Ireland Knows How to Party
9:41, 8/27/06
After visiting the Cliffs of Moher, we returned to Galway only to find that there was no accommodation in the hostel we had hoped to stay at. It was fully booked when we left for the cliffs and there were no cancellations unfortunately. We sought out another hostel, a little further from the city. The facilities were small and kind of dirty, but it had a nice communal feel. Jacob and I had a couple Guinesses and decided to stay in while we did some writing. We’d had a pretty long, rough day and went to bed early in order that we could also wake up early. We got up at about 7 AM in order to catch the 7:45 train to Dublin. The train ride was uneventful and took a couple hours to bring us to Dublin. At Dublin, we took a bus toward the hostel I’d hoped to stay at, but it was fully booked so we had to get accommodation at a kind of skuzzy hostel nearby. On the whole, I was not particularly impressed by Dublin. The biggest thing I noted was the garbage and graffiti. This was not nearly so bad in the center of the city, but it was definitely bad in the area we were staying. We did a city sightseeing tour in the afternoon, which was a vastly preferable way to see the city because it allowed one to more easily ignore the trash and graffiti. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy my time in Dublin. On the sightseeing tour, Jacob and I stopped off at the Guiness factory, where we took the tour and had a pint of Guiness at Dublin’s highest bar. The Guiness factory was more a product of spectacle than anything else. They had lots of neat little signs and exhibits, but they didn’t really do much to show you the actual brewing process. One thing was very apparent: The Irish love their Guinness. The bar at the top of the factory tour was interesting. It offered a panoramic view of Dublin while allowing you to enjoy a freshly brewed pint of Guiness. Guinness has never tasted so good.
We caught the sightseeing bus again, though the affair was not as simple as it sounded. A huge line had begun to build up, and then to make it worse, it began raining. Rain is a common thing in Ireland, I’ve found, but that didn’t make it any better. Consequently when two buses showed up, most of those in line made a mad rush for the second bus while everyone was busy queuing up for the first bus. They crammed like twice the bus’ capacity onto the vehicle, and we were witness to some very jolly brits who treated us to such classic songs as “The Wheels on the Bus.” Jacob and I returned to our hostel, fully intending to sleep off the exhaustion that had overtaken us, but when we got there, we began talking to our roommates. The hostel, “Dublin Backpackers Hostel” may have been sketchy, but the people in our room were not. There were two South Africans, Lionel and Duncan (though they weren’t traveling together), and then a Canadian named Cody and a Romanian named Cornell. Everyone was really nice and we had some great conversations about all kinds of stuff. Incidentally, Jacob and I did not end up getting the nap we so desperately craved and instead decided to go out to Temple Bar with our roommates. Cody was from B.C. and had come over to Ireland for a few months in order to bike the whole circumference of Ireland. Lionel had come over for work here and had a job interview at a bar this week. Duncan was working in Britain and was just on holiday. Finishing introductions and whatnot, we headed out to Temple Bar at about 10:00.
Temple Bar—wow. So it’s like this long street where every other building is a pub. Thousands of people, no exaggeration, filled the streets, all with one thing in mind—partying. Everyone was totally wasted, the bars were crammed full of people, and it was nearly impossible to talk without screaming. It was awesome! Whatever reservations I had about Dublin before were dispersed at seeing this amazing phenomenon. We visited a number of different bars, ending at a club. The girls were beautiful, the dancing was sweaty, and the drinks were flowing. I’ve spent time in a few large cities, though this was definitely the most intense party atmosphere I’d ever witnessed. It made the bar scene at Galways look like a simple street fair. Over the course of the evening though, we all sort of lost track of each other, and so by the end of the night, I was on my own. At first, this posed an immediate concern because I wasn’t sure I could find my way back to the hostel. Dublin wasn’t exactly the kind of city I’d want to wander around or get lost in. I might end up getting “graffitied” as well. Fortunately I was able to get my bearing and make it back to the hostel, where I discovered my bed had been claimed by a guy who I didn’t even realize was staying in the hostel. I found my way into a different bed, where I enjoyed a delightful night of restful sleep.
Tags: Bus Tour, Dublin, Europe, Ireland, Temple Bar, Travel
gregbilsland
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