so, onward to dublin. which is were the next leg of my trip took place. you're all probably wondering how i got to dublin, right? well, the logical way would be to fly directly out of amsterdam and into dublin. but that isn't quite how i roll. seeing as i booked the second leg of my vacation before the first part, i had a flight out of manchester saturday morning preceding a flight out of amsterdam friday evening. well, finding a cheap, timely flight out of amsterdam was difficult. so i decided to fly in to gatwick (london) and well, try to train it up towards manchester for my early am flight to dublin. not so difficult, right? well, i like to make things complicated. after a train into london, i tubed it towards my starting point for the cross country train up to manchester. forgetting to re-set my clock for GMT from amsterdam time forced me to have a lot more time on my hands than i thought i had. the train station (euston) lacked proper seating, so sit on the floor is what i did to pass the time. being quite lazy, i passed on reading my book due to the fact that i would have to unpack my over-packed ruksack to get to it. there was an interesting sight to be had at the station, though, that provided ample entertainment. three young asian girls were practicing some sort of choreographed dance in the middle of the train station. it was quite interesting to see, because i couldn't quite hear the music they were dancing to, which they had playing from their iPhone (or iPod touch). but this lasted, seriously, over an hour. i really don't think there was any purpose to this other than pleasure on their part, but it did give something to do. it was better than staring at the dirty floor that i was sitting on. also, with my soundtrack including bon iver and beriut, it became quite hilarious.
well, after that, i got on the train and proceeded with my two hour train ride to manchester airport. i did pass through york on my way, which made me quite sad i was unable to stop any longer than two minutes. this just reinforced the fact that i finally feel at home in that great, old city. when i got to the manchester airport and into an elevator, someone tapped me on the shoulder with a proclamation of "tj!" well, not thinking i would run into anyone i knew at 2:30am in the manchester airport, i was quite stunned to turn around and see rachel, a irish friend from york. she was on her way home towards belfast and her plane left around the same time that mine did: 8am. this layover just got a bit better. i had someone to sit and pass the time with. so much better than trying to keep myself entertained for six hours. we walked the airport for a while, ensuring that we both knew where we had to go to get on our flights and then found a nice little spot (albeit cold) to sit and chat and wait for time to pass. rachel is a very nice and interesting person, and we had a great time sitting and just talking to keep each other from going insane with boredom.
then, the time finally came: time to queue for ryan air. if you aren't familiar with ryan air, i'll explain: they are a low-budget airline that flies throughout europe. very low budget. everything costs extra and there are no assigned seats; first come, first served. it is definitely one of those "hurry up and wait" sort of experiences. once i got past check-in and security, i was able to sit and relax for a bit. i was quite hungry and, well, i hadn't slept in oh - 24 hours at that point. all seemed lost when i noticed a restaurant deal: £5 for a pint and a breakfast sandwich. heaven. the pint was carling, but the sandwich was three bangers. spot on. that is just what i needed for a little energy just to get on the airplane and then pass out immediately from the jolt of alcohol. the flight only really takes like 40mins, but it was a rainy day in manchester (surprise) so we did sit for a little bit on the runway. falling asleep and waking up landing in dublin was like heaven. i got off the airplane, through customs and immigration, and onto a bus towards the temple bar area. and, then, i finally felt alive: the lack of sleep worn off by the sensation of early morning dublin on a beautiful day.
^ first pic in dublin of the liffey (taken on the ha'penny bridge).
well, for the first leg of being in dublin, i would be by myself. erin (as you know, a friend from hamline studying in york) was going to be arriving in dublin later in the afternoon. so the morning was mine to waste and enjoy. i dropped my bags off at the hostel (oliver st. john gogarty) and aimed to wander around this fair city, map in hand (i wasn't going to have paris 2.0). i first stopped off around trinity college and just enjoyed the place fully. that is such a beautiful campus, probably the coolest looking collegiate campus i have ever seen (granted i haven't seen that many, but still).
