Oh, how I LOVE Ireland!

Hola familia y amigos! Sorry this update on our trip to Dublin & Paris is a little late, but with school starting the day we got back it has been a little hectic! Dublin was absolutely amazing! I fell in love with Ireland and already want to go back! We got to Dublin late at night on the 30th of September. Oct 1st was our first full day in Dublin and we toured almost the whole city! The people in Ireland are extremely nice and welcoming, it was so nice for Jill and I to be around friendly people because the Spaniards have not proven to be very nice people so far! There is even a word for their rudeness in southern Spain, it is called "Malafolla," and my teacher even said that some Spaniards from southern Spain pride themselves on their Malafolla! So to say the least it was very refreshing to be around wonderful and friendly people in Dublin. We got lost trying to find our hostel in Dublin and a very nice older man stopped to ask us if we were lost and he offered for us to use his cell phone, he was so helpful! We did a "City Siteseeing" tour again (like the one we did in Florence) because it makes it really easy to see all the sights in one day. We got off at the Guiness Factory, Trinity College and Stephen's Green park. Stephen's Green park was one of my favorite places. The park had ponds, beautiful trees and wonderful gardens...it was very peaceful!

After touring the city all day Jill and I got ready to go to an Irish dance show. The show was at a pub called Merry Ploughboy's a little outside the city. The Irish band that played before the dancers came on was called Merry Ploughboy's, they played some amazing instruments and were awesome vocalists. When the dancers came on they picked people out of the audience halfway through the show. They came over to where Jill and I were sitting and thankfully they picked Jill because she has over 6 years of experience with Irish dancing! She was awesome on stage and the dancers quickly figured out that she had some experience! I took video and pictures :)

The next day we woke up early again and found a place to have a "real" breakfast! They don't eat breakfast very much in Spain (Jill and I usually get crackers) so we were dying for some eggs! We found a great breakfast place and had a big breakfast and some very tasty coffee...what a treat! After that we walked to the Dublin Castle, which was beautiful! Then we took the "Dart" train to the outskirts of Dublin to a town called Dun Laoghaire. Dun Laoghaire is a port town right on the water and is extremely green! It was gorgeous! We walked all around and had lunch in Dun Laoghaire, it was very relaxing :) We had to be at the airport around 5pm that day so we had to cut our day in Dun Laoghaire a little short, but it still was a wonderful day! We went back to the city and did a little shopping for some presents and then left for the airport! It was a short trip to Dublin, but I am so glad we went! I would love to go to Ireland again someday and see more areas of the country!