On Monday I left my Spanish class and hopped on a series of buses that google had told me would take me to my desired airport. Thankfully, Google served me well. It was a 45 minute bus ride to the airport (for a 35 minute flight, lol). When I got to the airport (East Midlands) I was suprised by how small it was. The only check in counter open was for the flight I was there for. I felt like I was sitting in the food court as the mall closed, the place was dead.
When I actually landed in Dublin I hopped on the bus that I was told would take me to the center of town and made the now routine realization that I had no idea when to get off the bus. One of the things I love about London is that you can hop on the tube straight from the airport and forego all the confusing busses to get you into town. Eventually I got to the end of the line ... I think the driver was off the bus before I was, haha.
I couldnt get a signal on my UK cellphone for the first hour or so I was in Dublin so I spent that time trying to find a hotel that would let me use their phone so I could contact the person whose couch I was staying on. When I found one I couldnt get the call to go through (you have to hit 00 before you type in a number in some countries and from a foreign phone). I found a McDonald's* and tapped into the wifi and after some electronic sleuthing found the Skype of the guy I was staying with and he told me how to get to his place ... I was worried I would have to find a hostel or sleep on the street (or in McDonald's) that night.
My host's name was Mantas. He is a lithuanian photographer living in Dublin. The first night we stayed up until about 3 drinking Absynth and telling stories. We did this every night I was there, one night until nearly 6 am. Mantas told me what was worth seeing and what was not (Note: The Illunimated "Book of Kells" is not worth seeing)
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| From Dublin |
The next day I got an early start. I left Mantas' flat around 9 am and started walking towards the River Liffey. Most of the things you would want to see in Dublin are south of the river and a lot of things are along the river. That first few hours I was walking around I saw the Ha'Penny Bridge, a famous park for which the name escapes me, a memorial to the potato famine, the Spire, and the Temple Bar. At this point I got hungry and found some cheap food.
After I ate I found a tour bus* and got a flyer of the route and the sites it hit. I had no intention of paying 25 Euro to ride a bus around town. The only places I hadnt been yet were Christ Church and the Guinness Storehouse ... it was about 3 at this point so I could allow myself to go on a beer tour.
While I was buying my ticket for the Guinness Storehouse (which actually is interesting) some people behind me yelled "MICHIGAN!!!" Turns out they were on a spring break class from Central Michigan University and had heard me talking to the ticket guy about where I was from (he asked). We ended up taking the tour together and did the rest of the touristy stuff that day together.
That night we ended up going out pub hopping after they got out of their class. It was a fun night. I invited Mantas to come with us. We all ended up at the Temple Bar, the actual bar not the walkway, with the rest of their class.
The next day I had to fly back to Derby. I got to the airport with plenty of time (over an hour on a bus) to make my flight. My flight ended up being delayed 4 times and had the gate changed just as many times. While I waited I made friends with a girl from Austria (Vienna specifically) who is studying in Nottingham for the year.
* Travel tip: Most McDonald's have free wifi, dont waste your money with Internet Cafes. In Ireland you want to find EireCom wireless network and in England look for The Cloud wireless network.
*Travel tip: Find the city tour buses and pick up a map of the sights it hits. Chances are you can walk the path for free and get a better view of the sights than you would from the bus. It is much more fun to get lost walking in a city than to spend all your time in the safety of tour companies.
