We arrived at Eindhoven shortly before 2 and hopped on a shuttle to the airport. Usually we fly through the airport routines, but this was the first time we may have actually needed the full two hours we plan to spend lingering in the non-priority boarding line. Alas, we made it through the airport, after having our passports checked 6 or 7 times more than usual and waited for our gate to open. At about 3:15 I got up to get a drink of water and check for our gate. When I looked at the screen, I saw something about "immigration" by our flight. That's weird... I'm not planning on moving to Ireland, just chasing men and sheep for a weekend. Then I turned the corner and saw the very large line of people we had been mocking for the past 20 minutes: Immigration-- aka another passport check. So, we got in that line, had our passports checked yet again, and then strategically located ourselves in prime position to get on the plane.
Our flight landed in Dublin around 5:15pm. We went through customs there and headed out to catch our bus-- what we presumed would be large, green, and driven by a red-head. Well, only one of these were true. The cutest little Irish man popped out of a small, white van-- speaking with the rich Irish accent and a leprechaun-like grin on his face. These were the people we came to see! We hopped on the van (after being reminded the boarding side was on the left, not the right side, of the vehicle) and headed to Paddy's Palace on our first Paddy wagon vehicle of the weekend.
Paddy's Palace, sounds interesting right? Well, this was my first hostel experience. I had been avoiding them all semester for 2 reasons: horror stories I had heard and horror stories I had created in my mind. Also, hostels aren't usually that much cheaper than hotels (especially when you book hotels the way we do), and if I can help it, I'm not sharing a bedroom with strangers. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by friendly, rich accented staff. We checked in, paid for our lockers and towels, and checked out the kitchen scene. Perfect: a place to cook for ourselves! As typical Americans, we cooked tacos (minus Sarah and her chicken salad) and drank pop. It was delicious... about the only thing from the hostel experience I really enjoyed. Even though this hostel came with the full package (cheap tours, wi-fi, kitchen, breakfast), I still don't enjoy sleeping with strangers, using showers after couples get out of them, only having 1 dinky mirror in the entire hostel, and dirtiness. Even though nothing horrible happened, I can honestly say after this weekend, I don't intend to sleep in a hostel ever again.
When we woke up Friday morning, we hopped on what we envisioned a Paddy Wagon to look like: bright green Asian-style tour bus. However, the tour guide was not what we anticipated-- he had dark/graying hair... not red. At least he still had the accent as he said, "Follow me to the Paddy Wagon, folks!" We got on board and departed to pick up the other Paddy Wagon tourists. Because we were in the middle of the bus, we didn't engage as much with this tour guide as he led us through the western part of Ireland to see various castles, abbeys, small villages, and finally-- the cliffs of Moher. We sat back, enjoyed the scenery, and got a few naps in. Words cannot describe the beauty that fell upon my eyes in the land of Ireland, but I'll try my best. That fairy tale image I mentioned at first was completely accurate. Everything was flourishing with green grass and peaceful creatures roaming the rolling hills and enjoying the weather (slightly sunny, a very nice day for the Irish). The stone walls weaved through the landscape and sheep, just like you'd see in the movies. The castles, though much smaller than I imagined, looked as though someone plucked them out of a Disney movie and dropped them into the fields we drove by. And this was just the country side.
Later in the afternoon we arrived at the cliffs of Moher. When we disembarked our bus, it was foggy, but by the time we had climbed to one side of the cliffs, the fog had lifted and we could see the waves crashing on the foot of the meters upon meters high cliffs, also topped with bright greens. As we snapped some photos from this angle, Kaitlyn and I decided to do our usual jumping pictures. Unknowingly, we were joined by some boys. Nothing screams "American" quite like jumping pictures I guess, because they asked us where in America we were from. Turns out they were from the Bay area and here for a rugby tournament. How many people can say they ran into a college rugby team from California while touring the most beautiful cliffs in the world, located in Ireland? I can't imagine very many can say that. We said goodbye to our new friends and made our way to the other side of the cliffs-- the side without a fence, where Sarah and LaRae gave the rest of us a heart attack by playing footsies over the edge. As cool as the photos would have been, knowing my lack of luck, I wouldn't have survived to tell the tale if I tried that.
We made our way back to Dublin and decided to make dinner again that night-- frozen pizzas (minus Sarah's chicken salad again). The next morning was another early tour, this time through the more "authentic" Ireland-- where the gaelic language is still spoken and the sheep roam freely across the roads. This tour bus was much smaller, and we decided we wanted to really live up to our American names-- sit in the front and interact with the tour guide as much as possible. Sarah joined the tour guide in the front seat as the rest of us filled the first 2 rows-- one of the best decisions we ever made. And by "we," I mean everyone except Sarah. Sitting in the front seat gave Tour Guide Sean the impression that our red-headed companion wanted to be his lass. And, boy, was he trying to be her knight in shining armor! Enjoying the scenery and the love story unfolding before our eyes, we made our way up to Cong and visited a ton of abbeys and places to snap photos in Asian swag: hop off the bus, take a picture, hop back on the bus-- story of our weekend.
Unfortunately for the rest of the tourists on this Paddy Wagon, the American dominated the entire tour-- we even managed to get Sean to let us DJ with country music! Sorry, Germans and Italians, but if you have music you want played you have to speak up. If you don't, I guarantee the Americans will step up. After all, it's our tour and we're going to make the most of it. And so we did. Getting us pumped for the nightlife and karaoke bar we had found earlier, Sean played us his American playlist-- complete with Don't Stop Believing and We're in Heaven.
