Dublin solo

January 2, 2014

In the morning, I showered, packed up my bags, ate one last breakfast with my hosts (we had fresh apple juice again, yum!), and chatted for a little bit before Zoltan took me to the airport. We probably chatted for a little bit too long, but my host assured me that I would be okay on time. I'm not gonna lie though, I was worried about it there for a little bit. There was a long line at check-in, however I met two really nice people that are in the U.S. Air Force who have been stationed in Cádiz, Spain for quite awhile. So we chatted for a long time while we waited. Then, I had to wait in a long line at security and finally when I got to my gate, they hadn't even started boarding yet. The only downfall of getting there later was that I was in a bad position for the first come, first serve seating and I had to check my bag because they only allow the first 90 bags on the plane, but it wasn't too big of a deal. We took off 40 minutes late again, but it's okay because we still kind of made it on time and I was in no rush at all. Both me and my suitcase made it to Dublin and once in Dublin, I took the city bus to the center and found my hostel for the night. After getting settled in at the hostel, I ventured out for a little bit. I went to the store to pick up an electrical converter and then I ate dinner alone at a bar. It wasn't so bad though, because I sat at the window and people watched and I had my phone. So eating by yourself isn't always so bad. Plus the food was delicious and it came with a Guinness (I don't even like beer). I probably committed some sort of Irish sin by turning down the pint and asking only for a glass and the bartender said she would put some sort of mixer in it to cool down the flavor. I forget what she put in it though and to be honest, I had a hard time understanding the accent. Ha.

Beef stew, Guinness, bread and butter
Best part = Butter with the bread (they don't do that in Spain)

On that note, did you know that Ireland has its own language! I felt REALLY stupid for not knowing that. I mean I knew that Gaelic and Celtic were languages, but I had no clue that they were even really still spoken. I was under the impression that they were like Old English. I had no clue that when I got off the plane in the airport everything would be in both Gaelic and English. I was floored. Well, maybe not really floored, I was kind of upset in a weird way. I think I was excited to be in a place that spoke English (especially after understanding nothing in Hungary), only to find out that I was again in a very foreign country where I couldn't read signs or understand accents. Also, it just kind of made me feel uneducated, whoops. I guess I shouldn't assume things. Anyway, I got over it, especially when Tim got there because he interpreted for me. :) Also, I would like to thank the genius who decided to write "Look Right" and "Look Left" at all of the crosswalks because it's all backwards for me and it definitely saved my life, because I am assuming without them, I would have for sure been hit by a car. Thank you, signs.

Anyway, after dinner, I walked around in some souvenir shops that looked like the color green had thrown up in them and then I walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral just for the fun of it, plus it's the largest church in Ireland, so I wanted to check it out.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

After the brief walk there, I walked back to the hostel and did some weekend planning. Tim would be arriving the next day, so I figured out our plans for the weekend so that everything ran smoothly, even though I know Tim wouldn't have cared either way. After planning, I went to bed extremely anxious for the next day to begin.