THe Paddy's Palace Hostel is grotty. Not recommended. Really friendly, bit grot.
My Paddywagon tour departed from the place though so I stayed there for ease. I had to share a room with 5 frenchies who spoke not a word of english!
8 August
The tour took off early in the morning, so bleary eyed, I dragged my stuff down four flights of stairs.
Like all tours of this sort, the beginning is always slightly awkward, and choosing where to sit on the bus is a big deal, as that is your designated seat for the rest of the trip. I chose a nigel seat. One without an adjoining seat, which suited me fine, in case the rest of the group were really weird. But then started the 'get to know you' games. Always awkward.
But luckily the group were all really great. I made pretty close friends with a few of the girls in my group. There was Bettina, the German girl, Marianne, the Irish girl who decided she wanted to explore her own country (and said she could only afford to explore her own country), Bernie, an aussie girl, Shivanni, another aussie girl (we're everywhere) and Sam, a really outgoing and friendly american from Las Vegas!
Of course there were other people on the tour...there were 12 of us in total, but those are the notables of whom I bonded with.
The tour was great. We went to the BLarney castle, where yes i did kiss the BLarney Stone, which is supposed to give you the gift of gab, despite being told horror stories about how the irish pee on the stone. But hey, in Ireland, do as the Irish do. We spent the night in Killarney, a beautiful town in the south west of IReland. Our tour guide Shane was fantastic. He recommended the best joint for food, and then the most fantastic pub where they did traditional irish dancing. It was amazing. They move so quickly and all in time and all in step. I really wanted to join in, but firstly i didnt know how and secondly i wasnt wearing the right shoes to learn how. My feet would have been destroyed.
The night was long. We went home around 3am.
9 August
THe second day of the tour was spent in a raining morning taking a horse drawn carriage through the Killarney National Park. I was chilled to the bone. SOOOOO cold, because i was so stupid I didnt bring my waterproof jacket. So i was soggy. We also visited the CLiffs of Moher, which really reminded me of the Three Musketeers movie, where that girl jumped off the cliffs, and the Burren, which is basically this huge rocky landscape. Really weird.
We spent the night in Galway, a town renowned for its night life. After trying out a free joint, which smelled like feet. Sam and I relocated to a place named Cuba, where we had major fun!
10 August
By the third day, the group had bonded. THe girls are amazingly nice, and we all got along so well. We went to the Clonmacnoise ruins, an ancient church. Before heading back to Dublin.
I went out for dinner with Bettina, before meeting Sam, Shiv and Marianne for drinkies. Haha, Shiv also brought along her new boyfriend....Shane the tour guide!!
