Dublin: Day 1 - And So Begins Our Odyssey

Where does the time go, Dear Reader? What ever happened to my promised real-time, one-week delayed series of Dublin updates? It looks like life got in the way yet again. But life has never gotten in the way in a more exciting and epic way. And it's given me loads of new material to (eventually) blog about. So really, I was only thinking about you...

Before we begin Dublin, Day 1, here's a preview of some of the things you have to look forward to:

- Knights from the Town of George & Beers By the Bard: Warwick Castle & Stratford Day Trip

- Extremely Cool & Incredibly Awesome: In Which I Meet Jonathan Safran Foer

- Norway? Yeah Way!: A Tale of Skiing, Bears, and New Friends

All titles are subject to change though, if I come up with something more awesome.

But now, back to our regularly scheduled, though much delayed, Dublintertainment.

So, where were we? Oh, yes. Day 0 had just blended into Day 1, and I was outside of Ramsay Hall with my trusty travel companion Ryan.

Departure:

Off we went to catch our early bus to our early flight. For the record, RyanAir is very liberal with what they mean when they pair a city with an airport. Stansted-London is quite a long drive outside of London. But, we made it in time for our flight, and soon we were Up In the Air. I was disappointed to find they don't carry any copies of SkyMall on the plane, but soon found out why... RyanAir IS a SkyMall. They tried to sell us everything during the flight, from cheeseburgers and candy (mind you, this is like 8:00 AM) to smokeless cigarettes (read: nicotine inhalers) and scratch tickets. Being poor college students, we declined their offer.

Getting off the plane we went through Customs, which was a breeze. Flying between EU countries as Americans is nice, since all the Europeans get filtered off to one section, while everyone else goes to another, and the line for the rest of us is even shorter. From Customs we went to procure our Dublin Passes.

Dublin Pass

Okay, this was Ryan's idea, and it was a great one. Basically, for €55, we got three days of free access to a whole bunch of places we wanted to visit, plus free gifts at certain places, discounts at others, and a few other perks. If ever you travel to Dublin with the intentions of doing all of the touristy things in a short period of time, get the Dublin pass! It even gave us a free bus ride from the airport that dropped us off at...

Trinity College

They had a lovely campus, and several neat statues. It's also home to the Book of Kells, which we did not get to see (unfortunately, one of the few things not included on the Dublin Pass). But the real reason I bring it up is the library we saw. Trinity's campus has lots of old buildings, much like Georgetown, done in beautiful architectural style. Except, one of the libraries we saw was nearly as much of an architectural train-wreck as Club Lau. Seriously, I don't know what it is about books that makes people think "Oh, let's build something ugly to put those in." Anyway, along with not having slept, I hadn't eaten since the night before either, so we decided to get some energy on the go, and pick up some delicious smoothies while we had Eunice take us to our first Dublin-Pass Destination.

Dublin Castle

Not really a castle in the traditional sense, this is where all sorts of state functions happen in Ireland. Lots of fancy things, weird ceiling decorations, and a wonderful tour guide who absolutely adored Bill Clinton. (This is not the first time I have encountered a Clinton-loving Irish person. Jon and I spent two hours in a pub in London chatting film, politics, and literature with an Irishman working on publishing his first novel.) Also learned some fun facts about the Presidency in Ireland. Their past two Presidents have been women named Mary, so the tour guide claims that school children come in thinking that in Ireland, you have to be a woman to be President, and it helps if your name is Mary. It was also here that we encountered a name that would follow us from site to site in Dublin: Eamon de Valera, born in the U.S. to an Irish mother and Spanish father, he was sent back to Ireland for his education and then rose to greatness. This is not the last time you will see this name, dear reader, so remember it well.

Christ Church Cathedral

From the Castle we headed to the oldest building in Dublin, the Christ Church Cathedral, founded in 1030. Lots of cool stuff here, including the burial place of the Norman invader (and cider namesake) Strongbow. Also, in the crypt there is a mummified Cat and Rat that were found stuck in an organ pipe. After getting caught in the photograph of a couple outside, who proceeded to actually try to photograph us intentionally, we headed next door to...

Dublinia & The Viking Museum

We may have been the only visitors over twelve here who weren't escorting children. This place is stuck somewhere between historical, children's, and wax museum, giving it an interesting feel. But we made a good time out of it, as we learned that Vikings did not wear horned helmets (but their gift shop will gladly perpetuate the horned helmet myth), got to try on helmets of our own, make rubbings in crayon of a variety of different things, smell and guess the names of spices, and interact with all sorts of wax figures. We also learned about archaeology. Did you know that archaeologists do not use potato peelers on site? (Unless they are peeling potatoes!)

Kilmainham Gaol

That's the Irish word for Jail, and it's where we went next. It was a long walk, and Eunice got lost a bit, which made things tricky, but eventually we made it. A few points of excitement: Along the corridors of the Gaol, above the cells of famous inmates, they put up plaques with their names. Remember that name I asked you to remember? He was on one of them. That's right, American-born Irish President Eamon de Valera spent time in Goal! When our guide mentioned the name, he failed to mention his later Presidency, and I stood for a while wondering where I'd heard that name. But my favorite part of the Gaol was its cinematic history, since both The Italian Job (original) and In the Name of the Father were filmed there, a fact that I am proud to have guessed at before we were told.

Guinness Storehouse

Heading back into the city, we made the stop we'd been waiting for all day. The Guinness Storehouse is set up so incredibly well. First, a tour of the ingredients (Barley, Hops, Yeast, Water), but artfully done, then an explanation of the process, then a lesson in how to taste all of the flavor in Guinness. But then comes the part I was really excited for: Two exhibits devoted to advertising. Everything from the 'My Goodness, My Guinness' Zoo Keeper to the modern brilliance of noitulovE. And a whole presentation of the artwork of John Gilroy, who created the Zoo Keeper ads. I was in advertising heaven. And we closed off our tour with a free pint at the 7th floor Gravity Bar, taking in great views of Dublin and the surrounding area. The pint was delicious, and I was glad I'd held off trying one for weeks in England and waited to get one at the source.

In Search of Sustenance and Sleep

Fueled by our Guinness, we decided to make the trek to our hostel and drop our stuff off before grabbing dinner. So, with tired feed and sore backs (remember, I've got a laptop in the bag), we set off to find Dublin International Youth Hostel. Eunice had a lot of trouble with this one, and we couldn't find the street on the very tiny map we'd been provided with in the Dublin Pass book, so we took a great deal longer to get there than we should have. But eventually we made it, and were able to check-in, buy a lock for our locker, and get our first glimpse and smell of the ten bed room we'd be staying in for the next four nights. Still, the smell wasn't enough to extinguish our appetites, so we checked what deals the Dublin Pass had in store for us.

Captain America's

Yes, that's what we settled on. I'm pretty sure it's because it was closest to the hostel. But you know what, I don't need to defend our decision against your judgements! I know you're thinking, "Why didn't you go to a traditional Irish pub, for some traditional Irish stew or something?" I'll tell you why. Free dessert. That's right. After my burger (which came with a fried egg on it, my favorite non-traditional burger topping) I enjoyed a delicious ice cream sundae. So there, now you are all jealous of the good time we had at Captain America's.

First Night

Once we'd finally gotten the attention of the waitstaff and paid for our food (except for the desserts, which, remember, were FREE) we trekked back across the river to our hostel, where I was quick to climb up into bed and fall asleep for the first time in somewhere around 36 hours.

There you have it, Dublin: Day 1. Just wait until you hear about the shenanigans we get into on Day 2. You can expect writers, drinks, and giant wolves.