After two awesome nights in Galway, I headed to Dublin on a 3 hour coach to meet my friend Bryan Moriarty, who graciously offered to host Sana and I for our three day stay. Bryan is a junior at Trinity and was great to stay with because he knew all the cool places to go.
On our first evening, we went to visit Dun Laoighaire Pier, which is south of the city of Dublin and not too far from Bryan's house. The pier was really pretty, and right next to the Forty Foot, a freezing cold "bath" or outdoor pool. Bryan told us that its tradition to jump in the Forty Foot on Christmas morning and raise money for charity. Both he and his brother did it Christmas morning during their senior years of high school.
Trinity College was really interesting to hear about. Apparently the school has college laws, one of which allows teachers to shoot a cross bow at any student who tries to climb the bell tower. The college also has scholarship tests every year. Any Trinity student can take them, and if you pass you are given free room and board for the rest of your time at Trinity as well as many other weird things under tradition. For example, if you're a scholar, you can call stop your exams during the middle of them and call for a full roast meal!
We went back to Trinity again on Wednesday morning with Bryan to see the Book of Kells, a famous attraction that I had never heard of before our tour. The Book of Kells normally costs £9 to see, but Trinity students can bring in guests for free so our visit was free. I wasn't that interested in the exhibit, but the book is very popular because it dates back to the 6th century and uses ingredients in its colors from all over the world (think weird Asian beetles).
I visited the Guinness Storehouse Wednesday afternoon and learned all about house to brew the perfect pint. An interesting fact: Mesopotamians first discovered beer and are also thought to be the first human civilization. As long as man has existed in society, so has alcohol! I brewed my own pint of Guinness and got a certificate, but as pathetic as I am, I couldn't finish the pint! I guess Guinness is not my drink...
The nightlife in Dublin is definitely worth commenting on! Tuesday evening Sana and I went on a Pub Crawl sponsored by the same people who run the walking tours and had an awesome time. All the pubs had something different to offer which made the pub crawl really fun. We started at The Purty Kitchen and were joined their by Bryan. This stop had free Coors Light. I found it funny that we came to Europe to have free American beer. Our next stop was The Porterhouse, which had great live music. The next pub, Peader Kearneys, sold pitchers and had beer pong on one of its levels. The last pub we visited was O'Neills, which also had great live music. The crawl then dropped us at a club very similar to one I'd visit in London. I'd definitely recommend going on a pub crawl in Dublin! On our last evening we went to a local Trinity Bar, Doyles, where I drank MGD because I couldn't stomach Guinness then checked our bars on Grafton Street. No matter what sort of evening you're looking for, Dublin has everything you need for a fun night out!
We left Bryan's this morning for city #3: AMSTERDAM!
With my friends Sana, Bryan and his friend
Pouring my own Guinness at the Guinness factory
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