The second day we were in Dublin we woke up after 12pm because I guess we were not as acclimated to the time change as we thought... We got ready and decided to get some breakfast and head outside of the busy downtown area and out into the country. On the recommendation of some local gentlemen we met the night before, we decided to go to Malahide Castle, a few miles outside of Dublin.
I do have to mention that we ate breakfast at a small convenient store on O'Connell street for cheap. During our 15 minute breakfast at a table on the street, we were harassed twice by beggars looking to convince us to donate .50 cents (euro cents I guess) to them. When we said we were sorry, as we were trying to be nice, they got angered and raised their voice to me.... This story will be revisited later in this post...
When we finally found where the bus to Malahide picked us up, we got on with our 3 day pass purchased at the airport and went on a bit of a sight seeing tour to the outskirts of the city. We didn't really know where we were going or how long the ride would be, we were sure to keep our eyes open for signs. After about a half hour, we saw a billboard for the Castle and attractions. We hopped off the bus and started to hike up this dreary path through the woods (a little scary, but it was the direction the advertisements pointed us in).
After walking up this path for about 3/4 of a mile, out of nowhere we saw this huge castle tucked back in a clearing in the trees. We took some pictures and entered into the front door. Since it was late in the day, the front hallway leading to the ticket office was about as far as we got before we were kicked out because it was closing time.
Although we didn't get to tour the Castle, we did learn about it. It was over 800 years old and is known to have ghosts wonder the grounds after dusk. There was a story about the family who still owns the property today. Apparently there were 12 men, all relatives, who were going to fight in a war. They ate breakfast together in what is now the Tea room about 8am on the day of the battle. By nightfall, all of their lives had expired. We did get a peek at their tombstones that still were erected in the cemetery behind a church next to the castle. As we walked back towards the bus stop, I couldn't help but think that we were walking in the footsteps of people from more than 800 years prior to our arrival on the grounds. With the breathtaking views of the fields and agriculture across the castle grounds, I had a lot of time to reflect on what we were experiencing.
When we got back to the downtown, we decided to get some dinner and hit up a pub before we left the following day. We stopped at a small pub where I had a traditional Irish Stew and was introduced to Bulmer's Irish Ale. We then decided to stop at another bar named Maddigan's (different from the one we ate lunch at the previous day) where we met a friendly bartender who just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas. His name was Steve, later to be known as Stevie-G. He was very interesting and poured me a real Irish Car bomb, which is way different from how we Amerian's make them. Instead of pouring Jameson and Bailey's into a shot and dropping it into a 1/2 pint of Guinness and drinking it before it curdles, he simply poured a pint of Guinness and added a shot of some liquor that I can't recall at the moment. It was really good, and to me it had the same affect!
We had some good conversations with Stevie-G about how he used to be the overnight guard at the Malahide Castle, which we just toured hours before. He told us about how scary it was to be the guard at the castle and how the paintings displayed in the castle were worth over 3 Million Euros alone!
The funny part was that we asked him about the beggars who stopped us during breakfast. He told us that he once gave a man $.50 and then saw him selling watches down the street that night. He went up to the beggar, demanded his money back and took a watch from the guy because he lied to him. The beggar tried to charge him for the watch and Stevie-G simply replied "do you want me to slap you?". Also, Stevie-G is about a 6'6'' Beast-man who is training to box in an upcoming match later this summer...
We left the bar around 12:30am (also known as "half twelve" in Ireland). We packed our bags, set our alarms, and prepared for our trip to the airport at 5:30am. The next day, we were off to Cambridge!
I do have to mention that we ate breakfast at a small convenient store on O'Connell street for cheap. During our 15 minute breakfast at a table on the street, we were harassed twice by beggars looking to convince us to donate .50 cents (euro cents I guess) to them. When we said we were sorry, as we were trying to be nice, they got angered and raised their voice to me.... This story will be revisited later in this post...
When we finally found where the bus to Malahide picked us up, we got on with our 3 day pass purchased at the airport and went on a bit of a sight seeing tour to the outskirts of the city. We didn't really know where we were going or how long the ride would be, we were sure to keep our eyes open for signs. After about a half hour, we saw a billboard for the Castle and attractions. We hopped off the bus and started to hike up this dreary path through the woods (a little scary, but it was the direction the advertisements pointed us in).
After walking up this path for about 3/4 of a mile, out of nowhere we saw this huge castle tucked back in a clearing in the trees. We took some pictures and entered into the front door. Since it was late in the day, the front hallway leading to the ticket office was about as far as we got before we were kicked out because it was closing time.Although we didn't get to tour the Castle, we did learn about it. It was over 800 years old and is known to have ghosts wonder the grounds after dusk. There was a story about the family who still owns the property today. Apparently there were 12 men, all relatives, who were going to fight in a war. They ate breakfast together in what is now the Tea room about 8am on the day of the battle. By nightfall, all of their lives had expired. We did get a peek at their tombstones that still were erected in the cemetery behind a church next to the castle. As we walked back towards the bus stop, I couldn't help but think that we were walking in the footsteps of people from more than 800 years prior to our arrival on the grounds. With the breathtaking views of the fields and agriculture across the castle grounds, I had a lot of time to reflect on what we were experiencing.
When we got back to the downtown, we decided to get some dinner and hit up a pub before we left the following day. We stopped at a small pub where I had a traditional Irish Stew and was introduced to Bulmer's Irish Ale. We then decided to stop at another bar named Maddigan's (different from the one we ate lunch at the previous day) where we met a friendly bartender who just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas. His name was Steve, later to be known as Stevie-G. He was very interesting and poured me a real Irish Car bomb, which is way different from how we Amerian's make them. Instead of pouring Jameson and Bailey's into a shot and dropping it into a 1/2 pint of Guinness and drinking it before it curdles, he simply poured a pint of Guinness and added a shot of some liquor that I can't recall at the moment. It was really good, and to me it had the same affect!
We had some good conversations with Stevie-G about how he used to be the overnight guard at the Malahide Castle, which we just toured hours before. He told us about how scary it was to be the guard at the castle and how the paintings displayed in the castle were worth over 3 Million Euros alone!
The funny part was that we asked him about the beggars who stopped us during breakfast. He told us that he once gave a man $.50 and then saw him selling watches down the street that night. He went up to the beggar, demanded his money back and took a watch from the guy because he lied to him. The beggar tried to charge him for the watch and Stevie-G simply replied "do you want me to slap you?". Also, Stevie-G is about a 6'6'' Beast-man who is training to box in an upcoming match later this summer...
We left the bar around 12:30am (also known as "half twelve" in Ireland). We packed our bags, set our alarms, and prepared for our trip to the airport at 5:30am. The next day, we were off to Cambridge!
Oohh G-Money, you left out sooo many good details... your blog has disappointed me. Tiff and I will pick-up your slack, but only this time : )
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