Well, I guess (like me) if you're planning to bag yourself the cheapest flight tickets on the market, you'll have to be willing to sacrifice a few winks of beauty sleep. Except these people seem somewhat, what's the word... awake; parents chasing after screaming kids, couples whispering (possibly seductive) messages into each other's ears while stealing kisses here and there, individuals bright-eyed and ready to aboard their next adventure, and then there's me and my sister... but let's not get into that.
We've decided to visit the land of Guinness, music, sexy accents, cute superstars (think Colin Farrell) and er, redheads. That's right, we're popping next door to Ireland - on a plane, to make it sound that extra bit more exotic. Not that Ireland's not exotic enough. I mean, it could be exotic depending on how you look at it. Ok, I should stop digging right about now...
After a short plane journey, we stepped foot onto Irish soil and cursed when we realised the weather was every bit as grim as we had left it in England. When I think plane journeys (especially as I'm used to long haul flights), I automatically think: different languages, weather and food so it was strange to know that, on this occasion, we were still in the same time zone as home.
Determined not to let the bad weather get the better of us, we pushed aside any signs of fatigue and headed straight into the centre of Dublin where we visited: St. Patrick's Cathedral, the magnificent Trinity College, Dublin Castle and National Museum of Ireland. We also spent a few hours immersed in the mahoosive Guinness Storehouse where we learnt everything possible to know about the legendary Irish beer - from the types of yeast, barely and allsorts used to make it, to how to pull the perfect pint.
Some degree of self-control was needed in the 'free sample' section where visitors could 'test' cupfuls of the black stuff as they wished. But as 'responsible' adults, we didn't linger around for too long - there were far too much to see elsewhere!
We spent a few days in Dublin, like doe-eyed children in a sweet shop, taking photos of everything and anything with 'Paddy' written on it, downing (half pints of) Guinness, walking through Phoenix Park (one of the biggest walled city parks in Europe), counting the amount of O'Conners, O'Shea's, O'Sullivan's and O'Brian businesses we saw, talking to locals at the pub while being immersed in traditional Irish music... oh, we certainly made the most of the historic city
We also visited Galway where we explored the county with a tour guide, and it was a good thing that we did as it was chucking down bucketfuls that day. Luckily the tour coach took us to all the places we needed to see but needless to say, photo opportunities were snap shots of us with wet hair whipped across our faces, or ones with us clearly losing the battle to maintain control of our umbrellas against the almighty wind and rain. Lovely!
According to Irish myth and Ray, our overly-excited tour guide, a person who captures a Leprechaun is granted three wishes in return for his freedom. Ray said if you believed enough, there were more chances of glimpsing the little ones in green. Boy, did our tour group have fun hunting for sightings of Leprechauns in the rain. Sadly, we gave up after searching high and low around the fort and realising the 'little fellows' just didn't want to be found that day. Or maybe we just didn't believe enough...
The other highlight of the tour was the breath-taking Cliffs of Moher. I was especially excited to see the cliffs after they were featured in Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, and I can honestly say that I was not disappointed by the views. We were 'a little' wind-swept at the peak of the attraction but it was all worth it as we spent time taking snap shots of the beautiful panoramic views.
After our tour around Galway, we made the exhausting journey to Killarney where we stayed the night in a hostel. My sister didn't like the transition from a luxurious four star hotel to a 'bed with stained sheets' one bit, but she quickly changed her mind when she spotted a Spanish hottie at the breakfast table the next morning.
As it was our last full day, we decided to sit back and let another tour guide take us around the Ring of Kerry. It was another grim day, but stopping off at regular intervals to sample Irish / Baileys coffees and beef stew with soda bread helped enormously. The tour guide pointed out the necessary landmarks that we drove pass and even put on traditional Irish music for when he wanted to rest his voice. A truly splendid Irish experience!
The tour around the Ring of Kerry took half a day as we oohed and aahed at the beautiful scenery of the three lakes and mountains at Ladies View, witnessed Ireland's only thatched village in Bog Village, took dozens of photos at Dingle Bay and stopped off for lunch at Waterville, before posing for more photos with the Charlie Chaplin statue by the beach.
By the end of our trip, we were all 'stewed' out but deeply impressed by the friendliness and hospitality shown by the Irish. Would I ever go back to visit our Irish friends? Definitely. Maybe next I'll be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the little men in green...
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