Alright, it's time for Ireland part 2. It's been a while since I've last been here but do not fear - I have not left you. I have just been crazy busy with my work and everything. So this part 2 of Ireland actually includes my friend's visit in Ireland, our night in Dublin and our trip back to home for Christmas via London. Let's start then....
I was in Germany in 2008 visiting my friend and returned the "favor" in December 2010. Kirsi flew to keep me some company before Christmas and I basically planned a good trip for her. Unfortunately it didn't start so well. Kirsi flew to Dublin airport via Heathrow and her luggage was missing when she came to Ireland. Apparently it was left at Heathrow Airport. Fortunately she was able to buy some clothes and stuff from Penneys and Dunnes and her luggage arrived a couple of days later, bringing me some Finnish stuff like rye bread, fazer chocolate and such.
So, in nutshell, we visited in Dingle, Cork and Killarney while we were in Ireland and of course we stayed in Tralee. So those were just a day trips. We also attended a couple of parties during the week arranged by my friends.
We visited the lovely [MAD HATTERS] in Dingle and I found myself a new bag from there on sale. I paid 50€ for it but still. It was a nice pink bag and I really needed a new one since all my previous bags were quite awful and cheap quality and looked horrible after a few weeks. I honestly loved the outlook - the pink and green stripes. Honestly it looked much like Wonderland. We stopped by at Murphy's for have an ice cream and ate fast food. It was a bit cold weather though and I had only my hoodie on. I kinda freezes while waiting for the bus.
The next day we headed to Cork. Once again, my favorite city. I fell in love with this shop called [CLAIRE'S] where they sell some awesome and very very cute jewelry. I bought tons of earrings, necklaces and such. There were little jar necklaces with "poison", "wish dust", "sunlight" or such with matching earrings. If you ever visit somewhere and find Claire's there. Be sure to visit!
And the day after that we headed to Killarney. The weather had been awful and there were slush and the buses couldn't run because they had no winter tires so we had to take the train. I would've actually wanted to take a walk in the [NATIONAL PARK] but as I said, the streets were all slushy and whatnot.
So then came a day when we started our journey back to Finland. We took a train to [DUBLIN] where we stayed for one night. And if you are planning a stay in Dublin, I strongly recommend booking a room in the [FOUR COURTS HOSTEL]. It's near to everything and it's not a long walk from the train station. The staff was awesome and our private room was the best I've ever had until now. It's sort of sad that we only got to spend one night in Dublin and didn't quite think it through. But I will return there someday.
We had a nice walk around the city, visited Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green Park, ate at Subway (yup... I still miss the Hearty Italian bread and the corn as a vegetable... bring them to Finland too :D!). We also went on a little shopping spree - nothing too much though since we had to save room for souvenirs from London. We went for a coffee in Starbucks - there was special coffees for Christmas: Toffee Nut Latte, Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Hot Chocolate. YUM!
So, in nutshell, we visited in Dingle, Cork and Killarney while we were in Ireland and of course we stayed in Tralee. So those were just a day trips. We also attended a couple of parties during the week arranged by my friends.
We visited the lovely [MAD HATTERS] in Dingle and I found myself a new bag from there on sale. I paid 50€ for it but still. It was a nice pink bag and I really needed a new one since all my previous bags were quite awful and cheap quality and looked horrible after a few weeks. I honestly loved the outlook - the pink and green stripes. Honestly it looked much like Wonderland. We stopped by at Murphy's for have an ice cream and ate fast food. It was a bit cold weather though and I had only my hoodie on. I kinda freezes while waiting for the bus.
The next day we headed to Cork. Once again, my favorite city. I fell in love with this shop called [CLAIRE'S] where they sell some awesome and very very cute jewelry. I bought tons of earrings, necklaces and such. There were little jar necklaces with "poison", "wish dust", "sunlight" or such with matching earrings. If you ever visit somewhere and find Claire's there. Be sure to visit!
