Dublin

After all the airport complications I somehow found my way to Dublin. When I arrived at the Dublin airport everybody wanted to help me, everyone was smiling (despite it being 12pm) and wanted to know where I was going. This was quite different than the airport personnel I've encountered everywhere else. After arriving in the hostel I met up with my long lost travel buddy and we went straight to the pub. Of course I was bought my first pint of Guinness in Ireland by a singing irish man. In the bars in Florence they play crappy American hip-hop music almost exclusively, but every pub we went to in Ireland had great music, and everybody was dancing for fun (not like the "sexy" dancing you see al too often in the clubs). I was so in love with Ireland (mostly because of the people) I never wanted to leave (let alone go to sleep).

The next day I explored Ireland (the good thing about hostels is that if you want free breakfast you have to wake up by 9am, so it forces you to get up early) and discovered beautiful churches, an exhibit on an irish poet, and lovely parks. That afternoon we went for a tour of the Guinness factory. The man who originally made Guinness was so sure that his product was going to do well that when he signed the lease, it was for 45 Pounds a day for 9,000 years! But he was right and after touring the factory (which is purposely shaped as the worlds largets pint glass) we went to the 7th floor and had our free pint, and a spectacular view of Dublin! That night I was feeling really sick (a cold that I was finding hard to shake while travelling) so I did not drink, but I did go to an amazing free jazz concert and a couple pubs with my new friends.

My last day in Dublin was horrible weather, just downpour rain, but I managed to walk to Trinity college and check out the book of Kells, a necessity for anyone that visits Dublin. It was, of course, amazing. I wish I could have looked through the whole book, but the few pages I did get to see were astonishing. I'm constantly in disbelief at how old things are here, it was so hard for me to really grasp the fact that the books of Kells is so ancient. I have the same problem here in Florence, I can't believe that all of these gorgeous, well preserved buildings date back so far, it seems like a trick!

Unfortunately my friends camera was pick-pocketed in Dublin, so all the wonderful pictures of us drinking Guinness are lost forever.