"So here I am in the CDG airport waiting for it to be time to check in."
Then I talked about how I didn't check in online and I ate Mcdonald's twice that day, so I felt pretty horrible. I use that to make a joke about the hurling match I'm going to see with my friends...it's all pretty painful to read, actually.
I mention some songs from my Ireland playlist...here's three I really like by Gaelic Storm (thank you Lindsey and Danielle for recommendations)-
Then I offer opinions about my study abroad program. I'm not going to post those yet because I'm planning to save that for one BIG post at the end of the trip/blog. I consider getting a tattoo in Ireland, then about getting one for every country.."Maybe not in Korea. Or Africa. Or Japan." I talk about Milka Bars, which I recommend you try if you're ever in Europe. Even though you'll gain like 60 pounds, they're just SO DELICIOUS! (I've stopped eating them for a little while though, my trip to Barcelona is coming up.)
I made a note to mention the "no syringes" sign in the French airport bathrooms. Okay, it's more of a logo..you know, a drawing of a syringe behind the circle with the slash through it, just in case you were thinking about throwing your syringes away in an airport bathroom.
I feel like this part might be useful though-
"At the gate now. Man, that security was nothing. And the guy didn't even look at the right boarding pass. No WONDER my bag got lost in the beginning (FYI Delta lost my big suitcase when I flew over for the semester...I flew easyJet to get to Belfast, though)- airline people don't look at dates! This is not reassuring. Hopefully no terrorists fly to Belfast.
The bathroom was really pretty...my first thought was "Wish I'd brought my camera!" Then the next was "Yay white toilet paper!" (toilet paper in my foyer is pink) followed by "Gee, a toilet seat would have been nice." And no, I didn't go into the wrong bathroom...toilet seats seem to be optional in France. In fact, in a village in Champagne I had to use the kind where you just stand over a hole. It was pretty glamorous.
Then I go through a kind of Rebecca Black segment and say all the stuff I "gotta do" before I see my friends the next day. There was no "Flight to Belfast" sign near the gate, but everyone had Irish accents so I figured I was in the right place.
Anyway, once I got to Belfast I spent the night in a hostel called Lagan Backpackers. It was pretty great, a four-star as far as hostels go. I walked to the bus station the next morning at like 730 am and caught the 8am bus to Dublin. It was all remarkably easy, thank God. Once I got to Dublin, I took a taxi to my friends' hotel and it wasn't long before I encountered large groups of older people wearing huge felt hats that I realized were supposed to be huge beer glasses. I wished I had my Irish feather boa- my friend Danielle bought me one when she went to Ireland a couple years ago. A while after I got to the hotel, I finally spotted Bobby and got hugs from everyone. It was almost like they were all really happy to see me, which made me decide that I should go away more often!
We went to the hurling match (hurling I guess is kind of like field hockey and lacrosse? I didn't pay the closest attention). There was a guy in the audience holding a huge sign with a bible verse number on it, but I haven't checked to see which one it was yet. Then we went to Temple Bar (which is apparently important and well-known...I know absolutely nothing about the land I look the most like I'm from) and I don't know if I've ever seen more people in one place in my life. Tons of drunk people, beer cans everywhere, singing and dancing and yelling. The bar itself was packed wall to wall...we were smart enough not to go in. We spent the day wandering around Dublin, drinking, and, in Kim's case, singing and speculating what a horse thinks. The weekend went by really fast, and before I knew it my friends were on their way back to the States. So, one free hotel breakfast, a hotel bar of soap and towel, and a French Miyazaki poster (THANKS BOBBY!) richer, I hopped on a bus back to Belfast. And on the way out of Dublin I saw this awesome Guinness bridge!
I don't think it's actually called the Guinness bridge. But look at it. It's like a gift from the Beer Gods. On that note, let me just add that Guinness isn't my chosen Irish beverage. I'm more of a cider girl myself. But both are worth trying while you're there. My friends even got to go to the Guinness Brewery! I can't say I was able to do that, although we did visit the Mercier Champagne caves here in France last weekend.
I spent Saturday exploring Belfast and spending lots of money. I bought an Official Titanic Swim Team T-shirt and a delicious Skittles milkshake at this awesome place that has about 150 different flavors of milkshake. (Which reminds me, I have yet to try a Nutella-flavored milkshake. Better add it to my to-do list.) At the recommendation of my dear friend Lorie, I went on the Black Cab tour with some Australian girls I met at my hostel. The Black Cab Tour is a ride around Belfast in a cab while an Irishman tells you about the various murals in the Catholic and Protestant communities, and describes the results of the conflict between the two, those who are heavily involved, etc. It was really interesting.
Sorry for the half-ass blog post, but it's late, I'm tired, and tomorrow I'm leaving for my weekend in K-town. Bonne nuit tout le monde.
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