^ bell tower in trinity college (if you walk under it and the bell dings, you're a virgin).
^ o'connell monument (on o'connell street) - to daniel o'connell, 19th century nationalist leader.
after trinity college, i did a little more wandering around the temple bar, trying to find a good pub to sit at and watch the biggest football match of the day, chelsea v. manchester united. this was basically it. for all the marbles (as kg would say). i found my way back to oliver st. john gogarty (they have a bar as well w/ sky sports) and found a nice little table to watch the match. here i also had my first guinness in dublin. let's just say there ain't nothing like the real thing, baby. seriously. liquid gold. i must say i helped myself to two or three of these delicious concoctions (my liquid lunch) and watched chelsea destroy man u. (it was a good match, even though the ref did have a few bad calls on both ends). i then wandered back to the hostel, checked in, and showered like i had never showered before (ha, almost). erin then arrived in dublin and i met up with her and we wandered around dublin - looking for a place to eat. now, things in dublin (especially the temple bar) are quite expensive. basically €10 a meal and €5 a pint. now this isn't terrible, but when you consider the prices back in york are closer to £2 a pint and £6 a plate, you feel a bit gouged (see gouger, louie the). after a great dinner, erin and i found probably the second or third greatest bar east of the mississippi - the auld dubliner. we went in around 5pm (mind you a saturday) and it was packed with drunken irishmen (and irishwomen). there was an acoustic act named bryan boyd (i think) playing at the time and everyone was singing every word to every cover song he played as if they actually knew the words (i heard a lot of mumbled yelling, but when in ireland...). the atmosphere was amazing. erin and i hung out here for the majority of the time and eventually called it a night. pj was coming in early the next day and i needed to be up and at 'em, ready to conquer dublin.
fast forward to sunday morning (easter sunday, mind you) and pj arrives. i met him outside the ha'penny bridge, and let me tell you, it was amazing to see a familiar face again, especially when it was pj's. damn, i've missed that kid. anyways, we dropped pj's stuff off at the hostel and began our wandering around dublin. this constituted with an ever important early morning guinness. i was just making sure they still tasted as good as the day before, honest.
^ let me tell you a story about a bridge...
so pj and i did some more wandering of dublin, checking out some pretty neat sights and all, then we managed to go on the free tour of dublin put on by neweurope. now, let me just tell you, this was awesome: because it was free as well as actually interesting. neweurope does a great job of finding motivated people to give you an interesting tour.
^ our infamous tour group
now the tour takes about three hours (with a little break in the middle) and walks basically all of the neat places in the immediate area of dublin. we saw some former castles, some cheeky u2 historical locations, and learned a lot about the history of dublin itself. i could go on forever, but i wouldn't want to spoil it when you go. honest.
^ a dublin version of justice (notice no blindfold, uneven scales, and drawn sword).
^ rory gallagher corner (put there by the edge of u2).
^ ha'penny bridge.
^ temple bar (no it's not a bar, well, it is, but the area came first, not the actual bar).
after the tour, peej and i did some more exploring and then hit up our new favourite bar, the auld dubliner. when we got in, they were playing music (live music basically all day long) and it was fantastic. erin eventually met us there after her tour around ireland (which i would've loved to go on, yet timing was bad for pj and i). we then wandered around to find someplace to eat, eventually settling on gourmet burger kitchen. now, if you have read my blog before, you'll know that the burgers over here in europe "ain't quite right." well, dublin continued this trend. erin got the veggie burger, i stayed with the safe bet of a chicken burger (which was actually quite okay) and pj, against my warnings, went with the burger. yup. they haven't gotten any better. live and learn. oh, and never eat at this place, seriously six terrible onion rings for €4. tsk, tsk. after dinner we went to: you guessed it, the auld dubliner. there peej and i met a pair of sexy german gals we proceeded to talk to and attempt to dance with for the rest of the night. they were on our tour during the day and actually remembered us (mainly because i'm loud and pj has a crazy camera set-up, oh and we're american. duh!). while we would never see them again on the trip, we made the most of our time with them. pj and i made the most of dublin with too many pints and way too many shots of jameson. well, when in ireland... do as the irish do. and we did.
