Day 57: or The First Day In Dublin

I woke up around 8:00 this morning. I was a little afraid I would be tired, and I had a 10:35 train, so I needed to make sure I factored in plenty of time. Everyone else in my room got up around the same time, which was helpful because people it got me up too. There was a small breakfast of toast and cereal downstairs. I looked for the coffee, but found the tea first, and thought, “when in Rome”, or Belfast as the case may be. I also found peanut butter, which we don’t have in France. Well, it’s there, but it has one of the highest markups of any America product, so essentially it doesn’t exist. Have I mentioned before that I’m cheap? I can’t help converting what it would be in USD and it just isn’t worth it. Back to the point. I had peanut butter toast, one of my go-to’s at home. I left the hostel at 9:15 and moseyed through Belfast where I happened upon Stanfield St, without an “S”, but close enough. Not the best part of town, but I was determined to at least get a picture of a sign. Mission Accomplished

I had purchased my ticket online and got a special “web fare”. They said if you didn't have the voucher, your ticket would be void. Apparently they don’t ship the vouchers internationally, so the stress was back.  A women I had emailed said that I could pick it up at the station, so I was all set to talk to 3 people and be totally confused. First man I walked up to asked for my name, and on the top of the pile right next to him was my voucher. Awesome. No hassle whatsoever.  I got a good seat on the train, with a table and more room, and as the train filled up, an older couple sat across from me. I was on my computer and had my headphones in, so I smiled and made room. When the train pulled away, I told them it was my first train ride, I don’t count commuter trains, and we continued to talk the whole 2 hour ride. They were from Belfast, going to the south for their 54th anniversary. I told them multiple times how impressive that was. 

At Dublin Castle

The weather was perfect. The forecast had said overcast, but it ended up being gorgeous. It was a great trip down the coast and I feel like I really got to see Ireland. And it looks exactly like imagined. Sheep, hedges, rolling hills, and very green. I really lucked out with the weather, made it much more enjoyable than it could have been.

I got to Dublin and walked to the hostel. The train station is located in central Dublin and was a nice walk down the river to Oliver St. John Gogarty’s. Quite a name. At the hostel in Belfast, I didn’t meet anyone because I checked in so late, so I was hoping that by being there all day, I would cross paths with the people in my room. I could tell from their bags that they were boys, and just hoped they wouldn’t snore as bad as the guys from the night before. I left the hostel and went to a chip shop that is fairly popular. There was an open market and they were grilling burgers that smelled amazing, but I was determined to eat local fare. It was a hard miss. I ate my fish and chips as I walked to the Guinness factory. I spent a good 2 hours walking around and enjoyed my free pint overlooking the city. They say it’s the best view of Dublin, you can see from one end of the city to the other. Afterwards, I walked back, and again the room was empty. Bummer. 

My pint and clover

Not 5 minutes later there was a knock at the door and 3 English guys walked in. We said our introductions and they proceeded to insist I join them and their friends for one of the wives 30th birthday. They were from Norfolk and they were with 5 girls. I may even be related to 2 of them. A pair of sisters with the last name England, small world. We grabbed dinner at a pub and headed to the bar on the bottom floor of the hostel. They had an Irish band playing and the whole thing was just what you’d expect. I somehow managed to get in an argument with a doormen about Ohio State University. He claimed it was the best school (what?), and then he proceeded to tell me his reason was because they had the prettiest girls. I don’t know how I get myself in these situations. We got back to the room a little later and I consider the day a complete success. I’m treating these little weekend excursions as test runs for places I will visit again. Ireland passed.

The group outside our hostel