I woke up early on a Friday morning, to catch my Ryanair flight into Dublin at 8am. The Ryanair flight was an experience all on it's own (complete with scratch cards being sold mid-flight, and a congratulatory jingle when we landed on time), and I was thankful to finally make it to the hostel. However, I was unable to check into the hostel until 4pm (I arrived around noon), so I dropped off my bags there and set out wandering. Paul was not set to arrive until the next day, so I took the time to orient myself to this new city.
In hindsight, I probably should have taken a map with me initially and plotted out where I wanted to go. BUT I new that to get to the Temple Bar area, I had to just keep going right, and so that is what I did. I wandered around for a while, went into a number of stores, and just started taking in all of the city sights. A couple stopped and asked me directions on how to get to the castle (I should have been used to this type of event by now). Since I had just come from there, it was just luck that I was able to point them in that direction. Even after three months, I still find it funny how frequently I was mistaken for a local - until I spoke!
Later on, I went back to the castle to go explore the Chester Beaty Library. It was fascinating - an exhibit about eastern cultures that detailed the emergency of some of the world' major religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. Then, I wandered into a little cafe, where I had my first coffee of the day (about 3pm, far too late for my liking) and a panini. The busboy brought over my cappuccino and said "I tried to make you a heart, but I broke it." I instantly liked the place.
That evening, I actually met up with someone who I went to high school with, who just happened to be in Dublin at the same time! She had been traveling around Europe by herself for the summer, and Dublin was her last stop before flying home. It was really awesome to reconnect after 5 years, in a city that could not be more foreign to the both of us!
It was a very LOUD night in the hostel - I did not really realize before hand that many Europeans come to Ireland to learn English. Being that the currency is the same (Euro) it makes sense. There were huge groups of Spanish speaking students who were taking residence at the hostel. I think it was the birthday of someone in their group, and so there was an obnoxiously loud party going on all hours of the night. One of my favorite things about hosteling is that you meet people from literally everywhere. But unlike other hostels I have stayed in, the people at this one more mostly disinterested in meeting others. I did meet a lovely brother and sister who were probably about my parents age, who were traveling together as they do every year. They did not speak English well either, and we all know how my French is, but we were able to carry on a number of conversations throughout my 5 day stay there! I did meet a few other people though, who I think I'll stay in contact through facebook.
Paul was due to arrive about 12:30pm the next day. However, I found out the morning he was due to arrive that his plane was delayed. He had a layover in London, and there was this whole fiasco where his initial flight was delayed and then he missed the connection. Not having any way to contact each other, I was kind of in the dark about when he would arrive. So in the morning, I got up and walked up to St. Patrick's cathedral, where I ate my breakfast of greek yogurt, fresh berries, and granola from a little cafe. I then went back to the hostel where I hung out with some of the people at the front desk who were obviously sensing my anxiety about Paul not having arrived, and then with another hostel friend whose company I enjoyed.
Then FINALLY, around 3pm, Paul arrived! As expected, he was super jet-lagged, so we just wandered around the Temple Bar area, went back to the little cafe I had the panini at the night before and prepared ourselves for the next three days of coach tours. We had an earlier night at the hostel, where we hung out with some of the folks who were watching Harry Potter in the TV room. Then it was up at 6am for the first day of our tours!
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