Dublin

Well, to start in Dublin, I sure had a Lego up the nose! I got a late flight to Dublin, then our plane had some technical difficulties, so I didn't get in until about 11 or 11:30. I went to check for directions to my hotel, but either a) I didn't book them (which is CRAP b/c I remember doing it), or b) hostelbookers.com didn't send me a confirmation email (possible, but not likely). Anyway, I started looking for a hotel, but the cheapest I could get was about $130, so I just decided to sleep at the airport until early morning and then check into my hostel for the next day (there were already masses of people sleeping there anyway, so it didn't seem like a big deal). This actually turned out to be a GREAT idea, except that in the morning the aiport was ABSOLUTE MAYHEM!! Because of this, and the nice, comfy stay I had 2 nights ago, AND the fact that my plane leaves at 6:45 Tuesday morning, I am going to sleep at the airport again tonight b/c I don't trust myself to get up in time to get there and get aboard my plane while only relying on my watch alarm to wake me up.

Anyway, yesterday was a VERY busy day when I got a lot accomplished, but today was not so good. It was raining when I got here, and has been doing so on and off the entire time, and the weather has been worse here than Scotland, but that didn't put much of a damper on my stay. I started off by checking in and going to the Bad Ass Cafe for a "Huge Ass Breakfast"... it was pretty good, but I didn't like the white or black pudding so much (I think black pudding is dried blood that is cooked and served in a little hash brown-like patty, but I don't know what white pudding is). It was a great start to the day though, and I was ready to tackle Dublin after that.


At first, I stopped at Trinity College, a small college here that is beautiful but small. There was an exhibit of the Book of Kells going on (I don't even know what that is, but there was a long line for it), but it was too expensive to be bothered with. I just kinda walked around campus, and in doing so I noticed that any patch of grass in the university was "off-limits" to walk on.

After the college, I meandered through a nice park and enjoyed the sunshine, after which I came upon a shopping center (which was one of the things on my to-do list of Dublin), so I browsed for a while. Next, I just wandered around the city toward the Guinness Brewery, and came upon many buildings that were nice-looking, including Dublin Castle (hardly a castle), St. Patrick's Cathedral, and a few other small churches.

When I got to the main gate of Guinness (not the tourist gate, but the one for workers), a bird shat on my head. I didn't like it. Not one bit. While I was working my way from the front gate to the tourist center, I stumbled upon a film crew shooting a scene for a new moving that is based on a Charles Dickens book, though I was unable to find out what movie it really was. They were having lots of problems, and I don't think they got any filming done in my presence, but it was kinda cool to see what a movie set in the middle of the backroads to a city is like.

Once I finally made it to Guinness, I stood in line for about 15-20 minutes, and took the tour. I have been on the Miller tour in Milwaukee before, so I thought this one would be roughly the same, but I was dead wrong. This tour was a much flashier one. It even included a giant sandbox-like vat of barley (I guess for beer-drinkers to play in). One of the really interesting things that I learned there is that they contend that the most important ingredient in making their beer is the fresh water supply that they get from the mountains nearby. A lot of the minerals and impurities are filtered out by the time they get the water, so it is very high-quality. Actually, the founder of Guinness defended the water supply with a pickaxe when government officials came to inform him that he had used more than his permit allotted him. We need more beer drinkers like him. Anyway, at the end of the tour, I got a free pint of Guinness to enjoy at the top of the builing with a full panaramic view... I could even see the Washington Monument!

Next, I went to the Killmainham Gaol, which was sort of an Alcatraz in its time here. Not too much to say about it, I just took a guided tour and got some pictures. It was pretty similar to Alcatraz but less interesting and much smaller (possibly less interesting because I knew none of the 14 people that were executed there due to my lack of knowledge of Irish history). One thing that was interesting was the vote on the death penalty (visitors could vote):


I finished off the evening with the backpackers pubcrawl, where a group of us travelers (2 Canadians, 2 Germans, 1 Scottish/Aussie, 1 Aussie (tour guide), and 1 Kiwi) just went to various pubs and had a good time with one another. I think I'll be doing one of these in Amsterdam as well... it was a great way to meet people and have more fun going out at night.

Today was fruitless, as it rained all day and all the national museums (I was planning on going to these) are closed on Mondays. So, I went shopping (actually bought a few things) and came to the internet cafe. I'll probably eat dinner, hang out at the hostel for a bit, then head to the airport to sleep before I fly out at sunrise tomorrow.

Just a few things that I've noticed since I've been travelling that I thought I would mention:
-People say, "Cheers!" here instead of, "Thanks!" I'm still trying to get used to that.
-The Scots by far have the hardest accent to understand of the three main types you find in the UK.
-The UK is not nearly as "24-hour friendly" as the US is... you have to be a bit more careful in planning.
-Their streets are a bit more idiot-resistant, because at crosswalks, they always tell you which way to look (it's painted on the ground).
-My dad has always told us that Grandpa Bosiljevac often said, "I may not be rich in money, but at least I'm rich in friends." Since I heard this, my life goal has been to be the kind of person such that when I die people say, "There went one great guy." A lot of times, statues are built of people as a result. I don't want that, because there are about a million statues of people over here, and I don't want to just be another one of those (unless it's the size of lady liberty). I guess this is just a roundabout way of saying there are a lot of statues of people over here.
-People always say that Ireland is green. Scotland is greener if you ask me (at least in vegetation). However, the Irish wear more green clothes.
-The UK has street signs on the side of buildings instead of sign posts at street corners. This makes things a bit easier, I think, because you don't have to look around for signs as much.
-The UK is very expensive. I'd say Edinburgh, then York/London, then Dublin, in order from most expensive to least (Dublin's still more expensive than back home though).

Well, if you can't tell, I'm having a GREAT time, and I hope you readers are enjoying my mind-droppings! I'm going to wrap up my Dublin journal now (pictures aren't uploading very well, so I'll probably come back later and add more).

See pictures of Dublin here