Holly vs the world

Monday 2nd September – Thursday 5th September 2019

Ah Ireland, land of leprechauns and Guinness, and to be fair, not actually sure what else at this stage!! The choice of traveling to Ireland puts me back into the sheep category, Kylie had to go to Belfast for work so thought I’d follow and explore the island of Ireland!

Although Kyles doesn’t get to Belfast til Wednesday, I couldn’t go to Ireland as a tourist and not pop into Dublin, it is the capital after all! Did have to Google that just to make sure… so off I went on my lonesome to Dublin. Just when I thought I was mastering the London tube and trains, I quite literally missed my train to Gatwick by 45 seconds… unfortunately I’m yet to master google maps and headed completely in the wrong direction out of the tube station. And the trains here leave on the dot, a 7.45am train leaves at 7.45am and no seconds… but all good, was allowing myself a 2 hour window at Gatwick on account of my first upcoming experience with Ryan Air. We don’t even have an equivalent that is as bad in Australia… or as cheap!! Kyles last Ryan Air experience to Lisbon in Portugal had them land in a completely different city so needless to say my expectations were whatever is below low… but… somehow they were exceeded!?! Easy boarding, no weighing of carry on, actually landed in Dublin, didn’t crash, hmmm, maybe I was an exception not the rule!!

Landing in Dublin in a shroud of rain, which I’d come to learn is as common as oxygen in the air, the thing that I loved straight off was that all the signs are in Gaelic and English. But Gaelic first. For a predominantly English speaking country, I love that they are proud of their heritage and make retaining their culture a priority.

After securing my status as a tourist with a Do Dublin train pass, I was city bound. I guess I expected a city similar to London, not as big but the same charm. Hmmm, first impressions were slightly underwhelming, the constant rain didn’t help. The city is pretty, the river Liffey running through, some cool bridges, but the main river front strip, ehh… kind of the same feeling as when I hit Glasgow, however by the time I left Glasgow I was in love with the city so tried not to be a judgmental AH and headed for the hood, Temple Bar, where ALL the tourists go apparently! So here’s the thing, Temple Bar is a pub, Temple Bar is also a lane, a bar is a lane… For someone already google map challenged, you can imagine my confusion. After buying my second umbrella in as many weeks (whoever told me it’s summer lied..), I found the pub version of Temple Bar and must say, for midday on a Monday, it was pumping! Irish music in full swing, people in every nook and cranny skulling a Guinness… its times like this I hate traveling alone! Just wanted a mate to drink a beer with and get into the mood… my mood however remained that of a drowned rat so instead I headed to a quiet Mexican tacoria around the corner for the worst Mexican of my life…

Although Dublin hadn’t started well, by the time I checked into the broom closet at my Air BNB, I was ready to rumble and knew the one sure thing to turn this frown upside down… the Guinness Storehouse!! Home of the world renowned beer and one of the top tourist attractions in Dublin.. too bad I don’t like Guinness but eh…

Wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Storehouse, if you’ve been to the D’Arendberg Cube in RADelaide you know that people who drink too much of their own brew can get quite whacky! The Storehouse was kinda like the cube, some whack but still pretty cool. So Arthur Guinness who bought the brewery signed a 9,000 year lease for £90 a month… if that isn’t vision and a whole lotta ego I don’t know what is… only 8,840 years left to make or break as a business! Dude also had 21 children, busy man! The Storehouse is all about the beer, as you’d expect, with a few whacky things thrown in for entertainment value, the cycling fish had something to do with branding, the clocks with uh, time probs, can’t remember specifically what… it was a damn cool setup, and the Gravity bar at the top with 360 views of the city was a stroke of genius because let’s be honest, peeps like me who don’t drink Guinness are here for that!! In all honesty, bloody loved learning how they make beer, have a fascination with the process, stinks but the outcome is delicious! The setup itself in the old brewing factory is pretty manic, 7 levels of anything and everything to do with Guinness, the family history, the beer making process, a waterfall, the history of the brand, tasting rooms, a floor of cafes and of course the Gravity bar. Just don’t look down when going up the escalator, can make the legs shake… while I wasn’t a fan of Aussie Guinness, the stuff in Ireland is pretty damn tasty, might grow on me yet…

So after surveying the sites of Dublin from Gravity bar and with a pint in the belly, I thought it was a fab idea to walk back to my Air BNB, only 45 minutes… in the rain… with the worlds shonkiest umbrella, really should have caught a cab half way there when I was back in drowned rat territory but I’m stubborn and damn it I was gonna get my 10,000 steps that day…

In my pre-planning I’d allocated Tuesday to being a super tourist. Hop on hop off bus around the city and unashamedly take selfies in front of all the landmarks. May as well slap a tourist stamp on my forehead! Think I did EVERY Dublin landmark in one day, some out the window of the bus, others I took time to actually get my lazy arse off the bus and look up close. Rather than relying on Google, I asked a few friends the do’s in Dublin, Trinity College and the Book of Kells seemed to be a common theme so tackled the rain to dismount the bus and see what this book is all about.

