My Guinness, what a lovely place!

...too corny? pshh.

Howdy dear friends! So I've been enjoying the last few days in total relax-chill-let-my-mom-feed-me mode, being back in Holland for the Holidays. Now to recount my first part of my trip in Ireland before the food lethargy sets in...

Aaron and I met up at O'Hare airport where he forewarned me of all the Irish accents at our terminal. So excited. I had found a mini Bailey's bottle in my fridge (no idea how long it's been there), so it was only appropriate to start our journey off with it.

We land in Dublin Thursday morning and take the bus into the city. Yay doubledecker front seats. After checking into our hostel (Aaron had found this place... best hostel I've ever stayed in -- Barnacles in Temple Bar), first things first: we need our first Guinness. 

Dublin... the rumors are true. People are so freakin' nice and helpful. They do not, however, all look like Colin Farrell. And when they go out, girls all wear 7" heels, skirts (IN THE WINTER!), and 7 layers of makeup #didnotfitin. But seriously though, people are awesome. Always wanting to help.

We made our way to Phoenix Park, more beer, and the Guinness Brewery. This is where jet lag hit. hard. 7 floors of information and history of Guinness. We could barely make it up the stairs. So we might not have absorbed all the knowledge there was, but we surely absorbed Guinness at the top of the Gravity Bar looking out onto Dublin.


Back to our hostel... night out? Why of course. Pub crawl with about 10 other peeps from all over the world, starting dance parties, ...and somehow spending a lot of money. (Note: Americans have a habit of buying rounds. A lot of other countries don't.) That night Aaron lost his jacket, I lost a glove, but we kept our dignity. Good job.

The next day we head to Galway (bus naps are the best). Galwayyyy. My favorite town in Ireland. You still have the friendliness we had encountered in Dublin (if not moreso), aaand you get the town quaintness. Cobble stone streets, local farmer's market (where I met up with Helen's brother), and making friends with locals at the pubs.

We spent less than 24 hours in Galway because the next morning we caught the tour to Cliffs of Moher and some other surrounding seeings. GO TO CLIFFS OF MOHER! So breathtakingly beautiful. And our driver/tourguide was hilarious... would.not.stop.talking. Dunno how he can multitask like that. Some highlights of that tour: The Cliffs (don't jump, it's high), a 5,800 year old tomb, a celtic cemetery, and an iconic sunset. 

Headed back to Dublin that night for Aaron's last night in the Ire. We wanted to take it easy, but somehow found our way back to our favorite pub from the pub crawl (Peader Kearney's) where we danced to some Irish jigs for the rest of the night.

Sunday Aaron desserted me ;) After he left in the morning, I wandered around and discovered some things on my own, such as: Trinity Dublin College, the Book of Kells exhibit, and Stephen's Green. At TDC, I saw a double rainbow(!!), the Book of Kells' artistry inspired me, and Stephen's Green astounded me in the middle of the city. Hello inner tourist.

Met up with my CS host for the night, who took me out for a few pints with his friends. Later met up with his roommate, played an excellent wing-woman role (so good at that), and ended up at a hipster bar singing karaoke and dancing away (there might be blackmail material out there).

The next day was the first chill day. Might have been lazy pants, until we eventually ventured out for food, and Simon took me to St Patrick's Cathedral. More being a tourist then went on my way. Met up with CS host #2 who is ridiculously too nice and had a good evening with some more pints.

A girl I had met in the hostel and some other person had told me to go to Belfast, so that convinced me. The next morning I went off to Northern Ireland and checked out Belfast city. Got there around noon, adjusted to the British unit system (it's part of the UK), learned about its history and current political situation by taking a tour of City Hall, got misled twice (Castle Court is not a castle, but a mall; and Victoria Square is not a park, but another mall) and finally met up with my CS host and the other girl he was hosting for the night. Goooood night in, we made a Mexican dinner with some mean guacamole and fajitas to show our appreciation, drank good wine, and had long conversation into the middle of the night. 

Next morning I met up with a tour at Carrickfergus Castle down the road, headed to Carrick-a-rede Ropebridge, checked out the oldest whiskey distillery at Bushmills, and made a friend at Giant's Causeway while checking out the ridiculousness of the rocks. 

One of the many benefits of travel is the friends you make along the way. They both make the experiences and make them last. People are awesome.

Since the 20th I've been back in Holland with my momz. It's good to be back with family and nice to have this "break" before I start my Asia travels. Love spending this time with her and old good friends to remind me where I am grounded and what home means. These days are filled with laughter, reminiscing, LOTS of Indonesian food, and reconnecting. On the 27th, my favorite cousin from Germany and her recent-fiance will be coming to visit so I can't wait to see them, as well as the other friends I still need to meet up with. Here's to a happy new year. The next morning I'll be heading off to Turkey.

Oh, on the bus ride to Dublin airport, I also found out I got accepted to INSEAD :) Looks like I'll be living in Fontainebleau as of next August... then heading to Singapore for the second part of the program. Suuuuper excited. My cousin's wedding in Munich is in June, so I'm thinking of just sticking around in Europe and doing some more travels before starting schools. Yay more travels!

Take care, friends all over the word, and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a fantastic Happy New Year wherever you are! I appreciate you all :)