Europe.. Dublin, Ireland..the beginning.

So... as promised, I am blogging about my trip as I can :)  It has been a crazy journey so far... and its only been 3 days :)

First off... both of our flights were very, very good.  Having not ever flown that long in one single flight, I was a bit nervous.. But, it was good.  We watched 21 JumpStreet (Sarah!!!!!)... Who wouldn’t mind a little Channing Tatum on their flight to pass the time ;)
They served us some awesome dinner followed by us both taking some sleeping meds to pass out for the flight.  Poor Meg didn’t hardly sleep but I got myself a good hour or so in.

Arriving in Dublin airport it was quite different.  Already loving all the accents except for these two immature crazy girls in line behind us...way to valley girl.  When we arrived I saw these two twin boys who had the same punk haircut walking with some big guy.  I thought to myself that they looked “Famous”. Well, as soon as we got out of customs there was a swarm of young teenage girls going nuts... yes, it was the two guys.  Apparently, they are the “Justin Beiber” of the UK.  Oh, well...

We found our bus and made it to the bus stop... I was quite out of sorts being that I was carrying so much and my luggage was a bit heavy.  However, Meg was nice and stopped as I needed... and boy was it chilly!
I was kind of disappointed because it didn’t really seem that much different than America.  I remember thinking “Where are the cottages?!?!?!” but, when we got inside our hostel and met some cool people at the front desk I felt more foreign. :)

They were kind enough to let us get a locker and put our stuff there while we waited for our room to be ready.  We crashed on the couch in the theater basement for 3hrs.  BIG MISTAKE!

We went to eat dinner at this cool little pub called “O’Sheas”... it was good!!!!  The ketchup here tastes SOOO different.  But it was all lovely.

We met up with our roomates... Fanny from Canada... Teddy and Olga from Bulgaria.  They were pretty cool.  We all went pub crawling that night.. I didn’t really enjoy it as much cuz I was a cranky pants and I don’t like beer :p but it was still a good experience!

Unfortunately, that night we could not sleep a wink.... I think we both got maybe 3hrs before we had to get up again and get to our bus for Galway and the Cliffs of Moher.  

The bus ride was FREEZING but everyone on the bus was super nice. :)  We made a coffee stop (thank God...) and then on our merry way.  We stopped on the side of a road and got a new tour guide (that was a little unsettling) but he turned out to be the coolest tour guide I have ever been with anywhere!  His name was Paul.  He made it known it twice.

We then made it to Galway and it was raining and chilly.... Fiona (love it!) was our guide.  It was pretty cool listening to all the history of Galway.  Its pretty amazing how much comes from here.  We went into the church of St. Nicholas where Christopher Columbus came to pray often before he discovered America....and also the home church of Jane Eyre.  Lots of history in there...

We walked around some more and it was just all fascinating and beautiful.  We went and ate at this pub while we were waiting to go to the Cliffs... Meg was able to get in a good hour nap... but I was thinking “Sheesh you are missing out on the ride and scenery!” but I nudged her and she did not budge.  Oh, well... at least I got to see it ;)

When we were eating Meg and our little Canadian friend had a disagreement on if you should carry around cash or not.  When Meg walked away she asked me how long were we traveling together and this is why she travels alone. hahaha.... I let Meg do all the dirty work, because I’m just too nice ;)

When we got to the cliffs of Moher it took our breath away.. Seriously, seeing what all God has created in other areas of the world is completely amazing.  It really does make you think and appreciate Him all the more.  It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my whole life.

Thank God we got there when we did because an hour later it was so misty and rainy you couldn’t even see 100yards in front of you.  It forced us to all go into the “hobbit holes” as I call them... the gift shops built into the hills...which is where we met Mr. Kentucky.  He was being alittle nosey butting into our discussion on whether or not I would get charged if I used my phone on WiFi or not... He chatted Meg up for like 15mins about mostly himself and his adventures... of course Meg butted in alot.  Made for each other? Yes.  While I felt like the third awkward wheel standing there, the guys dad came up and said “Well, son.. who are your friends here”... and well, thats how they got our names. But he definitely didn’t care about mine haha.  We didn’t catch his name which is why he is Mr. Kentucky because that is where he was from.

From there we went to visit more sites... we went to some 1,000 yr old tombs where we were just minding our own business when I spot a flower... Meg asked if you could eat those hahahaa... Well, I picked it.  And out of no where came this guard with some stick yelling at us.  He was pointing at me saying how “Nobody can ever enjoy this flower again” because I picked it...and it was a big fine.  And he was so mad he just walked off.... Too bad he said we should have read the signs that were NOT there.  I was so ashamed :(

Then we went to the circles that were really old made by Celtic tribes and they were off the beaten path of the tour but Paul our guide knew they had just cleared it up and we were one of the firsts to see it.

On the way back it was definitely freezing.... but good.

We took another nap on the way back, and that was also another mistake... we could NOT sleep again last night.  Oh, well.... we slept in this morning and finally woke up.  We got up and our new roomies (who we don’t know their names) had left some smelllllly chinese food in here and I think I am DYING of the smell... They should be evicted.

We went to the Jameson Distillery today and the Guiness Brewery.  It was tons of fun.  The Jameson was pretty cool... Meg volunteered to be a taste tester for the end of the tour.  She did good... pouring all 3 whiskeys into her one glass of Cranberry juice and Jameson whiskey... James (our guide) said he had never seen anyone do that and everyone got a good laugh.

After, we went and ate the best Irish cheeseburgers we’ve ever had!  We just got back and are pretty tired.... we found out that our ferry might not be running tomorrow so I hope it doesn’t keep us from moving on to London!

All this being said, I LOVE IRELAND!  Its gorgeous and I would love to stay here.  Everyone (besides the flower nazi) here are the NICEST people in the world!  And their accents are incredible. :)

Alright folks.. hope you have enjoyed a little bit of this journey we have started ;) Will try to blog the day before we leave every place while its all fresh on my mind. :)

As they say here in Ireland “Thanks a million...’ ;0)