Alissa and I in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
The past few days have been filled with good 'cold' craic with my friend from high school, Alissa Benjamin--who is studying at the University of Granada in Spain for the semester. After class Wednesday morning, I hopped on a bus to meet up with Alissa and a few of her friends in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Once we got to Abbey Court Hostel, we decided to hit the town in order to find a place to eat. We ended up eating at Farrington's in the Temple Bar region; the food was petty tasty, and I did try a wee bit of Alissa's fish just for the heck of it--I am still not a fan of fish. Peter, our waiter, was nice enough to suggest a few pubs to go to that were in the area; after walking around and going into shops, we decided to go to The Palace. There ended up being an Irish band playing live music and it added to the authentic Irish pub feel. Afterwards, the five of us headed back to the hostel to get some sleep for the busy day that was ahead of us.
Walking around the Temple Bar area
At The Palace listening to an Irish band
Sir Temple
The hostel that we stayed at
The Abbey Court Hostel over all was a pretty nice hostel--especially for my very first one that I have ever stayed in. We were in a 12 female en suite that had 6 bunk beds, which were not to uncomfortable. In the morning, we went next door to where breakfast was severed--nothing fancy, just cereal, toast, coffee and juice.
After starting the day with a decent breakfast, the five of us headed off to the Guinness Storehouse; we had nice weather while walking to the factory. This was my second time being at the storehouse (I went in May 2008), but it was still enjoyable and a few things had changed. At the Gravity Bar (on the eighth floor), we had a pint of Guinness even though it was like eleven in the morning! We met a few older people from Venice, Italy while at the bar, they were quite entertaining--only one of them knew English, which made it that more difficult to have a conversation.
St. James' Gate Brewery
Just a little taste
Some Guinness advertisements
Gravity Bar
These are for you Anna and your love for beer foam!
Once, we were done with the Guinness Storehouse, we made our way back to the hostel to collect our belongings and to call home for a wee bit. Alissa's three friends headed to the bus station to go to Galway; while Alissa and I went to the store to get some food for the bus tip back to Belfast, Northern Ireland. The two of us walked around for a bit and ended us at Trinity College, where a food eating contest was going on for Rag Week (not sure what it is, but there was a big banner for it)--two guys were eating a huge brick of butter each, not sure who own because we had to get to the bus station.
My bad!
My poor, poor hair did not even stand a chance in the rainy weather! :(
Pretty Bridge
Butter eating contest that we came across at Trinity College in Dublin
On the bus to head back to Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dubliner Cheese in Dublin :)
Alissa and I made it back to Belfast, Northern Ireland safe and sound. We hopped onto another bus to go to Queen's University to have dinner at Clements in their Students Union. While we were there, James McKevitt came by for a wee bit before he had to run off to the library. Once Alissa and I finished another yummy dinner and hot chocolate, we headed back into Belfast so we could catch the last bus back to Jordanstown. We got onto the right bus and asked the bus driver if he could stop at the Jordanstown stop for us, and he said he would--but, he had a super thick accent and was saying he would drop us off at NRC, which I thought was some abbreviation for the bus turn around thing at school. But, I told him a few times that we wanted to be dropped off at the Jordanstown stop. Well, the bus driver dropped Alissa and I off at the NRC stop, which come to find out is the Northern Regional College that is about two miles from my flat/campus. So, Alissa and I had to walk two miles at night in the cold rain to get home since there were not any more buses running that night. Nonetheless, we had a good time; hence the good 'cold' craic since it was cold and we had a fun time. Craic is an Irish phrase meaning good, fun times/entertainment.
Queen's University Belfast
Yummy hot chocolate from Clements at Queen's Students Union
James McKevitt and I at Clements
(James was at UGF last school year)
The end result of walking in the rain for 30-40 minutes :D
Read 'Adventures with Alissa! (Part 2) to hear about our wonderful day at the Carrickfergus Castle and harbor!
