My Trip to Ireland

I've had a great time in Ireland, but I'm really ready to go home. I miss all my friends and family-- and I'm a little tired of walking 10 zillion miles a day!

Day 10

Went back to Dublin by taxi, the driver came from Dublin to pick me up in Waterford. We agreed on a flat rate of €45.

I went to Guiness... uugghhh....... enough said.......... I think I spent around €60 there....

How rude of this girl to get in my picture.......

I'm staying at the Holiday Inn again! €90 a night...

Spent Euro Summary: €195

Day 11
Time to shop for souvieners with my leftover money!!

In Dublin, it isn't hard to spend over €3,500. I bought all kinda of silly shirts for my friends, coffee mugs for my mom and dad, a wicked Guiness hat for my brother, and some other very random, very impulsive buys that I have nooo idea about. For instance: why do I need a leperchaun statue holding a Guiness?
I don't know either.
Anyhoo, I've spent over €5948.63. Yes, I did end up having to convert some of my american money into euros to cover the costs... but I know it'll be worth it to see everyone's faces when I give them gifts from Ireland!
I'm ready to go home.

Day 9

Breakfast at the hotel first: €30, thennn.....

I went scuba diving at Ardmore Diving. It was pretty fun! I took the beginer's course and saw tons of tiny fishes everywhere.
It cost me €50.

Lunch!! Delicious burgers at a ridiculous pub for €35.

Tonight I'm staying at the Arlington Lodge for €126!

Euro summary: €241

Day 7 and 8

Take ferry out of Inish Mor back to mainland (€25)

Went on 2 day garden tour! Beautiful.

Here are my directions:

Day One: County WicklowDistance: 27 km, 17 mls
1 Start things off with one of the most glorious gardens in Ireland at the beautiful Powerscourt Gardens in County Wicklow. Seated at the foot of the Great Sugar Loaf Mountain, Powerscourt contains one of the greatest collections of ornamental trees and flowers in Europe. Giant Sequoias, dwarf copper chestnuts and a bewildering array of shrubs jostle for space amongst azaleas, magnolia and rhododendrons. The “big house,” where Princess Grace famously danced the night away, overlooks the delightfully manicured lawns.
2 The nearby Mount Usher Gardens at Ashford boasts exotic flowers, trees and shrubs from all parts of the globe, planted alongside and amongst wild woodland.

I took a break from that and ate at a tiny pub I saw along the street. my lunch cost €35.

I'm staying at the Ashford Castle in the Master Suite!! It's more then amazing-- it had better be, for €908!

Day Two: County Wicklow-County Carlow Distance: 140 km, 88 mls
1 Continue your tour in the second smallest county in Ireland, Carlow, with its huge variety of flowers. To experience this array of color first hand head to Altamont Gardens, near the village of Ballon. This horticultural spectacle is the product of 250 years of work and is a fascinating collection of ornamental gardens and lakeside walks.
2 Next head south towards the village of Clonegal and the splendor of Huntington Castle. Huntington is packed full of peculiarities. Just look the palm trees that appear at the end of a long yew tree avenue, flanking a baroque statue, which give off an ambience of a Moorish palace rather than an Irish fortress.

In the middle of the day I ate at a quiet country club. My lunch cost €30.

http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-places-to-go/itineries/themed-itineraries/gardenssoutheasttour2/#

I'm staying at the castle again! This time in a much cheeper room for €232.

Spent Euro summary: €1,205

Day 5 and 6
I took another ferry to Inis Mór (€25)-- the largest of the Aran Islands. The island measures 3 miles (long) by 2 miles (wide)!! It's a little island, but there are tons of things to see and do. It's the most developed of the Aran Islands.

I'm staying at Mainister Hostel for €11 a night! What a deal! They even serve breakfast- fabulous!
Two nights-- thats €22.

I had some lunch at a gritty little pub for €20 two days in a row: €40.

