The grass is greener...

In IRELAND!!! No joke. The grass is greener, the people are extremely friendly, and the Guinness is great. What more could you ask for? We got a one week break from classes so we ran with it. Lauren, Sheamanti, and I started off in Dublin, Ireland. I have always dreamt about going to Ireland and seeing the rolling hills and this trip certainly didn't disappoint.

We left Paris early Saturday morning and landed in Dublin just in time for lunch. We couldn't check into our hostel until 2, and being starving students in Paris, could not wait to dig into some hearty Irish cuisine. We grabbed lunch at the Old Storehouse before heading over to our hostel. I ordered the vegetable soup (it's really hard to find soup in Paris actually) that came with a side of the most delicious brown bread I have ever eaten - melted in your mouth. 

This was my first hostel experience so I want to share a little about that:

I had this vision in my mind of what a hostel would be like; a dirty room with a few beds and some sketchy characters around. I'd heard from friends that it was not scary at all and was just like a dorm. I was still skeptical and very nervous, but I had no need to be! In Dublin we stayed in a 6-bed female dorm at Abigails Hostel, which was pretty highly rated on Hostelworld and other booking websites (I check everything). We had an ensuite bathroom, and there were no lockers in this particular room. When you check in they hand you your sheets and give you a key card to get upstairs. The room was clean and I felt secure even without a locker. The girls' in our room were great; particularly this Australian girl named Alice. Overall I had a great experience at my first hostel. The location was the best part though. Right by Temple Bar district and walking distance from everything - and at around 20 euros a night you really can't beat it!

After dropping our stuff off we decided to head over to the Jameson distillery.

This is probably the most fun I have had at any type of alcohol brewing facility. There is a bar and a gift shop in the front and you pay for a guided tour with a drink at the end. They don't brew Jameson here anymore but it was the original distillery and was really interesting to learn about how the whiskey is made. At the end they hand out a few tubes for a taste testing - which I quickly volunteered for - between a Scottish Whiskey, Jack Daniels, and Jameson. Jameson wins hands down. If you do the testing you get a prize, so I totally recommend volunteering if you ever go here. 

After Jameson we headed to Bad Bob's for dinner and some live music. It really was nice to hear a lot of english- and be able to sing along to familiar songs. 

Our second day we decided to go on a tour to see more of Ireland. We booked through daytours.ie, which I could not recommend more highly! It was a great experience. First stop: Rock of Cashel

It's this old ruin of a chapel and is so beautiful. This was a lot different than the decorated, restored chateaux of France. Plus, it had great views...

Then off to Blarney Castle!

We kissed the stone - I'm still waiting for the gift of gab - but it was worth it just to meet the guy who holds you while you kiss the stone, and cracks jokes the whole time. 

It was so nice to see some real fall foliage - and a lot of it!

You could swim in those leaves!! 

We headed over to Cork City for lunch (where we ate at Deep South and I had the best bacon of my life!) and then back to Dublin. Since it was our last night in Ireland, we wanted some real hearty beef stew and got a recommendation for M.J. O'Neills. I ordered the Guinness beef stew with a Guinness. Did not disappoint! The guy serving me asked "Are you going to eat all of that?" So what if I do?? (and I did eat most of it..whoops)

Our last day there we checked off those last sights that needed seeing. Dublin is a pretty small city so it was easy to get around to all the major places - Guinness was the furthest from city center and it was only a 15 minute walk.

We started off at Trinity College, which has a gorgeous campus. Then wandered over to St. Patricks Cathedral

We grabbed a bite to eat at this little cafe called "Bite of Life" and it was a breath of fresh air. It was like eating in your own kitchen and we felt so welcome and refreshed afterwards.

Then our last stop: Guinness Storehouse!!

I had never tried Guinness before Ireland because I tend to stay away from dark beers but I actually really enjoyed it! I have heard it's better here than in the states but I guess I'll have to get back to you on that :). The storehouse was cool - it had been recommended to me by a lot of people and the museum itself is set up to look like a giant pint of beer.

Cheers to that!! Next stop: Scotland!