The Luck of The Irish: Dublin

A friend of mine from England was surprised to hear that I was going to Dublin. If I remember correctly the statement she made was “They’ll call you a Ni**a in a heartbeat!” In her British accent. So already I was thinking, What did I get myself into?...

Yet when I got to Ireland, I experienced the complete opposite. Nothing but the kindest, most helpful and prideful people. A lot of people there are very knowledgeable about their Irish culture and history. As an American I forget how young of a country we are, but in Ireland they have buildings, artifacts, and stories from thousands of years ago. The Irish greet you with Hellos and have no problem giving you directions. Seriously just ask! 

Trinity College



The first day in I arrived at the Ashfield Hostel early. So I decided to check my bags in and just wonder around the city. It was freezing for August, I had purchase a scarf and sweater just to bare the cold. Clearly I didn’t check the weather before I went and I didn’t carry a Vitamin C with me. Both which were suggested by my friends before I left. But I’m stubborn…. I’m working on it.

 

 My first location was Trinity College which inhabits the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is one of the oldest and most illustrated Bible pieces written. The library that holds it is super old, there are books from floor to ceiling. It was some real Harry Potter type stuff.

 

My next stop was Guinness StoreHouse and let me tell you the Irish love their Guinness! I had Guinness Chips, Guinness Pot Pie, Ummmm the actual Guinness. Name it, they have Guinness in it. Don’t even mention to the bartender that you don’t like Guinness. I quote the Bartender, “Yeah because we sell crap batches elsewhere, and we keep the best for ourselves.” And this seems to be true because after 1 glass of Guinness, I was kind of buzzzzzzzzing. Beer is not really my thing but when in Ireland…. (You know the rest!)

Showing How to Pour the perfect glass of Guinness

 

Throughout the trip I visited The Archeology Museum of Ireland, The St. Patrick Cathedral and the Cliffs of Moher. I honestly felt safe enough to just wonder around Ireland. Transportation is affordable and easy. The pricing of food was fairly similar to New York pricing. Only 1 odd time when this guy walks up to me to ask if I spoke English. Which I found strange because English is the #1 spoken language there and #2 is their native language Irish/Celtic. So, I just shook my head "no" and kept it moving.

Anywho, I decided to do the Cliffs of Moher, just to get a taste of that greenery that I was dreaming about. And it’s AMAZING! It’s like stepping into a Irish Folklore. If you go to Dublin, You definitely have to visit the countrysides. It’s just amazing to see how Mother Nature creates itself. (Check out more photos on my Facebook Page)

Cliffs of Moher

 

In the hostel I met 2 young ladies who I was sharing a room with. One just leaving Romania from doing a Roman archeological dig and another traveling in between her conferences for her PHD in communications. Super cool and encouraging chicks. When I meet them I was blown away by the commitments and how effortless they made it seem. So during the 3 days we chatted it up, shared our life stories and did some Pub hopping in the evenings.

All in All, I would say Ireland opened up my desire to learn. In which way? I’m not quite sure. I am definitely not the one for conventional learning in a class room but I'm starting to think twice about it. I left Dublin with a thirst for wanting to know more.

One of the young ladies I meet whom was studying for her PHD was from Canada. She explained how College is already paid for there, so they just keep going!  Which I never thought about because that's not quite the deal in the states but it made complete sense.

Let me ask you, If your college was already paid for...Bachelors, Masters, on to PHD. Would you just keep going?