So, it’s been a hectic couple of days here in Ireland. I got home Sunday night from Edinburgh (It was amazing! Pictures coming soon, I promise!). I had classes on Monday, then at 7:30 am I was on a bus to Dublin to see my big sis and her friend who had flown in the week earlier while I was in Scotland (oops!). Anyway, they wandered around on their own and saw more of the west of Ireland than I have so far so it was really cool to catch up and hear about her adventures and see her pictures.
So, to continue the story, I got into Dublin at 11:30 at Heuston Station. See, here the Internet lied to me. I was told (by the Internet) that this bus stop was close to my hostel. It was not. So, Lauren (the sister) and Kevin (the friend) walk like 20 minutes to find me. Anyway, they find me and we hug and I squeal cause it was sooooo exciting to see her! She lives a few hours away from me so I don’t see her that often anymore, so it was absolutely wonderful to see her!!!!
Lauren and Kevin decided that since we’re close to the Guinness Storehouse that that’s what they’re going to do. Since I already did the Storehouse, I plopped my butt in a Subway and got some lunch!
Once they were done at Guinness, we headed off to the Old Jameson Distillery! I hadn’t done this yet (and I like whiskey more than beer) so I was super excited to go!
This is Bill, our tour guide!
So, the tour was at the old location for Jameson. They work up in Midleton now, but the building used to be the old distillery. You got to start in the grainroom and work up to the stills, going through the whole process of how Jameson Whiskey is made. The only thing I remember is that it’s triple distilled (that’s how it gets its smoothness) and that when its maturing in the barrels, the part that evaporates is the “angel’s share” since it evaporates and goes into Heaven for the angels to have a party!
After the main part of the tour, we were ushered into a room where we got to do a whiskey tasting, measuring Jameson against scotch whiskey and american whiskey. I’m partial to the Jameson but I have also been drinking it for basically three months now.
Our whiskey samplings!
And my favorite, Jameson!
After the sampling, you were ushered into the bar where you received a complimentary drink. We all got Jameson and Ginger, which have become my favorite drink since I got here!
Me and my sis Lauren and our Jameson and Gingers!
After we were done at the Old Jameson Distillery, we headed up to Christ Church Cathedral and Dublinia, the viking museum! I was super excited to go to Dublinia since I missed it the last time I was in Dublin! And I love Vikings so it was a win-win!
You were greeted at the door by this handsome fellow and his longship!
This museum was incredible! It was all models everywhere! It was like real Vikings! The first floor was all about the Vikings in Dublin, followed on the next floor about Viking life. You got to go into old houses, see old tools and clothes, then go over to the shipyards!
The next floor was more medieval. It included diseases and a fair! It continued the history up to more modern times.
The fair included games you could play so here we are playing ring toss with rings made out of rope!
The next floor took us to modern times and showed how the old Viking ruins and objects were excavated. It also showed how the Vikings inspired modern day things, like movies and fashion.
My favorite series, The Lord of the Rings, has some Viking inspiration!
Dublinia is connected to Christ Church Cathedral through a sky-bridge, so naturally we took the sky bridge into the cathedral! Dublinia was really fun for me to explore. I have Irish history eeking out of my pores and a lot of the people mentioned in the exhibits were people I’ve learned about since being here!
Lauren and I on the sky-bridge!
The cathedral was built in the 10th century by Sitric Silkbeard!
The baptismal font
Some old decorative stonework from the original exterior.
After exploring the main floor of the cathedral, we realized you could go down into the crypts, so that’s where we headed next! There were tombs, graves, other macabre things, and some of the church’s old treasures!
Apparently, one of my favorite shows “The Tudors” filmed several scenes in Christ Church Cathedral, so there was an exhibit with costumes from the show! I don’t think my behavior was befitting for being in a church when I noticed this was down there!
(I’m not sure why it’s sideways or how to fix it, but that’s a close-up of one of the scenes they filmed in the church: Anne’s coronation!
My favorite Natalie Dormer (Anne Bolyne) wore that blue dress, and there’s a painting of Jonathon Rhys-Myers (King Henry VIII) from the show!
Kevin decided to lay down in one of the sarcophaguses that were open.
This is one of the cathedral’s most famous exhibits: a mummified cat and mouse. Apparently, they fell down a sewage drain and were mummified and were later found when renovations were happening on the church!
The Viking Strongbow is buried here, as in Strongbow Cider!
The original structure of the cathedral! From the 10th century!
So, after the cathedral, we wandered around to different pubs and bars before finding somewhere to get dinner. I tried lamb rogan josh for the first time! Or as Lauren likes to call it “Josh Groban.” It was a little but spicy but delicious!
After dinner, we went looking for another bar and I took them across the bridge to see the G.P.O where the 1916 Easter Rising happened. If you remember from my other post on Dublin, this is were the Irish made their last stand against the British before surrendering. The 12 leaders were later shot in cold-blood by the British. At the G.P.O you can still see bullet holes in the pillars and walls out front.
I then gave them a little lesson on Micheal Collins and Eamon de Velera, since they factor into the after-effects of the Rising (like I said, Irish history oozing out of me!).
We decided we needed one more drink before bed, and settle on a super cute little pub called Poet’s Corner! It was right up my alley!
And then at the table we sat at was a picture of Micheal Collins, which was super ironic!
After our drink, they dropped me at my hostel and we said our goodbyes. I shared a room with a lovely bunch of Swedish women, and was up at 6 am to catch my bus back to Dungarvan. Now, let me tell you, I had no luck with the bus system today. I missed the 7:30 bus because I was on the wrong side of the street. So caught the 9:30 one, no big deal. It’s a three hour drive to Waterford where I had to change buses. Well, my next bus never showed up so I was stuck in Waterford until 3 pm when another bus finally showed up. I finally ended up getting back to Dungarvan at 4, but what should ave taken 4 hours took 8 hours. I am not a happy camper, but I captured some pretty pictures on my way back!
Anyway, that’s enough from me tonight! I have some adulting to do tomorrow (a.k.a touring a potential grad school!!!!) so I’m signing off!
Takeoffs and Landings 