7/11 Top o' the Morning to Ya!

I woke up to a super hot room. Rooming with 2 stinky French guys and 3 others with no open windows meant our room smelled like ass. It was about 9 AM and I had not had a very good night's sleep; springs from the mattress dug in my back all night, some dude snored like a chainsaw, and it must have been 90 degrees in our room.

I immediately grabbed some clothes and went to take a shower. Having no clean underwear, I decided it was going to be a bathing suit bottom kind of day. My goal by the end of the day was to either buy more underwear or do some laundry.

After my shower, I packed my backpack for the day and went downstairs for breakfast, which was included. There were only 2 choices: toast and cereal. I settled for some Cocoa Krispie type of cereal. Afterwards, I asked the girl working the desk which was the closest location to catch my hop on- hop off bus. She directed me to the front of St. Stephen's green, a park just up the street from my hostel. As I walked up, a bus was approaching. I got right on and went up to the open top.

We made our way through the city, passing sights such as St. Patrick's Cathedral, parliament house, Chtistchurch Cathedral, and the Liffey river. My first hop off stop: the Guinness storehouse! I had pre-purchased my ticket and got a discount so I printed it out and started my tour.

The storehouse is divided up into 7 split levels. Each one having a different theme, from advertising to how Guinness is made. I took my time looking at all of the plaques. There were a lot of tours there with high school aged students, which I thought was very strange. The kids were really obnoxious so I did all I could to avoid them.

I finally got to the Gravity Bar which gives you a 360 degree view of Dublin. It was a cloudy day but you could still see out pretty far. I got my free pint of Guinness which was carefully poured by the bartender. I had to get a picture of me with the Guinness so I approached a couple I had overheard speaking English and asked them. The woman took my picture and then we started chatting. Turns out, they are from Claremont, CA and have been to Ireland many times. They asked me about my travels and gave me recommendations of things to do and see. They were traveling with another couple who joined us shortly after.

After finishing as much as I could of my drink, we decided to part ways. I headed back down to catch my bus. Both couples also happened to be taking the same bus tour. We all boarded the bus for the next stop: Killmainham Gaol (jail).

I got to buy a discounted student ticket because I remembered to pack my Sac State I'D card. I checked out the museum downstairs first before the tour started.

The tour took us through the over 200 year old jail. Some of the highlights included the chapel, the huge room with over 90 jail cells, and individual cells that housed many different leaders of the Irish rebellions. Our tour guide, Rosemary, told us tons of stories about some of the reasons the prisoners were in there (ie stealing flowers... And peas!) and some of the ages of the inmates (ie an 8 year old locked up for stealing a chain!) We also got to see the sight of many of the hanging executions... And the holding rooms the criminals were kept in right before they were going to be hung. Cool stuff!

I then made my way to the bus stop. Next stop: Jameson distillery. I got kind of lost once I got off the bus but eventually I figured it out. I bought my ticket and waited 30 mins for my tour. Once it started, we went to a room Yo watch a short video. The guide then asked for volunteers to do a whiskey tasting. Did I raise my hand and get picked? Duh!

The tour was interesting and showed the whiskey making process, which seemed semi-similar to beer except that the whiskey is stored in barrels, among other things. At the end of the tour, 7 other volunteers and myself got our free drinks (Jameson and cran.... Mmmm!) and then did our tastings... We compared 3 whiskeys: Jack, Johnnie Walker black label, and Jameson. My fave? Jameson. And no they didn't pay me to say that. I even got a certificate that says I'm an official taste tester! Holler!

After not eating all day and being tired, I made my way back to the bus wanting to get back to the hostel so I could eat. The bus took forever to show up. I had to ride it until we got back to my stop on the loop, which was 10 stops away. An hour later, I finally got off at the park near my hostel. Not wanting to go back and do laundry, I made my way to a mall at the end of Grafton St. to look for underwear. I found a store similar to a Mervyns and bought a 5 pack for 5 euro! (is it weird that the label on them says "do not expose to flame. Flammable"?????)

I got back to the hostel, heated up my leftover Chinese from the night before, and finished it in about 2 mins. I also started chatting with a girl who is originally from SF but now lives in New Orleans. She had been all over eastern Europe and was finishing het trip soon. It was free crepe and ice cream night so we both decided to partake in some dessert. I then called home, confirmed my train tour for the next day, and went up to my room to get my backpack ready for the next day.

There was a guy sleeping in the bottom bunk who was sleeping any time I went to my room. He finally woke up around 9 when I was done with my shower and packing my backpack for the next day. Turns out he's from Canada and had Bern traveling for 5 weeks. He had just gotten in from London that day and I'm thinking he was still drunk from the night before. We chatted for a lil bit but I told him I had to go to bed because I was leaving at 6:15 the next morning. He was going to get dinner so I suggested the good Chinese place. He took off and I went to bed. The only sound I heard while falling asleep were the stinky French guys getting ready to go out.