Hello, and happy Sunday! I hope all of you have had a wonderful week! This past week I had finals and my break before my internship starts tomorrow. The exams were fine, but stressful to prepare for; however, it was all worth it to finally make it to break! I went to Ireland and Scotland with my roommate, and we had the absolute best time!
On Wednesday we landed in Dublin and arrived at our hostel. You never really know what to expect when you stay in hostels in Europe, but this was one was actually one of the better ones I have seen, heard of, and/or stayed in. It was in a great location, being right in the center of Dublin. We literally were a five to ten minute walk from everything we wanted to see.
Upon our arrival, we decided to bite the bullet and find a tourist center. I mean, no point in lying to ourselves: we were students traveling to a foreign country with no sense of what to do or where to start. We got a detailed map and picked up a few brochures on day tours to do around the area. Dublin was beautiful in an urban way, but I had always heard that the country side of Ireland is where the real sights are. We unfolded our map and picked a few points of interest.
Our first stop was St. Patrick’s cathedral, a beautiful church in honor of St. Patrick. After a few snap shots and a look around, we decided to visit the world famous Guinness factory. Firstly, let me apologize for spelling Guinness wrong in my last post. I should have researched that more carefully. Secondly, let me say that I do not particularly care for Guinness, but was fascinated with the factory. Guinness is the famous beer of Ireland. The factory is open to visitors, and on the tour the people learn the story of Arthur Guinness and the process of how he started brewing to how the company does it now. You even get a free pint at the end of the tour at the bar located at the top of the factory. The bar has a 360 degree view where you can look out and see all of Dublin, a view that stretches to the mountains.
The next day we booked a day bus tour to the Irish country side. I cannot even put into the words the beauty that I saw. The mountains were breath taking and the water was so smooth and clear that you could see the reflection of the sky upon it, even down to each detail of every passing cloud. I had never seen something so purely untouched by man. There were no buildings, no people, just acres of land, grass, and beauty. I fell in love with Ireland instantly.
Lake Guinness
The tour also took us to a small, mountain village where we saw two lochs, the upper loch and the lower loch (really creative names). The lochs are where directors filmed some scenes for the movie “Leap Year,” a film starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode that came out in 2010. On a sidenote, I recommend this movie if you’re ever in the mood for a feel good movie. It is completely impossible, but ridiculously heartwarming. Moving on… The village also had remnants of a monastery that had been destroyed by the Vikings long ago.
Upper Loch
The night brought with it new friends and new places. My friend and I made ourselves a small dinner in the hostel and then headed into downtown Dublin to do our own pub crawl. At our first stop we met a few nice Irish people and listened to some live music. Our next stop was a club, but it looked like a pub from the outside. To be honest, we really didn’t mind. After a great day outside, we were in the mood to dance! Apparently the club had been rented out by a bunch of students who attend DIT Dublin (one of the universities), so we got to party with Irish college students! Irish people are so incredibly friendly and I hopefully made some friends that I will stay in touch with.
The next morning we got up early and boarded our flight for Scotland. I wish I could tell you that this went smoothly, but I guess we had a bit of bad luck headed our way after such a flawless time in Ireland. First, the plane landed at the most random airport in Glasgow. There was not even a customs desk to stamp our passports… sketch. After taking a look around and absorbing all of the Ryanair posters, we figured that the airport mostly existed just so Ryanair had a cheap airport to fly in and out of, since Ryanair is known for its cheap airfare.
We took the train into Glasgow and asked all around for directions to our hostel. No one at the train station seemed to know what we were talking about. It wasn’t a very promising situation. We finally found a worker who was willing to dig out a huge map of Scotland and find out where our hostel was. One underground ride and twenty minute walk later and we had arrived. The sight before us was a nightmare. Our hostel was located in a part of Glasgow that I can only describe as seemingly unsafe. It was clearly not a good side of town and very far from central Glasgow. The hostel was surrounded with barbed wire. All of these things were not mentioned in the blurb on the hostel booking website. In fact, the website was very misleading and I intend on writing a letter.
We put our bags away and decided to explore around to maybe find out what exactly the area we were in was like. To be honest, we were a little fearful and considering cancellation. Thankfully, we found a nice café with free wi-fi. A cup of tea and hour of wi-fi later and we were restored. We looked at our situation and thought, “Hey, this is traveling. This is exploring, and this is the situation.” It would only get better if we wanted it to. So, we made plans to visit Edinburgh the next day and have a fabulous time, and we did.
We got up early on Saturday and took the train into Edinburgh. I don’t think I have ever walked so much in my life! We saw Edinburgh castle, the Scotland National Gallery, the birthplace of Harry Potter (I’m a nerd—go with it), the Scottish Whiskey Experience, and climbed King Arthur’s seat. Depending on how you look at it, King Arthur’s seat is either a miniature mountain or a really big hill. My feet may have hated me by the end of the day, but I have never seen so much in such a short period of time. We must have walked the city at least three times, absorbing all it had to offer.
King Arthur’s Seat
All in all, it was a great few days. I had never been to Ireland before, and I honestly wish I was still there. The people were so friendly and it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There is so much history and pride in the country. The people seem to really love their home and welcome new friends.
I also learned a valuable lesson during the trip. The accommodation situation in Scotland could have been detrimental to our trip. It truly was a very discouraging scene to walk into. However, my friend and I took the conflict at hand and looked at in a mature way, and ended up having a great stay in Scotland. I think that is part of what being abroad is all about: taking an unpredictably problematic situation and tweaking it so that it works. You have to be bigger than the problem, and the satisfaction in knowing that you treated it with the best attitude you have will make the experience even more memorable. I am a student traveling to foreign places, so of course I will encounter unfortunate circumstances along the way, but the important thing is that I know how to deal with them.
Now I am about to go to sleep and having my first day of work tomorrow. I am very nervous for the internship, but I know it will be a great experience. As of right now, I will be starting out in the editorial department of Simon and Schuster, so I will let you know how that all goes next week. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I will talk to you soon!