After we got home, we ate and then got ready to hit up Dublin by night. Hopefully we would be joined by the American rugby players we met after I flagged them down to invite them to experience the insanity we expected to experience during the Irish night life. Wearing my green pants and with my Irish lucky charm Finnigen by my side, we headed to O'sheas-- an old Irish pub/restaurant. Unfortunately, this was not what we anticipated, nor was the karaoke bar. However, Temple bar was everything we could have hoped for. It was crowded, filled with Genuiss drinking people enjoying the exceptionally-talented live musicians. It was such a blast, but we realized soon that even the luck of Finnigen would not reunite us with our American rugby friends. So, we headed home and to bed to prepare for our Easter day tour of Dublin.
Sunday morning we all did our own things. Sarah and I explored some of the city while the other girls slept in a bit. Then 4 of us joined the locals for their Easter Rising parade, complete with seeing their mayor AND president, while Sarah attended a church service. Typical Easter, no. Lovely Easter, yes. The weather was a bit chilly, but the delicious Irish breakfast and company made it all the while worth it. However, after awhile we realized we had seen everything in Dublin and decided to depart for the airport... 4 hours early for our flight. We sat in our gate, browsed the internet, ate, and made sure we were the first on the plane by sitting in the line for non-priority boarding over an hour before boarding started. As they began boarding, the other 4 girls got on the plane without a problem. I, however, had left my purse out of my bag and had to compress my belongings into one bag... not an easy task when you have a famous beer glass from a famous bar and a small man in your bag. After that small delay, we disembarked for London-- the land of my fairy tale: Harry Potter.
We walked to our hostel, checked in with the assistance of the most beautiful Brit I have ever seen, and had a drink as we mapped out our tour of London led by tour guide Kaitlyn who had been to London before. This hostel was even more interesting that the last. Even though it had that great Britain vibe, the fact that I was sharing a room with 19 strangers (mostly men) and only one other person I knew, was a bit much for me. Sharing a bathroom is one thing, but when you have 20 plus people crowding in it and have to pay 5 lbs for a towel, that's where I draw the line. Free breakfast is great, but unless I'm wide awake and not concerned about my well-being, I never want to be surrounded by men in Britain like that again.
We woke up, ate breakfast and got ready to see the city of London on foot. When we departed, the bartenders told us to enjoy the rain. What would London be without a little bit of rain? Well, it would have been much more enjoyable to walk around and my first pair of shoes for the day would have made it home. Regardless, I was in heaven. We walked through Hyde Park, saw the queen's palace, and then split up for a bit. My mock Toms couldn't handle the rain any longer, so I went back to the hostel and changed into my boots and met up with the group back at Big Ben, where it was still raining. Along the way, though, I stumbled upon a few Harry Potter attractions-- cars and buses with Harry Potter tour adds on the side. The thought of being in the city of Harry Potter just makes my heart race. I've been reading these books every summer for years, seen the movies countless times, and finally-- I've landed myself in the setting of some of the most read, well-known, brilliantly written books across the world.
During our Olympic-paced sprint through London, we saw all of the must-sees in London: Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, etc. Around 2 pm the other girls left for their train, but LaRae and I had until 4am to see whatever we needed to. So, we began walking towards the Bank of England, thinking it could have been in Harry Potter... it wasn't. We then made our way to St. Paul's cathedral. It was beautiful, but our feet and bodies were getting tired and starting to lack appreciation for the beauty of this city, and I still hadn't even scratched the surface of my Harry Potter sights! Luckily we found a tourist booth that told us to get day passes to hop on and off the public transportation. This was so helpful. By 7pm we had seen everything on our list. Here's what else we all saw:
After an hour of searching-- the Leaky Cauldron
Diagon Alley
Gringotts Bank
Abbey Road
Kings Cross (and of course Platform 9 3/4)
and our attractive bartender/hostel man
We ended the day with McDonald's, a drink, sore feet, exhausted bodies, but satisfied souls. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of our traveling day. We departed for the airport at 9:30pm, arrived just before 11, and made camp in the lobby with other early morning travelers too cheap to book a hotel for 5 hours of sleep. At 4am we woke up and got in line for security, boarded our flight, arrived in Amsterdam at 8am, went through customs, and barely got on our 8:20am train back to Zwolle. As the conductor came by, I prayed Finnigen would pull through again as I knew my card hadn't clocked in because I had minimal cash left on it... but it didn't work. So, I got kicked off the train in Hilversum, put some more money on my card, and arrived in Zwolle shortly after 10, biked home in the rain, took a shower, and headed to Kees's class.
So, what did I learn from this weekend?
Ireland taught me that Irish people are insane, breakfast is obviously their most important meal, dancing is not nearly as beautiful as their accents, and fairy tales really do exist-- just look at their land.
Ireland taught me that Irish people are insane, breakfast is obviously their most important meal, dancing is not nearly as beautiful as their accents, and fairy tales really do exist-- just look at their land.
London taught me that my love for Harry Potter overcomes even the most uncomfortable walk of my life, public transportation is just as wonderful as I always thought it was, and having a roommate determined to help me see all my Harry Potter sights and accompany me for a sleepover in an airport is a blessing.
Another successful weekend of traveling-- check.
LOVED Ireland - especially the haunting beauty of the Cliffs of Moher. And glad to hear you are not going to be staying at hostels any more - (yes, those horror stories are too true)
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