Irish Eyes are Smilin’

And for the record, those are my eyes, and though they are not biologically Irish, it has been confirmed – I am Irish at heart.

I arrived to my almost-fully-Irish-best-friend Whitney, on Wednesday morning after nearly 24 hours of travel, and over many more without a good night’s sleep. Needless to say, we took it pretty easy Wednesday, cleaning up, takin a nap and getting myself situated at Whitney’s in Dublin. She lives right off of one of the shopping districts right in downtown Dublin, down an ally called Jervis Lane. It’s a two bedroom with four roommates, all from Canada, and massively high ceilings.

Early, early the next day, Whitney and I took off for Belfast. So I had barely been in the Republic of Ireland for a day, before I was in Northern Ireland. As we took the bus through the country side, I couldn’t help but look in awe at how GREEN the country is . . . first hint that I belong. The funny thing is, I didn’t notice much for crop land, it all just seemed to be grazing for the cattle and sheep. Cattle didn’t seem to be in specifically bred herds either, with Holsteins, Angus’ and other breeds all munchin away side by side.

We arrived into Belfast starving at noon so went in search of someplace to eat. Right outside the Europa Hotel and the Grand Opera House, where the bus brought us, was the Crown Bar, this magnificent looking Victorian Saloon. Whitney and I quickly agreed that this would do for lunch. We step into a beautiful dining room, with stall like booths, and are directed upstairs. We ordered some delicious Irish Stew and coffee. Well delicious Irish Stew anyhow – the coffee must have had 4 shots of whiskey in it, and at noon, I couldn’t quite stomach it all. We left in search of some sterling and information.

After exchanging our money, and visiting an info center, we both came to realize that the Crown Bar is actually the best bar to visit in Dublin – it was clear why, but the two of us figured that our taste is pretty good to have figured it out without being told.

We spent the day milling around, visiting some Botanical Gardens at the university, different memorials around town and what not. We left our stuff at our hostel for the evening and found a good supper at the Deers Head, from which we were directed to Irish music at the Robinson Arms institution – a series of 6 connected pubs which also connects to the Crown. So we go and enjoy – I tested several Irish beers, and though I still cannot finish a Guinness for my life (and I have been practicing!), I did find a good lager to enjoy. We made our way back to the music, of which we knew most of the words to most of the songs, a fact I found to be both ironic and hilarious. Whitney eventually convinced me that the 50+ crowd wasn’t our style and we found a bar to sit down and wind down our night. We left for home, but not before extended conversations with security (friendly, no worries) and strangers on the street.

The next day, again, found us awake and getting ready for the day before 7am. The weather was ominous for the trek to the north we were about to make, and downpour started while we were having our MacDonald’s breakfast. We purchased a rambler ticket, which allowed us limitless access to all Northern Ireland's transit options for the day, including buses, city buses, trains and even touring vehicles at various spots.

So we make our way up to Coulraine, N. Ireland, where we caught a bus to Portrush. However, the bus driver told us that what we should have done was take the train, so we spent our time on the bus just enjoying the country side. Then we caught the train, only to find out that we were brought to the same place as before. We caught a cab and went to the Giant's Causeway, one of the 7 Natural World Wonders of the world. As you can tell by some of the included picutres - it was spectacular. . . the water was wild, the wind was strong and it hailed for a few minutes, but the scenery was unexplicably beautiful, with strange stone pillars naturally forming a series of hexogonial shapes in the ground, with more than 37,000 of them. The causeway was formed 60 million years ago by molten lava cooling and shrinking as it came in contact with the atmosphere. Legend has it, however, that the Giant’s Causeway was constructed by the great Irish giant, Finn MacCool, to be used as stepping stones to Scotland. It was just mind boggling. . .

From there, Whitney and I were lucky to catch a train back to Belfast, and a bus back to Dublin. I am an absolute sucker for all things Irish - I definitely own my own flag already. . . it's just been a pity that rugby isn't played all year around.

I will be here until Tuesday night, when I am catching a flight to London, and Wednsday will be heading to Burkina Faso! I promise you keep you posted. For those of you with facebook, I will be posting pictures of the next few days in Ireland.

(PS I am having difficulty posting the pictures, so they will be up asap! Thanks for checkin it out friends!)