Dublin, Ireland - 1st Day (Tuesday, June 2nd)

Greetings everybody!

Wow, I made it to this beautiful city and I am waking up here on this Wednesday morning FINALLY refreshed after a great sleep after many Guinesses yesterday!

The 2 leg, 14 hour flight - and 8 hour time change - arrived Tuesday at 10:30am, and anybody who knows me realizes I like to be busy with my time -- so instead of going to take a nap I decided I would just power through the day and enjoy. Hey, I can sleep when I'm dead, right?

I arrived at a great hostel - Four Courts Hostel - right near Temple Bar, which is actually a big Square in the middle of this somewhat small city that is very lively and especially happening at night. The Hostel is knows for being clean and safe...I will say I've never stayed at a hostel before, and I was a little skeptical but there are many people here from all walks of life and I was fortunate enough to have my own room!

After arriving at the Hostel I left my bags there and POWER WALKED through the entire city. I wanted to locate all the sites so I didn't have to use my tour guide all day and look like a tourist! WOW - this city is amazing. As I said its rather small, and it strikes me how friendly everybody is. I then had my 1st lunch -- Fish and Chips (it was so delicious!!...this fish was perfectly battered) with a nice delicious refreshing Guiness to top it off...all at an outdoor Irish cafe at Trinity Bar.

I then went to Trinity College, a Protestant college built in the 1592 famous for being built by Queen Elizabeth. I paid for a 30 minute walking tour by one of the students, and it was educational and pretty funny. While the college is so old and famous, 16,000 students still roam around and are just done with classes - and were getting ready to party so it was a festive atmosphere!

I then went and saw the Book of Kell's, located in the college. Really 2 things are there -- 1 are old books that are really manuscripts and old writings about Christ, and then there are just books..lots and lots of OLD books in this huge book hall. Most are over 400 years old, and 2/3 are not in english. They are arranged by SIZE, not titles and it was pretty breathtaking to see.

I completed my tourist afternoon by going to the famous Guiness Stonehouse, and what a time! Its a self-guided beer tour in a 6 story Stonehouse that is actually shaped like a giant pint glass. After walking through the tour and havinga taste along the way, we finished with a beer on the top of the Stonehouse - a 360 degree bar where you can see every site in the city from 6 stories up. Simply amazing, and I've got some great pictues!

The night was complete with some bar hopping - and some delicious Irish Stew with lots of carrots and "mashers" as they call it) where I met 2 American girls that are having a party tonight, and know some people in Edinburgh that might be able to put me up when I'm there. On the plane I also met an Irishwoman who lives 30 minutes south of Dublin who might show me the countryside on Thursday.

That is only the 1st day! If this is any indication, this trip will be a blast. Off for a great 2nd day in Dublin...can't wait!!