More Than Expected

Today was... fantastic, and it's not even four. I woke up early, which was nice because I was able to take my time getting ready, but it also meant that I was able to look up a place to get an Irish breakfast. Once my decision had been made, backpack safely locked away for the day, I grabbed my essentials and headed out the door. It took me stopping three places to get free wifi, but finally Queen of Tarts was located. After a very filling breakfast, obviously with tea, I headed for my next destination. At first, I didn't even realize I was in the courtyard of the Dublin Castle, but then I saw all the tour groups. Thinking I was just going to wander around, maybe even eavesdrop on what the guides had to say (that only works if there speaking English) I headed inside. When I realized how inexpensive a guided tour would be, I jumped on it. A very informative hour and a half later (I have already forgotten most of it) I was taking a photo of myself where the president of the Republic of Ireland is inaugurated, as well as where they host foreign dignitaries. Money certainly well spent. Unfortunately, my clumsiness kicked in and I dropped my camera, but my silver lining was a very nice man who sent me to a nearby camera shop. Along the way, and realizing it was past noon, I came across a fantastic ice cream shop that uses local products to make their flavors. I think brown bread was my favorite. I ended up getting a raspberry and dark chocolate sorbet, but everything there was delicious. I did finally find the shop, and although they couldn't fix my camera, they were kind enough to tape it closed for me and offer a bag. At this point, I decided to just wander, and maybe get some food that was actually healthy. Walking down a random street there was suddenly a line of people out of a shop, and that made up my mind for me. If the locals liked this place then I was certainly going to try it. I got a very tasty, and impressively spicy, lemongrass chicken stir fry, as well as a water because I had just noticed that I had left my travel mug somewhere random in Dublin. After a satisfying meal, I headed up the street to go see the statue of Molly Malone, stopping only briefly to buy a new claddagh ring and double check my directions. At this point, the day was still young, the sun was shining, but my feet were killing me. I realized I'd been walking, nearly nonstop, for almost 8 hours. I headed back to my hostel, and miraculously, I was able to get there without asking a million people or using free wifi for gps. All in all, a day of fun adventure, and not quite getting lost.Read more