Ireland!

This weekend my roommates and I went to Ireland.  Being an Irish girl, I was really getting back to my roots!
It was such a beautiful place and the people were so nice.  I loved it!
We stayed in Dublin, in a great hostel right next to the Temple bars area.  This is where all the great pubs are it's always loud and fun along this road.  We got there Friday night and were immersed in the scene.  The instant that we started walking around Dublin I loved it.  So, we got a very delicious meal at a cute Irish restaurant.  I had a great Italian vegetable soup to start off with.  Yes, Italian soup is not Irish but I guess I just can't get away from my love for Italy. My main dish was a chicken leg with portobello mushrooms over a mashed potato puree type substance.  It was all washed down with some tea with cream (yeah in Ireland and Uk they drink their tea with cream).

Dublin with the double-decker bus in the background.
We took these to get around the city. Lots of fun. 

Our restaurant 

After the meal, we walked around the city a little and then went to a bar right next to our hostel.  Our hostel gave us a card to get a free pint of Guinness or Lager at the bar, so of course we had to use that.  The bar had live music going on upstairs where were able to hear Irish music.  It was a lot of fun and I loved the atmosphere.

The next day was a LONG day, but it was well worth it.  We had to meet our tour bus at 7 AM. Yep. I'm not a morning person, so this was quite difficult.  But, we got to our tour bus, which I recommend (Galloway Bus Tours).  The bus tour took us to Galloway, which is about 3 hours from Dublin.  In Galloway, our actual tour guide met up with us.  Speaking of our tour guide, he was hilarious and had the perfect Irish accent.  I had a hard time understanding him, but every time I could, he had me cracking up.  He took us into the beautiful countryside of Ireland and the Cliffs of Moher.  Amazing views.

Baby sheeps 

Cliffs

The cliffs are extremely windy and it was quite humorous what the wind was doing to me, my hair, and even my clothes. I was bound to be blown off the cliffs because the walkways at the top were very narrow.  Thank god I did not fall.

Windblown

My scarf was going to fly away from me...

Feeling the Irish in me near the kelly green grass..

That night, after our tour we went to another pub that played live music and walked around the city.  The Irish are pretty crazy and have no shame in having fun.  So, it was really enjoyable to follow by their "rules" for a little while.

Drinking a Guinness at a pub near the Cliffs of Moher

The next day we went to the Guinness factory and saw the whole beer making process.  We were able to taste test the beer and we each got a voucher for a pint of Guinness.

"There's poetry in a pint of Guinness" 

The taste test 

The rest of the day consisted of walking around Ireland a little more and seeing a few churches and parks.  The parks were beautiful and had some of the greenest grass with gorgeous flowers.  The flowers were such bright colors that they looked fake.  

The river that was near our hostel 

St. Christ park 

I loved the doors  

And the obsession with the flowers began...

Blooming and beaming  

Has it gotten a little excessive? 

St. Patricks park 

Ireland was a great success and I want to go back soon with my family! I know we would have a blast.