Ireland: Day One

Friday, June 3^rd

Our group had to catch a train at 5:30 this morning for Ireland, so I planned to wake up around 4:45. However, I awoke instead to the shrill, high-pitched sound of the fire alarm going off at 3:00 this morning. We all rushed downstairs, realizing this wasn’t a drill. While we waited out in the freezing cold for the fire brigade to arrive, a man at the carronvale came outside and lit up his cigarette (which was probably the cause of the alarm going off in the first place)! The most hilarious thing about it was that Emma Poe, turned and looked at the man and said, “REALLY?” and then stomped her feet, turned her back to him, and folded her arms across her chest. Absolutely hysterical (and probably one of those moments where you just had to be there,lol).

After an early start, we walked down to the train station, caught a bus to the airport, and then headed out on our Ireland adventure! We walked from the bus stop and found our lovely hostel, Isaacs House.

Having never been to Dublin before, I wanted to see and explore as much as possible. Everyone in our group had different ideas of what they wanted to do, so we all split up and planned a meeting time later that afternoon. Brittni, Niki, and I found a free 3 hour walking tour around Dublin, so we headed to City Hall and met for the tour.

About to go on our tour around Dublin

*Dublin Castle
*Dublin Linn
*Viking remains
*City Hall
*Coach House
*Trinity College
*Ha’ Penny Bridge
*Dublin’s medieval walls
*Spire of Dublin
*Christ Church Cathedral
*Chester beauty library

Here are a few interesting facts I learned on the tour:*The Coach House was built 1883 to hide poverty from the queen. She was coming to visit and would be staying in the Dublin castle, but the view from her windows showed the slums, so it was built simply to cover it. This mentality can be seen in their government of, “If you can’t see the problem, it’s not there.”

Outside the Coach House

*St. Patrick was not from Ireland. He was from Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave, and after being freed, returned to Ireland many years later.

*No Viking helmet has ever been recovered with horns. A man simply created that image for a show to make them look scary, and it’s stuck ever since.

*Trinity college was built in 1592 and is considered the Harvard of Ireland.

The team met up after the tour, and after taking a rest in a nearby park (we had walked over 10 miles), we headed to a local pub for dinner. The food was delicious, and we all headed back to the hostel for a good night’s rest! A very fun, educational, and successful day in Dublin, Ireland!

Dinner at O'Donoghues

Some more pictures for your enjoyment =)

Lady Justice

Christ's Church Cathedral

Dublin's Spire