And the day after that we headed to Killarney. The weather had been awful and there were slush and the buses couldn't run because they had no winter tires so we had to take the train. I would've actually wanted to take a walk in the [NATIONAL PARK] but as I said, the streets were all slushy and whatnot.
So then came a day when we started our journey back to Finland. We took a train to [DUBLIN] where we stayed for one night. And if you are planning a stay in Dublin, I strongly recommend booking a room in the [FOUR COURTS HOSTEL]. It's near to everything and it's not a long walk from the train station. The staff was awesome and our private room was the best I've ever had until now. It's sort of sad that we only got to spend one night in Dublin and didn't quite think it through. But I will return there someday.
We had a nice walk around the city, visited Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green Park, ate at Subway (yup... I still miss the Hearty Italian bread and the corn as a vegetable... bring them to Finland too :D!). We also went on a little shopping spree - nothing too much though since we had to save room for souvenirs from London. We went for a coffee in Starbucks - there was special coffees for Christmas: Toffee Nut Latte, Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Hot Chocolate. YUM!
(This was in our hostel door, haha! Made us laugh at least.)
So after spending the night in Dublin, we headed to airport in order to head to London for two nights. It was really short time and we noticed it too. There was all the fuss about the snow and our flight was a bit late too. Okay - not even a bit, it was late by two hours. So that kind of mixed our schedule and therefore we needed to reschedule our visit. So first we searched our hostel, which was this time very smelly and the private room was the size of a closet. Yup, not the best hostel I've been at indeed.
Anywho, we spent the first night searching for food and visiting the [WHITELEYS] shopping mall. I bought an overpriced Minnie Mouse t-shirt there but it was a cute one. It was already dark so we headed back to our hostel.
The next day we started our quick tour of London's sights (and we still didn't get to see everything!). The tour started in [MADAME TUSSAUDS] which I enjoyed very much. It was really fun to take photos with the dolls. We also went through the Chamber of Horrors which was fun and not really scary at all (says a person who doesn't watch horror movies cause they're boring... and that's the truth, I haven't yet watched one that would get me screaming and all). The best part was when we sat to these little taxis and went on a rollercoaster ride through the history of London. It was very lovely. After that we took the Marvel 3-D experience and then got out. All in all we spent at least two hours there.
After visiting at Madame Tussauds, we went to Paddington Station to search for the Paddington Bear statue. It wasn't an easy one to find though. Kirsi asked a police officer for directions and accidentally pronounced bear like beer. I so would've wanted to see the officer's face. It was kinda funny. Then we continued to Piccadilly Circus and traveled around in search for a place to eat lunch. We ended up in [ANGUS STEAK HOUSE] where we ate some seriously good food! Then we continued to see the Buckingham Palace and after taking a few photos, we were off to Westmister to see the famous Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We wrapped the evening by visiting Kings Cross and trying to find Platform 9¾. It began with me and Kirsi lost in the tube - unfortunately we got separated but after about an half an hour we met in St. Pancreas station and continued to King's Cross. The station was under construction though and the wall had been moved - much to my disappointment it wasn't a real wall at all - there was just a brick wall-like wallpaper glued into a wall. I think they have fixed that now though.
We did a bit of shopping before going back to our hostel. The next day we went on and did some more shopping but then we had to hurry to the airport. I caught a flu on the journey so the flight back wasn't so nice at all... But finally we were back in Finland. And honestly, it was so damn cold I wanted to make a u-turn and go back to Ireland.
The nice thing was that I heard from my roommate in Ireland that a pipe in our apartment complex had broken and there was water in our apartment too. Luckily my room was quite alright. Only my toilet had a bit of water on the floor. There was no water for showering though. Luckily it was also fixed a day or two after I got back to Ireland.
That was the end of part 2. Next post will be the last of Ireland: Sligo, Galway, Limerick and a glimpse of Edinburgh!
love,
Miss K
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