IRELAND: DUBLIN

Last weekend, I spent my time all around Ireland, mostly in Dublin. I was super excited for this trip because I have always wanted to go to Ireland, and I'm part Irish. Another reason I was excited for this trip was that after I booked it, I found out that I would be in Ireland during my great-grandmother's birthday, the most Irish person I know.

My great-grandma GG.

She was beyond a wonderful lady, so I knew I had to make her proud this weekend. I'm not sure if she would've approved of everything that occurred this weekend, but I knew she and Grandpa Jack were smiling down on me regardless. 

Our trip started off how it normally starts, leaving directly after class on Thursday night. During the flight, I tried to be a good nursing student and study on the flight before the packed weekend. The turbulence worked hard, but I worked harder. The turbulence didn't stop me from writing out 66 drugs before my upcoming Pharmacology exam. Once we landed, we ubered to our hostel. We stayed at Jacob's Inn, and it was super nice. 

It wasn't in the best location, but we had a really nice room, and everything, for the most part, was walkable. Once we dropped off our bags, we went straight to the iconic Dublin bar, Temple Bar. 

The most photogenic bar I've ever seen. 

It was so much fun! It was a nice change to have a live band in a bar, since I'm used to DJs. Even on a Thursday night, it was relatively busy. 

A few of the girls I went with are pretty friendly, and miraculously got us free drinks. I was quite excited because as a broke study abroad student, a free beer is a free beer. 

I got two Guiness and a Mini Guiness shot for zero euros. We left quickly after and went back to the hostel to go to bed. In the morning, I woke up to the worst sight possible. 

Snow. We tried to make the most of it throughout the day, but it was the worst conditions possible: a mix of rain, sleet, and snow. Anyway, we started our morning at Murphy's Bistro for breakfast. 

I got Nutella pancakes and hot chocolate, and they were so good! I was hoping for an Irish coffee, but they didn't have it on the menu. After, we walked to Trinity College. 

Little did I know, an hour later, this umbrella completely broke. 

I haven't seen or read "Normal People," but this is where it takes place. This is also where The Book of Kells is, but we didn't get tickets in time, and we didn't have enough time in our day to see it. 

We were on a time crunch throughout the day, so I didn't get to see a lot of Trinity College, but the things that I did get to see were pretty. Practically around the corner was the Mary Malone statue. Supposedly, if you touch her breasts, you will have good luck.

And I had a pharmacology exam on Monday and needed all the luck I could get. 

Next, we strolled around Grafton Street, which had different shops and restaurants to walk through. Sarah Jane and Karly wanted to go to the Lego Store, so we spent most of our time there while they made custom Lego figures. 

At this point, we realized that we were running extremely short on time and needed to get to the Guiness Factory for our tour by 2 p.m. There were no Ubers offering rides, and the walk was over 20 minutes, and we would've been late. By some miracle, we were able to find a ride, but we had to make a pit stop at the candy store along the way to get cash for the driver. 

I'm slowly starting to realize that all beer tours are somewhat the same. We mostly spent our time strolling around and reading about the history of how Guiness came to be. 

One part of the tour that was really cool was seeing all of the animals that they incorporate into their advertisements. In my dad's office, he has a ton of Guiness posters on the walls, so it was funny walking around and seeing the posters throughout the museum.  

At the end of the tour, we were able to get a photo of ourselves on the Guiness foam. This was the main reason I booked the tour and one of the only ways I would drink Guiness. 

I had a Guiness or two the night before, and at first, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, given the color. But the fact that my face was on top showed I needed to drink the whole thing. But here's how it went before...

During...

And after... it's safe to say that I don't need to drink Guiness anytime soon. 

I almost finished my Guiness before going to the next floor to find something to eat and get another beer.

We went to Arthur's Bar and got a cider and a burger with fries. It felt a lot better to have food in my stomach after the large amount of beer we were drinking. I've learned this trip that I am not a fan of Guiness, but I will take a Cider any time. It tasted like apple juice! 

After, we went up to the last floor to get our free beer from the tour. There were slim pickings, but I decided to venture out and try a Hop House 13 Lager. Bad idea; I could only guzzle down half a sip. 

Over four hours later, we took an Uber back to the hostel to relax for a bit. We later found out that our hostel was hosting "Music Bingo," and the winner got a free drink. Obviously, we had to see for ourselves. 

Even though it was a very low-key evening, I had so much fun listening to music I haven't listened to in a while. Sadly, I left empty-handed and went to bed before our early morning on Saturday. 

Our bus left at 6:45 a.m. for our full-day tour across Ireland, making stops at the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. I spent most of the ride staring out the window or reading my book. I was shocked at how green everything was on the drive!

We did not have much luck with the weather this trip, and we experienced hail, extreme wind, and sun all within 20 minutes of getting there. Still, the cliffs were beautiful, and I learned that scenes from Harry Potter and The Princess Bride were filmed here. 

I ventured off from the group for a bit and stumbled upon a path that wasn't blocked off by fences. I snapped a few pictures before walking back. The only downside was that my shoes and the bottom of my jeans were covered with mud. We only had two hours at the cliffs before driving to Galway.

We also only had 2 hours in Galway, but I wish we had more! It was a quaint little area with lots to see and look at. We were all starving and spent a good portion of our time in Galway getting lunch. We went to Quay's Restaurant, and I got a delicious chicken sandwich with fries. After, we looked through more shops. I found a McDonald's and went inside because I was in Ireland, and I had to get a shamrock shake. Of course, all of the shakes were available except a shamrock shake. I was crushed. 

Once we left Galway, we took the bus back to Dublin, went to our hostel, got ready, and went to a pub crawl hosted by our hostel! 

I cannot remember any of the names of the places we went, but they were a lot of fun. Each bar was a little different than the last; one bar had live music, another had a silent disco, and the next had a saxophone performer. 

We ended the night at our last pub crawl stop, the club. Not exactly where I thought we were going to end up, but the music was so good! I checked my phone and realized it was midnight, which meant it was Grandma GG's birthday. I went to the bar and celebrated her birthday with a cider. Even though she loved her Bourbon and bitters, I know she was still proud. 

Sláinte! (Cheers in Irish) 

We went back to the hostel to get a much needed 2 hours of sleep before going to the airport for our 8:30 a.m. flight back to Madrid. 

I must have been exhausted, because one moment I'm resting my head on my backpack, and the next moment, people are surrounding me, boarding the flight. It's a good thing I woke up! 

Best Part of the Trip: I honestly thought the pub crawl or the tour of the Cliffs of Moher and Galway were my favorite parts! I wish that I had more time at both places, but I'm still glad I got to see what I did.  

Worst Part of the Trip: The weather on our first day! My feet were soaking wet, and it was a lot colder than what I was expecting. We made up for it by hanging out at the Guiness Museum all afternoon. 

Overall Thoughts: Despite the weather, I loved Dublin for being surrounded by music, entertaining people, and drinks. We didn't get to see everything in Dublin, so I will definitely want to go back someday. It is safe to say that it is now time for a much-needed, well-deserved break. Except that my break lasts for 4 days before I have a few exciting guests visiting throughout the rest of March! Stay tuned!