the next day, we were up and at 'em early - and went with erin to the guinness brewery. this was a major point of the trip because, well, pj and i like beer and like guinness. and guinness is from ireland. need i say more? it is a beer drinkers mecca. pilgrimage once a lifetime sort of thing. the guinness brewery is definitely worth it. being as it is so big, you really are just left to wander on your own, but it is very well done. there is a lot to it and a lot to see. we were considering eating at the restaurant there, but at €15 a plate, we figured we could find a better way to spend our money, like on pints of guinness at the auld dubliner (actually this did happen, no joke). i did love the tour though, and got a pretty sweet bottle opener for my keychain.
^ guinness 2010 american ad campaign.
^ pj and his guinness at the gravity bar.
^ erin and pj with their almost finished guinness pints.
after this, the group of us proceeded around ireland again, finding a cool william butler yeats exhibit and a cool old cathedral. well, and some more beer. erin had to leave us around four to get back to the airport so she could fly home, which was sad, but it was awesome that she was able to come to dublin and meet up with me and eventually pj. the more the merrier in dublin is definitely a true statement.
^ YEATS! (i thought it might be william blake)
that night, pj and i took it quite easy, seeing as we had hit it pretty hard the previous night. we went back to the auld dubliner and this time chatted up a young irish lad named conner. he was a pretty cool dude and talked with us about all things ireland. it was nice to meet a local and actually talk some beer, internationally of course. pj and i then called it an early night and headed to our new hostel, the four courts. we hit the sack, but not without playing a few games of billiards. preparing for the continued adventure the next day of drinking our way across europe.
^ jameson distillery.
so, if you couldn't guess by now, the next day, our main focus was to hit the jameson distillery as early as possible. this meant we got there around 10am. this tour was a lot different than the guinness brewery, but in a good way. we were brought through in a small group by a tour guide (who just so happened to be a packer fan, no joke. he had a packer wrist band. and he actually knew his shit - someone howard would get along with quite well i would figure). we were then selected to take part in the jameson taste test. we, and a few select others, were given three shots in front of them. a shot of jameson, a shot of johnny walker black, and a shot of jack daniels. we then went through the taste test. and seriously, i still thought the jameson was the best. i'm not the biggest fan of irish whiskey, but this stuff was a lot better than the jack or the johnny. we also got some awesome certificates out of the deal and another jameson drink. (so three shots and a cocktail at 10am, good morning, ireland).
^ the taste-test mat.
after this, pj and i did some more wandering of dublin, stopping at a pretty good chinese restaurant for lunch along the way. we did hit up the auld dubliner again before dinner, and again after dinner. but dinner was had at our favourite restaurant name while wandering the temple bar, hungry hungry harry's. it was basically a little independent fast food joint, but it was damn good. i got a chicken wrap and fries - so delicious. and cheap too, which was the point. then to the auld dubliner to close out the night.
^ me trying to be artsy.
before we went to bed, a couple of americans (guy and a girl) came into our room to get unpacked before they enjoyed dublin for a bit more. pj and i proceeded to sit up and talk with them for about a half hour before they left. we found out that they would be going to edinburgh as well in a couple days, small world. just was i was crawling in to bed realized i had been talking to them the entire time in nothing but my underwear. seriously. my tight black sport trunks. wow. later, pj would tell me he thought i was just "putting out the vibe" for this girl. it was her first time in a hostel. good thing i was there in almost all my glory to welcome her. (key point is to remember this, as it will be helpful for the next post). we then got our asses up at 4am and caught a shuttle towards the airport. ryan air part deux. and on to newcastle via manchester for the next leg of our adventure - which will appear in the next post.
*and who the hell was i?*
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