Walking into the college was like a scene from Pitch Perfect, you know the one with all the clubs and groups setup on the lawns trying to get people to join?? Needless to say the Barden Bella’s didn’t ask me join, on second thought, none of the clubs did, do I not look young enough to be starting college?? Don’t answer…

So from what I remember, the Book of Kells is the oldest book in existence, the original bible written in Latin by monks… Google tells me I’m wrong, it’s the gospels written in Latin in 800A.D, got the monks bit right though… So it wasn’t the first bible, but apparently the most “illuminated”, which just means pretty, and it is Ireland’s most valued national treasure. Thanks Google. The museum about this one book was full of writing and pics on the walls about the book which was interesting but really the entree before the main.. the book itself was holed up in a little room that fit about 30 people but managed to squish in about 100… did manage to get a quick glimpse of the book and have to admit, it was pretty damn amazing, for a book!! The pages are made from leather, the colours are vibrant and the calligraphy out of this world, I guess when you’re a monk, what else is there to do?? Kinda humbling seeing something written over 1,000 years ago… no pics allowed of the book itself so here’s one of the replica, and some other pics about it from the museum…

So you walk out of the itsy bitsy room of the book, thinking the sites are done and dusted, but then you walk into this… the most stunning library I’ve ever seen… well, I haven’t been to many libraries in all honesty but surely this would be up there with one of the most stunning… kinda reminds me of the one from Beauty & the Beast… The library also housed some of the first books ever written and illustrated about psychology and the anatomy of the human body, being a big nerd I lapped it up…

Of course the dude called Bacon was my favorite… don’t know who he was but never met a bacon I didn’t like…

Next stop on my tourist visa was the Christ Church Cathedral, actually meant to see Dublin Castle but once again misinterpreted Google maps… without stroking my own ego, I’ve been to Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey and while Christ Church doesn’t compare in size, it’s right up there in the beauty stakes. Walking into beautiful cathedrals always takes my breathe away, this was no exception. And as I do at every church, I lit a candle for Brett, my Grandad and my Nonno…

Feeling holier-than-thou, I mistakenly trusted Google maps to make my way to the castle. Have a feeling it might have been user error because I walked around in circles only to be back where I started with the castle magically appearing at my original location… anyhoo, walked into the castle grounds, decided I’d seen more epic castles and left. Yeah, I’m starting to be that tourist that says “I’ve seen better”… I hate myself too… With rain on the horizon I took shelter on the bus and did tourist from the bus window past the monument, Parliament House (White House look alike), the Royal Hospital, Goal and a few others but once the War Memorial Gardens came up I was off in a heartbeat, love me a garden, especially ones dedicated to the bravest people in the world. Ok Dublin, you’re growing on me… the gardens were peaceful and beautiful, the city certainly has its charm…

You can guess why I may have had to leave the gardens?? Yup, rain, rain of the windy pelting variety that gets up under your umbrella and in your face… I gave up trying to do tourist… pub time… back to Temple Bar cos I just couldn’t be bothered finding anywhere else, stumbled across an epic Irish pub called the Norseman… wait… in Ireland they’re just called pubs, not Irish pubs… the point being epic Irish singer doing covers, gin, chicken wings and most importantly, a roof over my head. Somehow I forgot about the history of the rain in Ireland and decided to walk back to my Air BNB again, could also have something to do with the giant size plate of chicken wings I polished off…

Being a city girl with a country heart.. if that makes sense.. the next day I’d booked in a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway, take in some country air… and boy did I get air… 70km/h winds in fact… after dutifully boarding the 60 seater bus, we were hostages to the witty repertoire of the tour guide, Noel. Some tidbits of useful information he imparted on us included the fact that apparently the people that live south of the city are rich, and those that live north of the city are better looking, can guess which area tour dude was from! And one that I can attest to, the Dublin LUAS, their tram network is the slowest in all of Europe, hells yes. And finally, a sad one, of the 330 distilleries in Ireland in the 1800s, there’s only 5 left, so sad when industry declines…

