Ireland: travelling around the island

Ireland, another world!

I was in Dublin during the month of July, taking part in experiences such as being a tour guide for groups of Spanish people. I'd never been to Ireland before, so it seemed like a good way of getting to know the place and its history! A new experience both personally and professionally!

Arriving

When I arrived at Dublin, the first thing I did was ask a guy who was selling tickets for a tour bus where I could find the stop for city buses. He was very friendly and told me I had to follow the pavement and after the gallery, I would find the bus stop. So off I went! suitcase in hand, in the direction of the gallery, surprised I'd understood English! It started to rain, something which is common in this country. I bought the ticket from the machine at the bus stop and I got on the number 16 which took me to the lettings agent. I found it no trouble.

Accommodation

Since I was only going to be there for a month, it was hard for me to find someone who wanted to rent me a room for so little time. So, I ended up going through an agency that cost an arm and a leg! but they weren't a problem for the time being. When I arrived, I was welcomed by a very friendly Italian. I was talking to him for a while and he showed me various accommodation options. I chose the option that I thought was closest to my job and, also, a friend was living there, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to have a little company.

After waiting for a while, they gave me a bag with a duvet set and towel, got me in the agency car and moved me to the house on Beach Road.

When we arrived, the house was like the ones that you'd see on an American series, two floors, carpet on the stairs and corridor and a kitchen that looked like something out of a dollshouse. In theory, there were six of us who would be cooking in that kitchen. But there was only ever 3 people in the kitchen, and only one of them cooked...

My room was on the second floor and had a large bed, a wardrobe, a mirror and a bedside table. The window faced the inner courtyard, although I could see the living room of the house behind. I thought it was small, but for 1 month it would do.

Then they explained the recycling to me because there's an order to it all. It turns out that in the outside yard of the house there were 3 containers, one for cean cardboard and plastic, one for dirty cardboard and plastic and the one for organic material. Bin men came in every once in a while to pick up a dumpster. If no one took it out to the street... the smell would make us flip out.

Supermarkets

The next day I went to the supermarket because I din't think it was a good idea to keep hustling food from my friend.

Things are different in Dublin than they are in Spain, or at least different to my city. The milk has a different taste. They don't put all the stuff in it like they do in Spain, it's more natural. Butter and yoghurts also taste delicious. Sliced bread expires after 3 or 4 days because it has no preservatives and if it goes past its expiration date it will develop green spots (I'm not kidding). the beef has a lot of flavor and is good quality because they leave the cows to live free-range on the meadows.

Beach Road

The best thing about living in this neighbourhood is that it's not as noisy as it is in the city centre, nor is there as many tourists. It's super quiet, has a park with a beachside walk which is very relaxing when it isn't raining. At the end of the walk, you'll see two chimneys from the factory that is now the symbol of the city, even though it is no longer in use. It also has a football field where the local team trains from time to time.

It is a well-connected neighborhood, it has frequent buses and each one goes to O'conell which is Paul Street.

They have various supermarkets, one of them is a big Carrefour After a while, you'll be glad to see things you don't find in other supermarkets.

The only disadvantage is that you aren't in the centre. If you want to go to O'conell it's a 40 minute walk, but as there aren't many hills, it's not that bad.

Transport

I don't know how to express how much it costs to travel! As I was further away, it made sense for me to buy a travel card for the bus and put 5 euros on it every now and then. Honestly, most of the time I would rather walk than pay 3 euros because I thought it was a rip-off. Sometimes, if I was tired after some sightseeing or it was raining a lot I preferred to pay for it (these were exceptional situations).

Some people bought bikes and then sold them second-hand. But as I was only there for a month it seemed a lot of hassle and I preferred to get lost walking about, I never strayed far from the city.

Dublin city

Dublin is a very touristic city. You won't see many Irish people in the city centre, they're all tourists or people from abroad who've moved there to improve their English, for example.

The city centre is crammed from 7-8 when everyone starts heading there. There are 2 tram lines. When Iwas living there, they were joining them up and they passed through O'conell. The highstreet has clothing stores, accessories, fast food... practically everything.

It has a lot of tourist spots to see, like Trinity college and its famous library among others... and there's a lot of things you can do.

The < strong>Phoenix Park well-known for the fact you can see deer and feed them. They're one of the best memories I have, they're freely roaming about and they're used to people. Another garden that's worth visiting is the Botanical Garden, you can see squirrels running around the grass just a few metres away from you. It also has a mini waterfall. It's not all perfectly kept but most of it is.

