They got here in the morning on March 5 (Ellen's 21st) We didn't meet up till that night though because they were majorly jet lagged and passed out in their hotel. I took them to Stables since it's on campus and the drinks are a little cheaper than regular pubs and restaurants. It was "Latin America" night, but towards the end of the evening I think they gave up on it and didn't think anyone who was attempting to salsa was doing it well. It started going downhill with "Mambo #5" and then suddenly it was 100% not Latin American with "Bad Romance." It was still a pretty good time. I bought Ellen a Bulmers pear for her birthday. We took a taxi to the hotel they were staying at (i didn't think the two of them would sleep well if they stayed at my house seeing as there are 8 people already living there and not much space in the kitchen or on my bedroom floor)
Saturday morning we took a daytrip to Dublin. We toured the Guinness factory, which was cool. It's 7 stories high and at the top you have a beautiful view of the city. We got a free pint with our ticket, but I wasn't feeling that well from the previous night, so I just had the small sample they gave us. Seeing as I'm not a huge fan of Guinness anyway, the small sample was enough for me! After that we went to the bus station to make sure we knew when we'd be able to get on a bus back to Limerick. We ate lunch and then toured a Viking museum, which was pretty interesting. After that we walked around for a little while and saw a giant leprechaun. We got back to the main drag through Dublin and the sun was starting to set. It was beautiful over the river. I love all the bridges in Dublin too that are on the main drag. I don't remember the name of the street. O'Connell maybe? The busride back was quite long. We left at 6:30 and probably got back at 10. I took a taxi to Plassey so I could sleep in my own bed.
Sunday, we met up at around 1 and I showed Ellen and Julie around Limerick. We grabbed some Shamrock Shakes from McDonald's (yes, they have those in Ireland. It's not just for silly Americans!) and went to King John's Castle. They really seemed to think it was cool! The view from one of the towers is really beautiful, as you can see from my entry about the first time I went there. I will probably be taking my mom there too next week! Then we ate at the Locke Bar. I had Chicken wrapped in bacon,mashed potatoes, and veggies and a slice of Baileys cheesecake for dessert! we were seated right by the fireplace which was nice because it had been sunny out but pretty chilly! We were there for probably two hours, talking and having a drink and dessert. I spent the night at the hotel again because Monday we were leaving for Galway. It would have been nice to see places I hadn't seen yet either but I felt it would be easier as a tour guide to take them to places I have already been! Dublin was a little overwhelming and we mostly took taxis to get around which added up.
Ellen and Julie really wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher, but since I just went on the trip through the university, I wasn't really sure how to get their on our own. but when we got off the bus in Galway, I spotted a bus through the national bus service, Bus Eireann, that said it was going to the Cliffs. A round trip was 20.50. It did however, mean spending almost another 4 hours on a bus to get there and back. But I was glad I was able to get them there after all. We drove through the Burren on the way there, and I am glad they were able to see the countryside of Ireland! Ellen even said to me "This is how I pictured Ireland!" I remember having that moment. It was another gorgeous day, but sooooooo much windier than it was the weekend before when I went with the university. It's kind of cool to go back to the places I've been before, because than it's like I'm really a "resident" of the country and not just a visitor, if that makes sense.
We got back to Galway around 3:30 and i took them to The Front Door, the restaurant we ate at when we went in January. I LOVED the bangers and mash there and we all got that. They agreed it was quite delicious. Then we went to the the original Claddagh maker shop, which I actually didn't go to the first time. I think I shouldn't have told the old lady working that mine wasn't the original. I thought it might be an insult to the Claddagh name! I like my ring though, it's sparkly and hey, it didn't cost me as much! We had an interesting discussion with her about Americans and geography. She told us she once spoke to someone who wanted to drive from London to Dublin. hahaha. Then we went down to the bay, the cathedral and St. Nicholas' Church. We got back on the bus at around 7 PM. I hung out at the hotel with them for a little while, and then came back to my room because my mom wanted to talk to me since we'd been out of touch for a few days. Today Ellen and Julie were planning to go to Killarney. They leave tomorrow morning. It was a fun filled few days and I am glad I was able to show them quite a bit--I got them to both sides of the island! A week from tomorrow my mom will be in Limerick. It will be a little less work on my part-- I only have to show them around the actual city!! I have a lot of schoolwork starting, and I need to go grocery shopping and do laundry soon. That's all for this week! Cheers!
PS. This weekend I'm going to Belfast through the International Society, which is in Northern Ireland! It'll be a long trip, but I'm excited to head up that way!
Picture time! Sorry..the stupid picture adder always seems to mess them up!
sunset in Dublin
You did a great job as a guide! The Dublin sunset is really pretty!
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