An hour in after Noel had seemingly run out of things to say, there was pit stop at a petrol station dedicated to Barack Obama, kid you not!! Apparently he stopped in the town during a trip to Ireland on account of having some long distant relative from there, and to honour him, they named a petrol station after him, uhhhh, sure, guess those jokes about the Irish being a bit backwards weren’t totally untrue…

Anyway, herded back onto the bus we were left to our own devices to snap away at pictures of the country side for 2 hours until we arrived at the Cliffs. Of course Noel has the guide book of facts to read from, apparently 80% of genetics of the Irish are similar to those in northern Spain, the Spanish language from their ancestors morphed into Gaelic. Coolies, even more interesting, the Irish used to fight naked in the early days, they painted their bodies blue and dyed their hair blonde. They don’t put that in the movies!!! Oh and the British called them barbarians cos their language sounded like sheep, bah bah bah…

The ride to the cliffs was so damn beautiful, somehow the grass in Ireland is the greenest I’ve ever seen in my life, or maybe it was just me…

Arriving at the Cliffs of Moher, Noel, advised it was a wee bit windy today… damn near blew me over, not even joking… gravel and water and wind in the face… but when you have these views, so so worth it…

What was not worth it was paying £8 for a nasty little quiche… that aside, bloody beautiful spot. Once we were back onto the bus, we waited, and waited and waited… then left, leaving two people behind… Was sure not to miss departure time after that, dude runs a tight ship… An hour later Nazi Noel was nice enough to release us from bus prison to stumble over some rocks on the beach, it was stunning but in all honesty I was so worried about being left behind I was back on the bus in record time, then onto Galway…

Heading to Galway and all I could bloody think of was that wretched Ed Sheeran song, get out of my head you annoying English ranger… oh, hangry Holly had reappeared so first stop after the ooo’s and ahhh’s at the prettiness of Galway was food, of course as soon as I saw bacon and cabbage on the menu the decision was made, did not expect it but by god it was AMAZING!!!! Mouth watering just thinking of it…

Belly full I turned tourist mode back on and legged it around Galway, seeing as much as I could while leaving enough time to get back to the bus so Nazi Noel wouldn’t leave without me…

Back on the bus with 10 minutes to spare, and we were back to Dublin and time for Noel who had turned nice again to tell us some final facts about Ireland. The stuff I can remember, backed by Google, the green on the flag represents the Roman Catholics, the orange the Protestants and white represents neutrality, nice! So Ireland was conquered by the Vikings from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, they built the majority of the countries cities, including Dublin which they called Dubh Linn, meaning black pool of water. Some Irish dude later kicked their arses out. And finally, the story that pulled on my heart strings, the history of the Irish famine, called The Great Hunger. In the late 1840’s disease struck their potato crops, depriving people of their main source of food. Over one million people died, another million emigrated to greener pastures, hence why so many Irish around the world. Ireland’s population reduced by nearly 25%. And here’s where I get pissed off, the Protestant church who had access to food for people would only give it to those starving if they promised to change religions. WTF?? That’s so very kind of you. Grrr. And even better, Queen Victoria, a Protestant, only gave the country £3,000 pounds to help, she had no objections to the famine killing off the mainly Catholic population. AH.

Reflecting on the tour, to be honest, it was a hell of a lot of hours on a bus compared to the hours with actual feet on the ground… would I do it if I had my time again?? Eh, hindsight no, and when you hear about our epic adventure in Belfast you’ll know why… Back in Dublin I once again opted to walk back to the Air BNB and in all honesty, saw more awesome Dublin than I did in the day tour… walking around a city is definitely the best way to see it, and work off a belly of bacon…

And back to my Air BNB broom closet for the last night, and must say, it was looking damn pretty from the outside!!

For my last day in Dublin, I had ambitious plans of being at the Little Museum of Dublin for the one and only free tour at 9am then going to the Dublin Castle, the Viking museum and Merrion Square before legging it for the train to Belfast… needless to say lazy arse Holly mode kicked in and I only made it to Merrion Square to hang with Oscar Wilde before I was off to meet the gorgeous Kylie in Belfast… my favorite Oscar Wilde quote, “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance”, not an egomaniac, to me it’s all about self belief!

In the end, Dublin defs grew on me, not in the same way Glasgow did but it had its charm, probs wouldn’t go back but glad to have gone… Geez that was a boring post, my heart just wasn’t in it at Dublin, sorry!!!