Just got back from a week away in Ireland with one of my good friends Naomi, and it was amazing! Ireland was exactly what I pictured it to be, green EVERYWHERE! Rolling hills, windy roads, more sheep than I had thought, and plenty of Guinness!!
I could write a novel on our experiences in the Emerald Isle but I’m afraid that would be quite boring and I don’t generally have the patience to write that much in one sitting. So here were the highlights! I am starting with Dublin since that was our first stop 🙂
Driving on the “other” (not wrong) side of the road:
OK… let me just start this off by saying I hate roundabouts!! Other than that and the very narrow and windy roads, driving in Ireland was great! Although stressful at times, it was nice to be back in the driver’s seat after 8 months of getting around on public transport! If you are visiting Ireland, I highly recommend hiring a car as I don’t think we would have been able to see as much as we had without the convenience of our own car. Note to those hiring cars: BRING YOUR OWN GPS (or Satnav as it is called here)!!! Renting a car can be relatively cheap; however they like to rip you off by charging 11 pounds a day extra for a GPS. NOT COOL!!!
While driving on the left side of the road took a little getting used to, I think not having driven for 8 months worked to my advantage. It was a little awkward to shift at first, and there were a few turns onto the wrong side of the road (luckily in parking lots), but other than that, driving on the other side was probably the least of my worries.
Making the most of my worries were roundabouts, crazy fast speed limits, narrow roads, and a GPS telling us to drive down pedestrian streets :S YIKES! Roundabouts do not make sense to me on motorways. With speed limits generally in excess of 100 kms an hour, 80 km’s if you’re driving down a dirt road into the farm, having to slow down abruptly to 50 to go around a 4 lane roundabout, while figuring out which exit and which lane you need to be in to get to that exit is not fun! It was a test of mental awareness each time one was approaching! I much prefer off ramps and traffic lights!
Also there’s nothing like seeing a tour bus coming down a narrow road in the opposite direction to you to keep you on your toes! And make you hold your breath in the hopes that it will make the car skinnier as you pass each other!
Anyhow… enough about the drive!
Dublin:
Before arriving in Dublin I had been told by a few people that Dublin is basically a smaller London. As we weren’t really in Dublin for long enough it was hard for me to really make a judgement on its size since we had only seen a very small portion of it.
Our highlights were:
The Guinness Storehouse: HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! Even if you don’t like Guinness (which neither Naomi or myself did prior to taking the tour), the tour itself is pretty impressive with interactive displays and the history of Ireland’s beer and how it was transported across the globe. Rated Ireland’s #1 Tourist Attraction and at 16 Euro admission (13 with a student card) it was worth the price! We even got to pull our own pint of Guinness at the end! There is a special way to pour a Guinness and who knew that the harp on Guinness glasses were there especially to ensure the beer hits the glass at the correct angle? Pretty neat! Their Gravity Bar at the top of the building provided spectacular 360 degree views of Dublin and was a perfect place to drink our first pint! And for someone (me) who hated Guinness before, I was converted! Not only did I finish my pint first out of our group, I also drank a whole 2nd pint! Needless to say, I was a little bit buzzed coming out of the tour!
LIVE MUSIC: Dublin did not disappoint in the live Irish music department! We managed to find our way to the Merchant’s Bar and listen to some great Irish music! We even met some fellow Canadians there who were dancing up a storm to the Irish tunes! It was a great night out and exactly how I pictured a night out at a pub in Ireland to be like!
TIM HORTON’S: For anyone who has known me since moving here. I speak a lot about how much I miss Tim Horton’s coffee (Or Timmy Ho’s as we Canadians affectionately call it). So imagine my absolute amazement to see a Tim Horton’s sign outside a convenience store in Dublin!!! I was in HEAVEN! I quickly grabbed a Boston Cream Doughnut and tried my best to recreate a double double from their machine (didn’t turn out so well but just holding the cup in my hands made it taste that much better!). It was great!
One disappointing thing in Dublin was the Trinity College Library and Book of Kells. After seeing so many pictures on Pinterest of this library maybe my expectations were higher than they should have been. Although I’m very happy we went and I can cross this off my check list of things to see in Ireland, i felt that the 10 euros to get into this library was a bit of a rip off!! While the library itself was impressive and beautiful, it’s a bit steep. Maybe I’m spoiled by all the free museums here in London, but I’d rather pay 10 euro to get into the museums here instead of that library. Oh well! still happy we went!
So after a day and a half in Dublin it was a long drive up to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Never had to mentally prepare myself for a drive as much as this one!
Thanks for reading!
Krismas x
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