Are These Glasses Tinted Green?

Are these glasses tinted green? Oh right, I’m in Ireland.

Yeah, I honestly just couldn’t be bothered to write a proper lead in…

Right, so hopefully that video added enough colour to the weekend's events... because I have honestly had a hard time elaborating on most of them below. Which, now that I think of it, might come as a relief for your poor, tired, and bored eyes :) 

21 March

In keeping with the theme of travels with my amazingly generous cousin, this weekend’s course was charted for the great island of Ireland!

Aside from the fact that it was pouring down rain and hail on my walk to the airport, and the fact that – in my eagerness – I was through security with nearly 3 hours before take-off, the ‘getting there’ part of the journey went fairly smoothly. In fact, as I was queuing to board, the rain let up for a moment and a rainbow appeared, arching over the airport. Now I see two possible conclusions: either this was just the sunlight reflecting off of suspended water particles, or there were tiny leprechauns under there, dancing around their pot of gold and welcoming us to Ireland. Take your pick.

Anyways :P When we landed, I got my second passport stamp (woot woot!) then waited for my cousin’s flight to come in from London. When it did, we were off to our Dublin hotel where we settled in briefly before heading out to Temple Bar for our delicious dinner (:

22 March

Saturday started off smoothly. After enjoying a delicious breakfast - courtesy of our hotel - we were off to the local tourist information centre and, after a few failed attempts, had our trips planned out for the weekend. The first of these was a bus tour along the coast and to the gardens and grounds of an apparently historical Irish estate. Though the grounds were beautiful, we had made the unwise choice of exploring inside before venturing out. In all normal circumstances this would have been fine, but apparently we had forgotten where we were… aka if the sun is out, it won’t be out for long… so go explore the gardens now! Either way, it was a nice walk; with or without water falling from the sky.

When we arrived back in Dublin, it started raining (and hailing) worse than ever. Nonetheless, we hopped on a city coach tour and charged on to see the sights. These included, among many other things, Trinity College and the Guinness Storehouse. 

Knowing that we still had over an hour until our show, we nonetheless decided to head off in the direction of our venue so that we could get checked in and attempt to find shelter nearby while we waited. This plan worked out well for us as our destination was connected to a nice pub where we were able to hang out at until it was time to be seated for dinner.

23 March

Sunday was much better weather-wise, but I had to remind myself that – although I have been drawn into the English-weather-mindset, and therefore commonly consider a high of 45 °F to be summer weather – it’s still pretty gosh-darn cold if you plan to be outdoors for an extended amount of time. Either way, the lack rolling, ominous-looking storm clouds was a good sign.

After a quick breakfast, we made our way to the meeting point for our bus. Though I was already pretty convinced that this bus tour was going to be much better than the last, when our coach did actually arrive, I was totally sure. Aside from our awesome line-up for the day, our tour guide was super enthusiastic and funny, so all-around I couldn’t wait for the day to get started.

The first stop of the day was to be at an old monastery in the mountains. Aside from the obvious beauty that naturally came with such a location, simply the bus ride up to it would have totally made my day. We got a great view of the rolling, green, Irish countryside which was honestly what I was looking forward to most from this country.

After the monastery, we were off to Kilkenny and the Dunmore caves, both of which were just beautiful and provided the opportunity to get a glimpse at even more of the Irish culture. However - and clearly most importantly - on our way to these destinations, we passed over the P.S. I Love You Bridge and saw the 'Hollywood Sign'. Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently the original Hollywood is actually in Ireland. As the story goes, two blokes from this little Irish town relocated to California and apparently helped to found the (much more famous) Hollywood there. In honour of this, a Hollywood sign has been erected on a hill in the original Hollywood... complete with a surrounding herd of grazing sheep.

Behold, Hollywood

Dunmore Caves

I don't think I could ever get enough of this green...

Though we had had a satisfactorily full day, it was unquestionably over much too soon as we realised that – upon arrival – we had only enough time for a quick Subway sandwich before sending me off for the airport. Overall and from what I could tell, Ireland is an amazing country, and one I would happy to return to anytime.