Picture this: a 20-year-old girl on leave from uni until September, working part-time with her hours recently reduced, leaving her with plenty of free time. She’s worrying about spending too long doing nothing and feeling like she’s wasted her time. What is she to do?
I’ll tell you: she’s going to fly by herself, in the middle of the week, to Ireland, a country she’s longed to visit ever since she started playing Irish music in her folk group. People often say that the best time to travel is when you’re young since it’s when you have the fewest commitments, so why not? I’d been asking my friends for a while if they wanted to come with me, but I didn’t want other people’s schedules to dictate mine. So, I decided to go alone.
Read on to see what I got up to on my travels to the Emerald Isle!
Day 1
My trip didn’t get off to a great start because I somehow missed my flight. I was at the airport on time, but I must have misunderstood the boarding times, because the next thing I knew, the flight had already departed. I debated whether to just go home and return in a few weeks, but I concluded that I had to go now; I’d already told everyone I was going, so it’d be a bit embarrassing to tell them I didn’t. What’s funny is, I suffer from anxiety, but not about ‘normal things’. For example, this situation probably would have made many people anxious, but I was surprisingly calm. My anxiety prefers to torture me with hypothetical situations or overthinking things I can’t change. I booked myself onto the next flight (for an extra £100), and I made sure to catch this one!
I’d been chatting to a girl on Facebook studying in Oxford who’s currently in Dublin for PhD research, so the first thing I did when I arrived was meet her. Thankfully, we got along great, which can sometimes be a bit of a gamble if you’ve only ever spoken over text. I had sent her the list of the places I wanted to visit, and she showed me a fair few of them on the first evening since they were all fairly close.
We started at St. Stephen’s Green, a beautiful park covered with lush greenery. From there, we walked to the Temple Bar District to see its namesake bar, followed by the famous Hapenny Bridge and O’Connell Street. I also went to a gift shop to buy my usual travel souvenirs: a sticker for my laptop and a badge for my rucksack. Ireland was having the same heatwave as us in the UK which made walking through Dublin’s streets all the more enjoyable. When it was time to head to my accommodation, Ara, my new friend, kindly showed me to the bus stop and explained where to get off.
The Temple Bar (with a man getting in the way of my modelling!)
As with every other time I’ve used Couchsurfing, my host was very welcoming. He made me a tagine, so we ate together whilst getting to know one another. I’d promised to play him some English tunes on my whistle for letting me stay with him, so I did exactly that. I’d been practising in preparation for my visit, so I was glad I played the tunes without making any mistakes! Then it was off to sleep, ready for a busy day ahead.
Day 2
My host made me porridge with blueberries and apples for breakfast – a lovely start. He had to leave early for work, so I was even more grateful when I noticed he had left me a banana and two fruit and nut bars to take on my travels; it’s not like he had to feed me, so the gesture really made me smile.
I met up with Ara again and we decided to visit Dublin Castle, which was also on my list. Both the inside and the outside of the castle are magnificent, with walls inside lined with extravagant Renaissance paintings and plaques detailing their history. We then explored Dubh Linn gardens right next to the castle. Side note: did you know the name Dublin comes from the Gaelic for ‘black pool’ (Dubh Linn)?
I could not get over the weather – it felt more like I was in a tropical country than just 200 miles from home.
I told Ara I also wanted to visit the Chester Beatty museum, which she’d never heard of. Fortunately, it lies within Dubh Linn gardens and is free to enter, so we both got to experience something new. This museum houses hundreds of fascinating artefacts, my favourite of which were the array of snuff boxes from the Qing dynasty in China. Honestly, if I owned one of those, I’d be tempted to start doing snuff!
Seriously… Look at them!
Ara left after that, so I explored solo. First stop: Christ Church Cathedral, with a bonus view of the Wood Quay Amphitheatre along the way. If I’m honest, the amphitheatre was far more modern than I was expecting, but I can imagine it’s a lovely spot for summer performances. I only saw the outside of Christ Church Cathedral because entry was ticketed, but the architecture alone was enough to take my breath away. I then made my way over to Dublin’s other celebrated cathedral, St. Patrick’s.
On the walk, I heard a voice from what felt like God himself: “Do you want a free ice cream?” I turned around to see a man in a tiny ice cream shop window, and he repeated his question. I responded with, “Well, if you’re offering!” He explained they had just bought a new ice cream machine and wanted to test it out. It was a humble Mr. Whippy in a cone, but the fact it was free made it taste even better.
At St. Patrick’s, I decided to pay the 10 euro student entry fee, and I’m glad I did; I got to learn the story of St. Patrick and the history behind the cathedral, as well as see the awe-inspiring stained-glass windows. I’m not even religious, but I still get an indescribable feeling when I enter religious buildings like this one. For that reason, when I saw the prayer corner, I decided to sit and reflect for a few minutes. There was a notebook to write your reason for praying, so I wrote, ‘to reflect on the beauties I’ve seen in Dublin today’. It made me appreciate my trip even more.