Most food establishments in Dublin are fast food. A place where you can try some national food is Brazen head, they make a very good stew. I would definitely eat that Guiness stewed meat again. You can drink a Guinness with your meal too, which is very common.

Another place to try something sweet, is Queens of tarts, the carrot cake is delicious, although the portions are sharing-size. You can order a tap water and they don't charge you for it, they don't look at you with a rancid face like they do in Spain for asking for water. The water jug is accompanied by Mint or lemon wherever you go.

Going out

Unfortunately going out isn't like it is in Spain, of course it isn't! It's another culture with other customs. People here finishing work at about 5pm, then they go to the bar and have a few pints. What cossaks. They'll drink up until 11pm and then they head back home. So like, when you're a newbie and you head to the bar at 11 to see what's going down... everyone's gone home. Only Spaniards and party-going tourists are left. But, you can't lengthen the party either, everything closes at 3am.

I used to go out around Temple bar because it was the place I knew best and the closest to the centre. The live music was great. Violinists or guitarists played covers of famous Irish songs and it was fun.

I also went to Howl at the moon. The atmosphere was very Erasmus, and the music wasn't stereotypical, but varied.

excursions with the company.

When I started working at the company I was taken to the < strong>Cliffs Of Moher. They were incredible! They're beautiful, definitely worth visiting for a day. You have to be lucky with the weather because you might go and see nothing if it's foggy. Inside the building there's a museum, souvenir shops and a couple of places to eat that are always full.

On the way to the cliffs you will see the Burren, a very historic place during the Irish Famine. The mountain is covered with stones and they had to remove them from the ground before building the houses.

In the same trip, we stopped in Galway, a university city with a lot of tourists some days. It's worth stopping by, although it's very small and you can see it in 2 hours. The most important thing to see is the old town and the Spanish Arch.

Here you can stop for breakfast at one of the cafés in the old town. One I went to is under the flags of the tribes that founded it, Café express.

Another city I was able to see is Belfast. Here I recommend going with tour guides because they take you through the area of the murals and explain the differences between Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods while you travel on the bus, and they show you the fence that separates the neighborhoods. It's a very interesting historical aspect of the city. Then you can wander around the city and see the town hall where they sometimes celebrate weddings.

Giants Causeway is one of the things that stood out to me most. The countryside was amazing. It's a strange place, I've never seen anywhere like it. On the road there are rangers watching that you don't run because the stones are wet and you can slip. If you get to the end of the stones you'll see the waves close up and smash against the stones. It's spectacular!

A village near Dublin is Howth. If you like fish and chips, this the town for you! You can get there by train in 50 minutes, more or less.

I walked from the lighthouse to the village and the colours you see are beautiful! The Walk is so beautiful. It takes about 40 minutes and you'll see an island at the end called "the eye of Ireland" where the seals live. If you're near the port when a fishing boat arrives, you'll see seals swimming nearby to see if they get any fish.

For lunch there's a place next to the Bloody Stream train station that serves delicious fish and chips, accompanied by 3 sauces that set them apart. The restaurant inside is very original, there's a lot of wood and decoration. The dish is €13, but you're in Ireland, it's fresh cod and it's a national dish.

The Malahide Castle is very well preserved and based inside. It has guide in English but they have an in-ear translator. It's very nice inside and the gardens are huge. A visit to the castle lasts 1 hour with the guide.

Powerscourt Gardens, these gardens are amazing! The count that lived in this palace was crazy and buried all his pets in the garden (dogs, ponies, cows... ). You can't visit the Palace but you can see the gardens and that itself can take an entire afternoon. If it doesn't rain, it's great to eat on a garden bench.

The glacial lakes. I've visited them and it's like a scene from a film. Honestly, it looks like Norway. If you go back the other way, you can see deer.

Free excursion

I went to the Kylemore Abbey, Conemara and on a boat tour on the fjord. The bad news is we didn't have time to get into the Abbey so we took pictures from the outside. It's a long road trip, but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Anecdote for the purpose of explaining how safe Dublin is

Dublin is very safe and the native people are super friendly. One of the times I was travelling on a city bus with my friend, we sat on the lower deck. As the bus started to fill up we moved up to the top deck. She left her mobile phone in the seat, but only realised when we were already upstairs. She quickly went back down but her mobile phone was gone and a lady told her to talk to the driver. The driver had her phone. That is, the person who found the phone didn't run off with it, but instead gave it to the driver to look after. And the best bit, the driver asks you how he can know its yours? My friend explained the picture she had as a lock screen without him showing it to her (a photo of her when she was young). In the end, he gave her her phone back and it was all over in a flash.