I ate at Mainister Hostel for dinner, a "Vaguely Vegetarian Buffet" was €20 for the main course plus €5 for dessert. €25 total... I ate there both days, so that'd be €50.

I also hired a bike near the docks; the charge was about €10 for around 24 hours. Wahoo!

I rode my bike to the beach... which was amazing!

Daily euro summary: spent €147

http://wikitravel.org/en/Inis_Mor

I've taken the ferry to Inis Oírr. Inis Oírr is the smallest of the Aran Islands, and it's very beautiful. My ticket was €25 and the ride was not too bad at all. I spent all day checking out the old ruins and the amazing countryside.

A person has gotta eat, so I ate at a local pub. it cost me €30.

I also went on a 3 hour hike, which was amazing-- and very tiring!

This is the trail I followed. It was a doosy!

I ate again at the pub, this time for €45.

That night, I stayed at Radharc an Chláir, a bed and breakfast.
It cost me €32.50 for the whole deal.

My legs are sore from all of yesterday's walking, but I'm ready to get up and get going!
I've been wanting to go on a Duck ride.

I've been getting very tired of walking everywhere, but the walk to the ducks is fairly short- so I walked again... Along Dawsons Street, until I came to St. Stephan's Green.
I must say, it was worth it.
Err, or, almost worth it, for £20!
The whole trip lasted about 75 minutes. We spent 55 minutes on land, 20 in the water. The water portion was interesting! We saw the recording studios of the band U2, and the guides told us about the history of our vehicles and how they were used on the D-Day landings in Normandy. ... the guides even made us growl like Vikings at the people on the street! It was pretty cool, and very fun.

On my way back to the hotel, I caught sight of a couple cops! Ooh my...

Time to eat again. Same thing as yesterday... same price too! £5.

I decided to go back to Stephan's Green. It looked like a beautiful place to go and visit! I spent a lot of time there just walking around and ejoying the gardens.

I got pretty hungry-- so I stopped in at Wagamama. Very interesting place! Most of their dishes are based around Ramen Noodles.
[Hard to believe I walked into an Asian resturant!]
I got the chicken ramen for £10.95.

Time to head back to the hotel! First thing in the morning, I'm heading off to Inis Oírr; one of the famous Aran islands.

Day One
Living in Chicago, it was very easy for me to get plane tickets to Ireland. I simply ordered them through AA and had my roomate drop me off at the airport! (Thanks, Kebs!) A few days before, I got a Visa TravelMoney credit card and put half of my remaining money onto it. I converged most of my other money into Euros and left a small amount as American dollars, just in case.
I got hungry... so I bought some food in the airport.
I ended up spending €30!!

Day Two
My flight left at around 7:15 and I arrived in Dublin at 8:35 AM the next day! I was anxious to see the city, so after I got to my hotel (Holiday Inn), I grabbed a small bag with my money, camera, passport, hotel information, and took off. Since my hotel is in the "heart" of Dublin, a lot of things are in walking distance.

My basic plan of action. My hotel is along Pearse Street!

My first stop was Dublin Castle. I was very excited to visit this amazing landmark. I walked there from my hotel; it wasnt hard to find. Admission into the castle was £2.00.

Next, I wanted to check out Trinity College. It was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592! It's architecture is amazing. I even took a walking tour of the campus!
[By now, my feet are getting rather tired.]

I went back to the hotel, where they were serving lunch. I got a bacon melt burger and a drink for £25.

Back on the street. I headed towards Merrion Square! I saw some of the most interesting things-- The Dublin Doors. Many people here paint their doors vibrant colors; it makes the brick building stand out! I couldn't help smiling while looking at them.

At my final stop of the day, I walked to the National Gallery. It was amazing, and a little overwhelming-- there are over 2,000 works from European schools there! Penny pincher that I am, this exhibit was free.

Back at the hotel, I have dinner- pizza and water! It cost me £15.
Time for bed................