The stained-glass windows of St. Patrick’s
By coincidence, it turns out that one of my friends from Fosbrooks recently moved to Dublin, so we met in the evening. We ate at a 100% vegetarian falafel restaurant where I had a delicious halloumi wrap. She told me how much she loved living there, which got me thinking… maybe I could move here too? We ended the night with gelato from Gino’s, which I initially declined (I’d already had ice cream!) but I couldn’t resist. I decided on the white chocolate and pistachio, and the Kinder Bueno flavours. Izzy drove me back to my accommodation, and after chatting briefly with my host, I had an early night. The 23,000 steps I’d done had worn me out!
Day 3
My host had told me about a round tower in Clondalkin, the village where he lived, so I set off early to explore. I had to walk through a large park to get there, which was especially nice with the morning sun. The tower stands on the site of an ancient monastery – fascinating stuff! Then, I caught a bus back into the city for my final day.
Could I have gone to Dublin without seeing the famous Book of Kells? No, so that was my first stop. The Book of Kells experience meant I got to read all about the creation of the book (which they used the skin of 185 calves for!) and see the pigments in the ink. The book itself was beautiful, though difficult to decipher due to the ornate Irish calligraphy. It made me want to try learning it; I can do blackletter and brush calligraphy, but I’ve never tried Celtic. After seeing the book, we had access to Trinity’s Long Room, a very fitting name for the college’s 65-metre-long library.
The ink pigments used in the Book of Kells (left) Trinity College’s Long Room (right)
When I left, I sat on the grass on Trinity College’s campus. I once got told that I reminded them of Daisy Edgar-Jones, the actress who plays Marianne in the TV adaptation of Normal People, so I tried to pretend I was her. It made me think of how much I would love to live here. This then prompted me to go down a Google rabbit hole of funded PhD programmes in Ireland. It’s just a thought, for now…
At this point, I was getting peckish, so I went to Cornucopia, a vegan restaurant recommended by my host. I had a ciabatta with roasted vegetables and mozzarella. I also decided to get a kombucha to drink which I had never tried before, but I surprisingly liked it. The reason behind my decision was I recently read that in cultures where fermented foods are popular, there are lower rates of mental illness, implying that gut health affects mental health. I’m not sure if the singular drink of kombucha ‘cured’ my mental illness, but maybe I ought to drink it more often. Overall, I enjoyed my experience in this restaurant and it wasn’t as expensive as I was anticipating – the ciabatta and the drink together were 14.45 euros.
Next, I visited the National Museum, home to incredibly well-preserved bog bodies. As recommended by a friend, it was unmissable. Next door to the National Museum was the National Library, so I also took a quick glance inside. They had a temporary exhibition on Yeats, which truthfully wasn’t my thing, but it was still worth a look considering it was free.
One of the bog bodies in the National Museum
Before heading to the airport, I had one final goal: live Irish music at a pub. I trekked 40 minutes to The Cobblestone, only to find the music wouldn’t start until 5:30, the exact time I needed to leave. Still, I grabbed a drink and chatted to a friendly American couple, so it wasn’t a completely wasted journey.
The Journey Home (a saga)
I’d left my rucksack at my accommodation, so I bussed back to retrieve it. When I tried to unlock the door, my key wouldn’t open it and my host wasn’t home. After ten minutes of aimless attempts, I asked one of the neighbours to help me with no luck. I weighed up my options: the next flight was at 6:15 the following morning, and I had work at 9. I concluded there wasn’t anything too important in the bag, so I could ask my host to post it if worse came to worst.
The neighbours kindly gave me a lift to the bus depot, but the coach was delayed over an hour. As I waited, I suddenly remembered… MY PASSPORT IS IN THE RUCKSACK! I vaguely recalled hearing that you don’t need a passport to travel between Ireland and the UK, but I didn’t know whether that was about Northern Ireland. Google confirmed you only need a form of photo ID and I luckily had my driving licence. I thought that I might as well try, and worst-case scenario, I’d go back to the accommodation and catch the first flight the next morning.
The coach came in a nick of time so I ran across the airport to board my flight. I showed them my driving licence and explained I didn’t have my passport. They rang immigration to ask if I could board, and they asked whether I had a picture of my passport. Thankfully, I did, and it states that I’m a British citizen, so I was allowed on the flight! Once home, I was so tired after the day I’d had and I was dreading going back to the airport for work in less than 12 hours.
My host told me the following day that it would cost 25 euros to post my rucksack, and they wouldn’t send any liquids which my bag had in the form of toiletries. I decided there was only one logical solution: I booked a flight to go again! The return flight was only £30 and I’d get all my stuff back this way. I’m coming and going on the same day, but it at least gives me an excuse to go back and see anything I missed the first time.
Final thoughts
Ireland is by far my favourite country I’ve visited so far. Maybe it was the sunny weather, maybe it was the people, the streets, the music, or maybe it was just the sense of freedom. I’m so grateful for everything that worked out in my favour, from managing to get there and back in spite of difficulties, to making a new friend through Facebook, to being shown such kindness by strangers.
I was slightly apprehensive about going because it was the first time I’d gone away since Geneva, a place etched in my mind for painful reasons, so I’m thankful that I’m learning to enjoy travelling once again.
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