,000 year lease to keep making this stuff. So it isn’t going no where. The brewery had waterfalls, movies, quiz’s, and even an area to see if any of your family members worked for Guinness. One of my favorite parts was learning how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. It involved filling the glass half way and letting it sit until it was dark and then topping it off with a layer of foam to keep the flavor in. We even got certificates when we finished! 

Well this brewery tour includes one pint of beer. Well before we even got started on the tour a young guy gave us his drink ticket… I guess we look like college students. We also got free samples of beer and got to drink the pint we poured. On the top floor (Sky Lounge) overlooking the city of Dublin we used our last drink ticket and the receipt stub to get more beer. The guy wasn’t even checking the tickets. So instead of 1 beer included we got over 2, ha. And these are strong dark beers. The guy who gave us our last one even drew cloverleaves in the foam! I actually enjoyed the beer, it had a weird after taste at first but now I’m a big fan. 

The best brewery I've been to.

Well after leaving we still had part of the afternoon left so we decided to hit the Jameson Distillery. We made it in time to sign up for the last whiskey tour at 6pm. So we had some time to kill and snack since we didn’t get lunch. Now the tour wasn’t nearly as impressive as Guinness because it was a fast guided tour without much interaction. But hey we learned some cool things. Fun fact number one is that the barrels they use to age the whiskey are from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain where Liz and I stayed with Sean just a week ago. Funny how everything connects. They say that the whisky that leaks goes to heaven and makes happy angels and all the extra whisky goes to cows and makes happy cows. Also the same company that owns Jameson also owns Absolut Vodka. 

Whisky Time

At the end of the tour we all got a whisky drink. I went exotic and had it with cranberry while Liz had the classic mixture with a splash of water. Liz also volunteered and was selected to do a blind whisky tasting test of Irish, American, and Scottish whisky. I also tasted them and have to agree that the triple distilled Jameson whisky beat the rest. From this experience I learned that I am not the biggest whisky fan and I think Liz could say the same.

Well Liz and I were felling good after the Guinness and Jameson tour and headed back to the hostel for a quick nap. For once no one was in the room, but I mean we were only sharing the room with one other Asian guy. But when we woke up, two punk rocker type of guys from Australia were moving in. They had traveled all around the US. They had Hawaii towels and told us ridicules stories about partying with frat guys on the East Coast.

Well our last adventure was actually going into the Temple Bar. Liz got a beer, Guinness of course and we enjoyed listening to some more amazing live music. I’m a sucker for the traditional Irish songs. 

And their flowers were amazing!

May 30th
The next morning we headed to the airport for our final day and a half in Copenhagen before heading home.

Ireland was amazing. I would love to go back and see the west coast. Some things I noticed about the Irish and Ireland was that there are lots of red heads and churches, they wear a lot of green and blue, the door handles are in the middle of the door, plenty of flowers, the people are sunburnt, and the country is just colorful and the people friendly. No complaints.