The luck of the Irish

After an overnight flight I finally arrived in beautiful Ireland. I attempted to get some zzzz's on the plane but it felt like an ice box and I'm positive I looked like a dork wrapped up in 3 blankets. Nonetheless, we landed safely and I stepped off the plane to thaw out, hello Ireland! Land of Guiness and gingers! My first impression of the Irish: they are kind, humorous and like to have fun!
I meet a girl in transit from the airport, a teacher from New Jersey, and we have been exploring the city together since. Mom, i know you will be happy to hear this. I'm rarely ever by myself during my travels. Backpackers are like a secret society, I went so many years without knowing these people existed. When I discovered them, I thought "oh my God, they are just like me!" They have an insatiable thirst for travel, like me! One of the things I love about traveling is the people I meet on my journeys. I've met some pretty amazing human beings over the years.
Dublin is a fairly small city so it's easily seen on foot. St Patricks cathedral is amazing. Trinity college, Molly Malone statue and the Temple bar are must sees. Me and Lauren did a day trip tour to Kilkenny. We saw a castle that was built in 1170! Whaaattt?! That's difficult to comprehend. The fact that I'm standing in a building with so much history blows my mind. I love you Europe for being so old :)
The girl at the front desk of our hostel decided it would be a good idea to put us in a mixed dorm of 16 beds. After hiking up 3 flights in a stifling hot staircase, jet lagged with our shoulder-crushing backpacks on our back we finally found our room... which came with an old drunk Irish man sleeping with his pants undone. Brilliant! Ok, so I gave it a chance and gave him the benefit of the doubt. After he woke up he actually turned out to be a pretty friendly guy (maybe too friendly) but then when another man whom was as old as my dad comes in and passed out in a bed I thought, "oh, hell no. What is this? The dorm for old drunken men?" I requested another room which put me and Lauren safely in an all girl dorm. Ah, the joys of staying in a hostel! Lots of stories which I'll save for another day. We ended up meeting some very interesting Canadian and German girls and didn't have to sleep with one eye open :(
The Irish like their meat but I have managed to find some good vegetarian grub. However, they have an odd obsession with mayonnaise, yuck. We ate a traditional Irish meal along with a must-have Guinness beer, which tasted lovely.
Whats the story behind leprachauns? Leprechauns are small shoemakers and for every shoe they make they get a gold coin which they keep in a pot at the end of the rainbow. Still no leprechaun sightings but my eyes are peeled...
Another tidbit I learned while in Ireland: The famous Kennedy's are Irish and were cursed for 5 generations after they knocked down a fairy ring in order to build a mansion in southeast Ireland in the 1800's. Don't believe it?Think about it, they HAVE had a ton of bad luck. Lesson learned: don't mess with fairies.