Dublin, Ireland

Dublin was a great city and one my personal favorite places in Ireland! As it is the capital city of Ireland, there is great history to be discovered when visiting. One thing to keep in mind is that Northern Ireland is in fact owned by the United Kingdom. Therefore they use the pound sterling. The Republic of Ireland is completely separate and independent.  In the Republic of Ireland their form of currency is the Euro. I did not know that the two separate entities had different monetary methods and this would have been helpful beforehand. We were only in Dublin for one day but still managed to see a couple big sites which I would suggest visiting.

The Temple bar

Our last stop of Dublin included visiting a very well known landmark known as Temple Bar. The Irish are known for heavy drinking and that it absolutely true! Many pubs and bars open as early as 9am. Although this bar was a bit tourist it was a lot of fun! There was live traditional Irish music from an excellent band.  This bar, surrounded by adorable cobblestone, had great atmosphere and friendly people from all over.  It does get crowded so go early. More information found here!

Dublin castle

Ireland is filled with lots of castle however, this one was magnificent.  It was a huge complex consisting of a courtyard, gardens, church, and living quarters.  We took a guided tour of the castle which was definitely worth the money. The inside of the bedrooms and living rooms are ornately decorated with lavish fabrics and patterns.  It is free to tour the grounds however, to go inside some of the building there is an admission fee.  I believe it was pretty cheap for students about 7-10 Euros. Visit http://www.dublincastle.ie/ for lots of cool facts and information.

Guinness Storehouse

This place was awesome and one of the biggest attractions in Dublin.  Tickets will be about 13 Euros for an adult however, there do offer student tickets (with ID I believe) for about 10 Euros.  The unguided tour/museum consists of several floors filled with interactive exhibits and knowledge.  At the very top floor there was an observation lounge where you received you’re complementary pint of Guinness. We learned about the history and heritage of the company and also learned about the brewing process all of which was extremely interesting and new to me. For more information about the tour click here

Other famous landmarks to try and see:

Christchurh Cathedral- We actually ran into this by accident looking for Dublin castle but what an amazing church!

The Spire

The Millennium Bridge

Trinity College

The Ha’penny Bridge

Paris Hostel

Hostels have a bad (and sometimes false) reputation to be grimy and dirty.  Everyone hears horror stories of co-ed rooms containing 12 beds.  After living in tiny dorm rooms with a roommate for almost three years I figured how bad could it really be.  We stayed at the Aloha Hostel in Paris, France which was very affordable.  We found this hostel through an online search on www.hostels.com.When we booked our room our only choices were 4 beds or 6 beds.  As there were only three of us we had to choose a room with four beds and hope that our random roommate would not be some creepy 40 year old man. The hostel was small but kept rather clean.  It did have about 8 computers that had free internet access which helped us immensely and safes to lock up any valuables.  The location was great! It was about a 15 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower which made everything convenient. Overall, I would suggest this hostel to a future traveler. The official link for the hostel can be found here.

 Here, the plaid print makes the bed look covered with a comforter.  Don't let that fool you. That is just the mattress with no  sheets or anything.

 Our excitement is clearly evident when we first walked into the room and only found three beds.  No creepy roommate for us!

 The hostel had a sink in the room which was nice and made getting ready in the morning really easy.

Some Tips about Hostels:

Hostels do not provide sheets or towels.  Our beds came with a blanket, a mattress, and a pillow.  There were no pillow cases or any sheets at all. There is a communal bathroom so there are no towels, soaps, or shampoos provided. You can usually rent the linens from the hostel at a fee or feel free to bring your own. We rented them as we were traveling light.

Bring shower shoes. Like I said the showers are communal and usually one per floor. There is no magnificent tile or marble flooring but rather cement.  Jackie was the only smart one to think of this.  She had a cheap pair of flip flops that were passed around between the three of us for the couple nights we stayed there.

Pretend like your camping.  Hostels aren’t known for being luxurious.  You are not staying at the Four Seasons or even a Holiday Inn for that matter. If you go into your stay with a positive attitude that you will be ‘roughing it’ for the next couple days you won’t be disappointed and may even enjoy the coziness of it. Overall, hostels are an excellent value and an easy solution for lodging. 

The Europe Adventure Begins...

Hello All! Welcome to my travel blog. I LOVE to travel.  I enjoying seeing new sights and filling my brain with knowledge.  I love adventures and doing something new. I have been to lots of places in the United States but no trip I’ve ever taken can compare to my trip to Europe last winter. As a current college student I get about 4 weeks off from the end of December to the middle of January every year. What more of a perfect time than this to travel! 

This is the view from our airplane window as we were coming into Dublin Airport with the sun just rising. It was an 8 hour flight from Newark to Dublin. 
Tip: Bring headphones.  We watched about three movies on the way over there and would have been bored out of minds otherwise.

 There are many castles to discover in Ireland. This is Greencastle which was built around the 13th century! We couldn't go inside but exploring the grounds was fun! Click here to learn more about Greencastle.

There were lots of sheep roaming free all throughout the countryside. 

The coast of Ireland with gorgeous mountains behind us! It was very very cold in December. 
Tip: Dress really warm and don't forget your umbrella!  The average temperature in Northern Ireland in January is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also the rainiest month out of the year.