:: Arrival, Dublin, Oscar Wilde, Dave::

Our journey began on I-89 heading towards Concord, New Hampshire. Aliya had arrived at my apartment a few days prior, we were all packed, and we were getting excited. Remember now, I had been working for three months straight to save up both money and days off for this trip. So, by the time we hit Boston, I WAS EXCITED.


The night before we were leaving, we were staying with our friend Kate, who lives just south of Boston. She has a super nice and way fancy house. Her father is a preacher so it was basically just like Footloose. Awesome!



The next morning we awoke and had delicious banana pancakes for breakfast!!! They were super yummy. And then we had goat cheese, walnut and maple syrup sandwiches for lunch! Classy? DUH!

Then, we needed to stop at Target for a few reasons. Here was the main reason: While we were on our drive to Boston, I realized that I had forgotten to pack all my shoes. Save for the wedding shoes and the shoes I was wearing (which i had not intended on bringing). So, I really thought and thought about it. The two pairs of shoes I had planned on bringing were my sneakers and my flip flops. And all I had with me were 3.5 inch heels and clogs.

So, we went to Target and after much debate, I ended up getting a new pair of sneakers and a new pair of flip flops. I put the sneakers on right away, since I figured it would be harder to really break those in. They are a little bit "mom", but they are grey and teal. Aliya and Kate thought that despite them being a bit "mom" they were really sensible. And, I'm really glad I had them. Even though, I think they gave me a really itchy foot rash. I won't go into that.

Then, we headed into Davis Square to get some ice cream! I ended up getting key lime pie frozen yogurt and it was DELISH. A very good choice. We got a call from Elizabeth saying that she and Joe were about to board their plane in New York. We were to meetin Dublin at 8am the next morning!!!

Then we said goodbye to Kate and Aliya and I drove to her friend Kathleen's house to leave her car there. I had met Kathleen on the road trip around New England that Aliya, Elizabeth and Kerianne had taken the previous Spring, so it was nice to see her again. And she was kind enough to drive us to the airport.

And then we were at the airport!! We both got through security. It was pretty lame though, the scanner thing didn't even notice that Aliya had scissors in her carry-on, but they made her dump out her bottle of water.


That was our plane!!! We ended up talking to a very nice lady in the airport who was also going to Ireland to visit her parents, who lived there. We told her we were going because our friend from college was getting married and she responded with, "Are you going to wear hats?" We said no. She said that everyone wears hats at Irish weddings, and we did indeed find that to be half true. Instead of hats, the women wore very elaborate and gorgeous head pieces.

Us in the airport!! Aliya, Me, Liam and Skye (Aliya's shark earrings).


FIRST PICTURE OF IRELAND!!!!!



WELCOME ONE! WELCOME ALL!!!!!



Then we went through customs and I had all my problems with the officer who yelled at me telling me that I didn't bring enough money to give back to the Irish economy. For a complete recollection, please refer to this update I did while in Ireland. (i think it's at the bottom)

And then we went to the baggage claim, only to find that the strap to my duffle bag had been broken off. Thank you, Ireland.

After security and customs, we were welcomed by Joe and Elizabeth who had been waiting there for like, 2.5 hours. It was a very exciting reunion.

Then, Aliya and I ate some breakfast to try and wake us up. It helped a little. It also helped being excited and seeing our friends.

After that, we headed outside to find the bus that would take us to the city centre.


Hooray for tired friends!!! At this point, it was probably around 9am or so, and we had already been awake for about 24 hours. Plus five hours. Or something. I still don't understand what jet lag is.

WHOA! Look out for those hott Americans in Dublin!!!! They haven't slept, but man, do they look hott. This was right outside the currency exchange place. That was depressing. "Here! I'll give you allllll this money and then don't give me back as much!! Ok thanks!!"



Dublin.

Dublin, and a man eating a sandwich.



Dublin Castle! And lots of European cars. Joe was very excited.


It was weird, because you're standing right in the center of the city, and then you walk through this gate, and you're here. It's like, where'd the city go?



You do funny things when you're overtired. Like....pole dancing?


And then we found this fountain.


Aliya took a nap. This was basically the theme of the day. Everytime we sat somewhere, we would try and take a nap. This happened in cafes, Trinity College, and library exhibits.


These are still at Dublin Castle.



We weren't sure what this symbol meant, but it was very cool looking. Those pathways were just tiny things, even up close. They were like, one foot wide. Not like, 12 inches, but like, the thing at the bottom of your leg.


Taken from the roof of the library at Dublin Castle.

We spent most of the day walking around to keep ourselves awake. We tried to stay awake as long as possible. We headed back to the hostel in the late afternoonish, and we were in bed by 7:30, 8pm. And we definitely slept for about 12 hours.

