After working diligently on my assignments, I decided to take a trip to Ireland. So my friend, Eveliina and I made plans to do so.  We planned on leaving Chichester Wednesday morning so we would arrive in Ireland by Wednesday evening. But the way my trip is going, of course it did not happen that way…

We decided that it would be cheaper if we took the train and the ferry to Ireland. Our train had four legs before reaching the ferry: Chichester to London Victoria; London Victoria to London Euston (the underground); London Euston to Chester; Chester to Holyhead; Holyhead Port to Dublin Port.

Eveliina and I met at the Chichester train station at 9:00am, and our train left for London Victoria at 9:41am. Once we arrived in London Victoria, we had to take the Underground to London Euston. When we arrived at the London Euston train station, we discovered that our train has been delayed, but they did not tell us how long the delay would be. So while we waited, we ate the lunch we packed for ourselves. After anxiously waiting for about 25 minutes, we were able to get onto the train from London Euston to Chester. For some unknown reason, the train ride was terminated in Crewe, and we had to hop on another train to finish the journey to Chester. This caused us to have an even longer delay. Once we arrived in Chester, we hopped on a train to Holyhead, England. By this point, we were delayed about 30 minutes or so, and we were afraid that we were going to miss the ferry to Dublin that was supposed to set sail at 5:15pm. By the time we got off the train and to the ferry station, we had missed the last ferry of the night by 5-10 minutes. Everyone was livid. The next ferry didn’t leave until 2:40am! So Eveliina and I decided that we would just spend the few hours in the ferry station instead of wasting money to pay for a hostel when we wouldn’t spend the whole night there. Meanwhile, we met a backpacker named Maddie, from Australia. We had decided to hang out together and get something to eat. So we left the ferry station to find a lively pub in Holyhead, England. We came across a pub called Stanley’s Arms. We were able to have a hot meal and relax since we were not going anywhere until early morning. After we ate, we stopped at a convenience store to buy some food for the journey ahead, and then we made our way back to the ferry station. Once we got settled in the ferry station, we took turns napping, which was very difficult, as you can probably imagine. First of all, the florescent lights were on, which made it hard to sleep. Secondly, the only furniture in the station were metal chairs, which were extremely uncomfortable. Nonetheless, we did not sleep very well that night. When 1.30am rolled around, we made our way to the check-in line, where we met an American named Tyler, who was studying for a semester in Italy.  When we finally boarded the ferry, we found a comfortable couch and fell asleep. When we woke, we had landed in Dublin, Ireland. Our journey could finally begin!

We got off the ferry and onto a bus where it took us the Connolly bus station where we walked to Paddy’s Palace to meet the bus tour. We were able to eat breakfast and relax before the next leg of our journey began. At 8:00am, we hopped on the bus and began the tour. We left Dublin and made our way to Belfast, where we went on The Black Taxi Tour. This tour explained the rivalry that still existed between the Protestants and the Catholics. We had learned that there was a murder the day before. That made us a little hesitant about walking around Belfast. It seemed as if everyone was walking around on eggshells due to the murder. The tour took us to the Peace Wall, which is on the Protestant side and the International Wall, which is on the Catholic side. Still today, the Protestants and Catholics do not associate with one another. While visiting the Peace Wall, I was able to sign my name on the wall. I thought it was really neat that I was able to leave my mark in Belfast, North Ireland. After the tour, we were able to explore all of Belfast. The next day, we got onto the bus again and made our way to the coast. We visited Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, which we crossed. It was very windy and very high up. Crossing that bridge gave me such an adrenaline rush! After that, we visited Giant’s Causeway. While visiting Giant’s Causeway, Eveliina, Jaci, and I ate lunch at The Nook at Giant’s Causeway. For lunch, I had a measure of Bushmills and Homemade Steak and Guiness Pie. It was delicious! We spent a few more hours exploring Belfast and then we made our way to Dublin.

After arriving in Dublin, we checked into our hostel and made our way to the oldest and most historical pub, The Brazen Head. I enjoyed a pint of Guiness and Traditional Irish Stew. It was absolutely delicious! After our late dinner, we wandered around Temple Bar, which is a large town square of bars and pubs. We ended up having another drink in The Palace Bar, where there were Irish singers entertaining the pub. After that, we said goodbye to Jaci and made our way back to the hostel. The next day, we woke up early, got ready, and made our way back to the Dublin Port to catch our ferry home.

I very much enjoyed the holiday to Ireland, and I wish I could have spent a few more days there. I am definitely planning on going again.

Slán!

Location: Dublin, Ireland; North Ireland