Ireland has always been somewhat of a romanticized country for me. Many films I have seen have depicted the lush, green hills of the countryside and the to-die-for Irish accents and rugged appeal of the Irish men. So naturally, when presented with a bit of free time and friends who were up for the adventure, I booked my ticket to Dublin.
Traveling, as always, is a process for Franklin students. First we walk our luggage down the hill to the train station - an hour ride to Milan and then an hours bus ride to Bergamo, where we unsuccessfully try to sleep on the cold tile floor of the tiny airport. Six AM - we wash our faces and reapply whatever makeup we can to make ourselves presentable, go through security, and wait for our RyanAir flight in the freezing cold airport to take off. However, the torture is almost always worth it, because when the plane descends from the clouds and I see the teal-blue ocean rushing up onto the Irish shoreline, I am ecstatic.
When Callie, Ariel, Cristina and I descended onto the tarmac, and walked seemingly endlessly to customs, we were exhausted, but eventually we found a city bus that would take us near our hostel which I had found online months ago. When we eventually found the place and had checked in, we took a small nap and then went to the communal kitchen for free Guinness stew. Hearing the many languages being spoken and watching how easily people got along, I was in cultural heaven. It set a valid precedent for the rest of our trip, as I began to notice how incredibly friendly the Irish people were and how diverse of a population Dublin supported.
The next day, we set out to fulfill our tourist obligations; we took a free tour of the city (where we nearly froze our asses off), went shopping at the UK store TopShop (which I adore), and bought 10 Carlsbergs for 10 Euro which we promptly drank before dinner. That same night, we decided we had to do a pub-crawl. I can honestly say that this was one of the highlights of our trip - we made friends from Australia and Finland, and had a great time experiencing many of the famous pubs around Dublin.
Morning came all too soon, and we boarded a regional bus to Kilkenny, where Ariel’s family friends lived. It was a great opportunity to see the countryside I had so often seen in films, and it did not disappoint. We walked through the town, ending up at Kilkenny Castle where we waited for our ride. We got picked up by a lovely Irish woman who took us all back to their home where she and her family had prepared us dinner. While we were waiting, we sat in the living room with a fire roaring and tea was prepared, and we talked with the family’s teenage girl about university in Ireland. It seemed so tempting that I still am considering studying abroad in the country at some point. The hospitality that the family gave us was incredible - I will never forget their kindness to a gaggle of college girls that appeared off a bus not knowing what to expect.
When we returned to Dublin, we met up with our friends from the pub-crawl and went out for our last night to The Purty Kitchen, one of the pubs from the night before. It was one of the best experiences of the trip - we stayed out dancing until it was time for our ride to the airport at 1 AM, enjoying eachothers company and every second of the experience. After arriving, we promptly went through security and curled up in an indoor playground with soft mats. When you’re traveling like we do - you’ll take anything you can get (as long as its not hard metal benches with dividers).
Ireland was a great trip - I plan on returning at some point to the country which welcomed me so whole heartedly into its culture.
