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Off to Paris!

I packed up, waited about 1.5 hours for the “express” bus to the airport (long, annoying story, just don’t take the 747/757 buses back to Dublin airport. Trust me, just don’t. 😑) and practically ran through Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 to check in but then had to run back to Terminal 1 where the flight actually was…seriously stressful morning 😬 But here I am now in Paris! Man I thought London was expensive but DAMN Paris you crazy!

Pictures are of the flight out of Dublin, in to France, and my swanky hotel. After checking in I went across the street to a basic French restaurant and got some chicken and gravy with a Nutella tiramisu for dessert. Very yummy! Then I spent the rest of the evening doing laundry. Super great night over here in Paris, the reality is not every day is exciting and fun when you’re full time traveling 😂

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West Ireland Day Tour

I got up before dawn and walked a mile uphill (of course) to jump on a bus tour of west Ireland. Our first stop was the Kilmacduagh Monastery, ruins which had originally been a monastery complex dating to 500 A.D. Then we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher, where I walked the bulk of the left trail and up to the tower on the right trail. It was super windy, but no fog or rain and the clouds would break for the sun once in a while so it was gorgeous. We made a quick stop by the Burren, a rock outcrop on a mountainside into the sea, then we grabbed a late lunch in Galway and had some time to wander around and do some shopping. It’s a cute little town, kind of reminds me of Naperville. Afterwards, we made the long trek back to Dublin, where I stopped at a Japanese/Korean restaurant for what’s becoming my international ramen tour. Tomorrow, it’s off to Paris!

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Dublin – Day 2

I had a hard time sleeping last night, and was up by 6am. I laid around watching the news for a bit then got up and headed out pretty early. The good thing about Dublin is that just about everything to see is within a 2 or 3 square mile area, so you can get a lot done in a day. My first stop was right across the street from my hotel, St. Patrick’s Cathedral. A beautiful church with very nice stained glass throughout. Then I hiked up to Dublin Castle, which is more like a palace than a castle so I was a bit disappointed. There were really only two cool rooms, the rest was pretty modern even though it’s old. Then I went across the street to Christ Church Cathedral which has gorgeous tile flooring featuring anthropomorphic foxes and very nice clergymen who were more than happy to answer questions and tell you about the place. I was there right at noon so I got to sit and listen to their prayer for peace, a prayer they’ve been saying at noon every day for nearly 800 years, according to the clergyman I was talking with. After the cathedral I tried to make a stop at St. Michan’s Church but they were closed, so I continued on my way to my lunch destination. I’ve been following the White Moose Café on Facebook for a couple years now, it’s a hilariously sarcastic and funny place and I’ve wanted to go and see it for myself. I ordered the sandwich that the food critic criticized which lead to one of the more hilarious shenanigan sagas (the sandwich was good!) and towards the end Paul himself burst through the front door and screamed, scaring the absolute shit out of the staff at the front counter, before running off laughing into the back room. That’s exactly what I imagined working here with Paul as a boss would be like! The staff seemed to expect and laugh at it, it was all in good fun.

After my bucketlist food experience, I wandered down the road to the Black Church, and I’m not sure why that’s marked on the tourist map because aside from it being on its own island in the middle of an intersection there wasn’t too much special about it. I suppose it was a bit darker than others, and had plants growing out the top of it, but that’s it. From there I went back south to the Church Bar and Restaurant, someone bought the old church building where Guinness (as in the beer guy) got married and turned it into a bar/restaurant while leaving all the church fixings including the organ in place. It was a cool place for a pint and that marked the start of my own bar crawl of sorts. From there I crossed the river at the Ha’penny Bridge and stopped over at The Temple Bar to listen to the live music and enjoy another pint of cider. Then I walked down Grafton Street, the shopping district street, and stopped at Kehoe’s Bar which despite only being about 5:30 was already completely packed, standing room literally out to the surrounding streets. Still, I squeezed in and had my cider.

Let me tell you, Dublin is definitely a city of the night. During the day it was definitely busy, don’t get me wrong, but it was mostly tourists and locals trying to hustle to their destination. After 5pm the streets came alive with music, conversation, and lots of alcohol. By 5:30pm most of the bars were full and by 7:30pm you already had the drunk, older, Irish guys swaggering down the streets and groups of young people being loud and exuberant. Maybe it’s just because it’s Friday night, I don’t know, but it was fun to watch the transformation. On my way back to the hotel I wandered a bit around St. Stephen’s Green Park, a nice little green space in the middle of the city, and got back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the night. I have a big, long day trip planned for tomorrow, and since I didn’t sleep well last night I want to rest up!