Day 1 in Dublin

Over this past week, I was lucky enough to get some time off of work. Perfectly enough, I didn't have class on Tuesday or Wednesday. So what did I decide to do? Hop on a plane early Saturday morning, ditch my Monday class, and have a 5-day adventure in the beautiful land of Ireland! I felt compelled to do this trip by myself for many reasons that are hard to explain; and let me tell you, it was the best decision I've ever made. Let's start with the first day.

Day 1:
I left my little Parisian apartment at 6am on Saturday morning and headed to the bus station to take the hour-long trek to the airport. The voyage to Ireland was smooth sailing and could not have been more perfect, I was very pleased that nothing went awry.

When I landed and I looked around the airport, I had a minor panic attack. I thought to myself, "Holy shit!! I'm in IRELAND with NO plans and I'm ALONE!" All I had done was booked a last minute flight and a hostel and hadn't even thought about what I was actually going to do when I got there. I went to the tourist desk at the airport, with my tail tucked between my legs, and asked the tour information lady for advice. She was the nicest lady ever and she gave me huge stacks of pamphlets, various maps, city guides and transportation information, and pointed me in the direction of the buses that would take me to Dublin. I got on the bus and in about 30 minutes, I was in Dublin.

The Spire.

 

  Conveniently enough, the bus dropped me off right next to my hostel, so it was very easy to find it. I couldn't check in to my hostel yet, but they let me drop my bag off so that I could explore the city.

These terrifying street performers would stand perfectly still until someone would put money in the can. They pretended they were like a jukebox or music box. Once the coin was put in, they would play music and slowly move around. The adorable little Irish girl in the pink was having a blast and spent all of her grandmother's change on these guys.

My hostel was right in the centre of town, all I had to do was cross this bridge to get to one of the main bar areas in Dublin, Temple Bar.

The area known as Temple Bar is full of cool pubs and shops. It's a very vibrant area with a great energy.

As I explored further, I ran into the beautiful Christ Church. It welcomed me into Ireland by chiming it's bells right as I approached it.

Coincidentally, I decided to arrive in Dublin on the day of a huge rugby match between Ireland and France. There were Frenchmen everywhere, I felt right at home. The streets were full of rowdy Irish and Frenchmen who were all dressed in crazy costumes. There was a very exciting, energetic feeling in the air. 





An example of some of the crazy costumes. These Frenchmen said they dressed like this because the French play like dicks. They got many interesting looks.

After exploring the city all day, I returned to the hostel and checked into my room. I was in a room with 11 others, it's a great way to meet people. I was lucky enough to have some really awesome people in my room.

 

At the front desk of the hostel, they were selling tickets to a pub crawl which included a ton of other hostels throughout Dublin. The tickets were 12 euros, which included free entry to 4 or 5 bars, a free beer and what seemed like endless shots.

 

When I first got there, I felt a little awkward because everyone came with groups of their friends, and I was by myself. Luckily, I thrive in awkward situations.

 

I started making the rounds and introducing myself to everyone. I tried talking to this group of American girls but have come to realize that I am not a fan of girls who are fresh from the United States. I quickly lost interest in them and moved on to others. I met two really nice Israeli guys and talked to them for a bit. Once I was done talking to them, I moved on and continued my rounds. And that's when I met the Dutch.

 

There was a group of about 30 (or possibly more) Dutch guys who were in Dublin with their university to tour Google, Microsoft, and various other computer-related places. For the majority of the time that we were at the first bar, I spent my time talking to the ever-so-charming Imko!

 

 

He was nice enough to invite me into his group and we all stuck together for the remainder of the night. This lovely group of guys were so much fun and made for a memorable first night in Dublin.

 

Some breathtakingly beautiful karaoke was done that night.....



By the end of the night, the pub crawl had taken us from bar to bar and I had completely lost track of where we were. I told my beloved Dutch guys that I would be okay finding my hostel on my own, and began to wander the streets of Dublin alone at around 1am. Luckily, I was in a city that actually spoke my language (what a concept), so I asked a lovely couple where the Liffey River was, and they pointed me in the right direction. After about 30 minutes of walking, I was safe and sound in my hostel. My first day/night in hostel was absolutely amazing and really set the mood for the rest of my trip.