Got up and were now ready for our first REAL day in Ireland!!!


We saw this great bridge! Which, is featured very quickly at the beginning of the film, My Left Foot.


We were walking and then stumbled upon this church, St. Audeon's. The church had really beautiful gardens.



The Irish elections were going on while we were there, so if you take a look at that lamp post, you'll see large posters with faces on them. Yeah, those were some of the candidates. There were a million of them!!! Allll over Ireland! We liked De Rossa.




Blurry? Maybe. Hott? Definitely.


Inside the church.


Outside the church!




So, the whole reason we were walking in that direction was to get to the Kilmainham Gaol, which was on the very western part of the city. This gaol was pretty old and is famous because it held and executed the prisoners of the 1916 Easter Rebellion. We got to see all their jail cells.


Long row of cells.


And this was the best. It was like, the center of the gaol, almost. There were these huge vents in the floor that were right above the kitchen, and in the winter they would open the vents and the steam would rise and heat the upper floors. I thought this was totes brillz.



Aliya and I in a cell.


Our tour guide listed off a bunch of movies that had been filmed there. The ones I remember were, Michael Collins, The Tudors (on...HBO?), and the original Italian Job. Sometimes they have concerts in this room because the acoustics are so good. I thought that was sweet.


Outside of the gaol.


Memorial.

We let the gaol and walked alllll around the city to find someplace to eat. We ended up at the Cinnamon Cafe for sandwiches and coffee.

Then, we walked some more. We used the bathrooms at the Jameson factory. They were really nice. There were swanky looking men sitting in the factory's bar and they were doing some sort of whisky tasting.


Then we passed this place. They might've had bananas....but we weren't too sure....

We continued onto the Dublin Writer's Museum. We thought we were going to tour, but then got there and opted for no. Most of the things they would have been talking about, we hadn't read. So, we browses the book shop instead, which was good.

Then, we stumbled upon this garden, which I had actually wanted to see,


The Garden of Remembrance. Honoring all those who gave their lives for Irish freedom.



There was this really haunting statue in the back of the garden. It's referencing the story of the Children of Lir, whose wicked stepmother turned them into swans for 900 years. Then, at the end of 900 years, they were reborn into human again. They were now 900 years old, so they died, but were then able to live peacefully in Heaven with their parents.

I think the statue is at the end of the 900 years when they are being reborn.






The next day was a day full of Oscar Wilde.

First, OSCAR WILDE!!!!! Look at him!!!! So gorgeous. Such a perfect statue.




There were these marble posts across from the Oscar statue and they were covered with quotes of his. "You have set yourself to music."


"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth."


Oh, I was so in love.



That girl was talking too long. She might've thought that Oscar was her boyfriend, but no, he was mine.

And, if you're wondering where I got those hott earrings....um, I made them!


"Lying - the telling of beautiful, useless things is the proper aim of art."

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."


Oh, Oscar.




Okay. This picture needs some explanation. First, I'll give you some names. From L to R: Joe, Elizabeth, Aliya, Will, Dave, Julie. We met up with Will and Dave the previous night at our first trad sesh (session of traditional irish music). This great bar called, The Palace Bar. In the Temple Bar part of town. Anyways, Will and Dave were both Hampshire students. Dave graduated a few years ago, and Will just graduated with Aliya, Elizabeth and Joe. We knew that they were going to be in Dublin at the same time as us, and then we seriously just happened to run into them at the bar.

So, basically, Dave was a super hottie. He had this great laugh and I think he was wearing that sweater everytime I saw him. We were all in love with Dave, and we turned his name into an adjective. For example, if we were referring to something totally awesome or better than anything else, we would say, "That's so Dave." I think it sounds pretty good. And we used it pretty steadily throughout the whole trip. I'll use it a bit in the rest of these entries.

THEN, we went to visit Oscar's house.


He lived there from 1855 - 1878.


His father really makes you feel lazy, am I right?




They didn't let me in. :( It was still super exciting to be AT HIS HOUSE!!!!


Then, we were walking through Trinity College and we walked past this huge garage structure that was like tiny mirrors. Like a warehouse made of mirrors. Aliya immediately dropped all her stuff and yelled,

ALIYA: Photoshoot!!

and that is what happened.







HOTTT!!

One thing we noticed on our second or so day in Ireland was that there was pregnant women everywhere. So many, that Aliya and I started keeping a tally. We ended with 29. But, whilst in a book shop one day, we noticed this strange section of books....it was like, pregnancy romance books. There were so many! It was very odd.

Aliya and I lined them up in the store. We knew you wouldn't believe us!!!


This was our favorite, 'Temporary Doctor, Surprise Father."


AANNDD...that concludes our Dublin adventures!!!! Keep reading. Save the rest for later. Whatever you do, please enjoy the rest of the trip!!!