A foggy day in London town...: My Ireland Home: Day 1

At 4am on a very dark and cold Friday 15th October I crawled out of bed and got ready to leave for the airport. Destination: Dublin city, Ireland. I was heading to the Irish capital for a couple of days with 5 of the girls from Leeds: 2 Swedes, 2 Americans and a Dane (slash Bulgarian).

Some would say I am a lucky man...they clearly haven't gone travelling with a large group of girls!

I left on Friday morning with Martina and Maria, the Swedes. The flight was barely an hour...I don't think they even bothered to put the landing gear up! We arrived around 7am and spent the next 1.5 hours waiting for a bus as the one we needed drove off on us despite my furious waving at him. Needless to say, our first impressions of Ireland weren't too great. Eventually we caught our bus and arrived right outside the hostel's door. We set our things down and headed off to discover the city.

We ended up joining a walking tour of Dublin which kept us occupied for around 3 hours. The tour was guided by a nice guy who is a qualified Barrister, which one him points in my book, and a history buff. Most importantly the tour was FREE! The tour took us around some of the most notable destinations in Dublin such as the Dublin Castle, City Hall, Christchurch Cathedral, Temple Bar district and Leinster House (where parliament sits). The history of Ireland is quite an interesting one involving Vikings, Romans and, obviously, the English. Most importantly, every war/rebellion/revolution that Ireland has started...they have lost.

At the end of the tour we headed to a pub called O'Neills with the tour guide to grab a late lunch.

Given our shared interest in all things boring, ie. law, politics and the state of the Irish economy, Richard (our tour guide) recommended we check out the courthouse. So after lunch Martina, Maria and I headed to what is called the Four Courts to get a taste of the Irish judicial system. The building is very impressive and was built in the late 1700s. It is the sight where the Supreme Court of Ireland sits, the highest court within the Republic. We actually went into one of the court rooms which was hearing a personal injuries matter at the time. The accents slightly diminished the severity of the subject matter I think!

After explaining to the girls what we just watched we headed back to our hostel to check in to our rooms. After a much needed nap and a shower we headed out for our first night in Dublin. We ended up at a pub called Oliver St. John Gogarty which plays live Irish music every night. We sat or hours eating and enjoying the atmosphere. So much fun!

Afterwards we went for a walk along the River Liffey and took in the sights and sounds of the Dublin nightlife. By now our nap had worn off so it was back home for the night!