Ireland, Best European Country!!

I know it has been awhile since my last post, the past week has just been very hectic. Our river tour on the Arno was pretty cool, but not the best. It was still exciting to actually be on the river. We also got to see where holes had been patched under the Ponte Vecchio from when the butchers would drop the rotten meat into the river. People would still swim in the river during that time... not hard to see why people died so young back then. After the river trip, we got dinner at Doninis and had some great pasta before heading out for the night. On Tuesday, we went to class as usual but after class we got to see how gelato was made. They made a chocolate batch and it was amazing. The fresh gelato is so much better than gelato that has been sitting in the freezer. The place where they made it typically makes 12 batches a day and doesn't let the ice cream sit in the freezer for longer than 5 days. I have a feeling the ice cream at Ben and Jerry's isn't quite as fresh. That evening Sarah and I made dinner for everyone. We made chicken marinated in red wine, vegetables, bruschetta, and some mashed potatoes (we were missing food from home). Everything turned out great... I will just be ready to cook in air conditioning because standing over a hot stove for an hour and a half with no A/C is not very fun.

Wednesday was a pretty relaxed and laid back day. On Thursday, Worth and I left Florence at 7 am for Pisa. From Pisa we flew to Bristol, England. After spending a few hours in the Bristol airport, we finally got on our flight to Dublin. I was so excited when we got there especially after the long day of traveling. The weather was instantly different than Florence as it was cold and overcast. We checked into our hostel, which was the nicest we have stayed in thus far. The people there were so nice and it was very clean. We grabbed a quick dinner before meeting a group for a pub crawl at the entrance to Trinity College. Our pub crawl took us to five pubs and a club at the end. We met fellow Americans from San Diego and Georgia, along with people from Scotland, Holland, and Austrailia. We taught the Scottish guys how to play beer pong and they loved it. The guys from Holland were hilarious and so fun to talk to. On Friday morning we got up early and decided to go on the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. It took us to over 20 places around Dublin. We saw Trinity College, O'Connell Street, Abbey Corner, Guinness Storehouse, St. Patrick's Cathedral, etc etc... We got off and walked around Christ Church, St. Andeuon's Church, St. Patrick's, the Wellington Monument, and Phoenix Park. We got lunch at a typical Irish Restaurant by our hostel, which was located in the Temple Bar area of Dublin next to the famous Temple Bar. Worth had guiness and beef pie and I had a baked potato with chili and some brown bread. The meal was really good.. I didn't like Worth's though. It was too much like chuck roast, sick. After a long day of walking around the city, we went back to the hostel to take a nap. We then went to a couple of pubs next to our hostel in search of finding traditional Irish music. After two pubs continued to play American music, we finally found one with two guys playing the guitar and banjo. They played all traditional music though and it was so fun! We then got dinner at a Tapas restaurant that our hostel recommended and it was delicious. We went to bed early that night because I was really tired. I got a lot of sleep minus the fact that a French man in our room was snoring like a train! It was the loudest snoring I have ever heard, I wanted to throw something at his head.
On Saturday we walked to O'Connell street, around Trinity College, St. Steven's Green, and another shopping area near our hostel. We got another Irish lunch. Worth had some burger topped with bacon and a fried egg and I had fish and chips. That meal was ok, I just really wanted to try fish and chips after my previous experience in London wasn't very good. After lunch, we walked over to the Guinness storehouse to see how it was made. The brewery was very interesting and its crazy how Arthur Guinness started everything on 100 pounds! At the end of the tour, they gave you a complimentary Guinness at the sky bar at the top, which overlooked the whole city. I passed on my free Guinness. I am just not a fan of that dark beer, its too bitter. I found that I really like Kilkenny and Carlsburg, two other Irish beers. On Saturday night, we listened to more traditional music and got dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Then we went back to the Pub for the night. I ended up meeting these Irish guys and Irish danced with them all night. It was seriously one of the best nights of my life. One of the guys invited me to be his dad for his brother's wedding in 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I had to tell him no.
On Sunday, we left Dublin and went to a little fishing town called Howth about 30 minutes outside the city. The town was so neat and it was great to see some of the coastline. They had a lot of hiking trails but I didn't have the right shoes plus we had all of our luggage. After eating lunch there, we headed back to Dublin and went to the Irish National Museum. We then headed to the airport and started our venture back to Pisa. We finally made it back to Pisa around 11:15 last night and then had to take a bus back to Florence. I eventually made it home around 1:15 am. It was very long weekend, but well worth it. I did not want to leave Ireland at all. It was definitely my favorite country I have ever been too. The people were SO NICE and welcoming. The music was great and everything I saw and did was fantastic. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go there and I didn't pass up the chance. I would gladly go back in a heartbeat. I may even have to go to Pharmacy school there now, haha.
We have our farewell dinner with the school tonight and another birthday celebration. I cannot believe it is our last week. I am so not ready for this trip to be winding down!