Ireland and London
Dublin, 05/22 - 05/25
The plan for the rest of my summer trip was to meet up with my friends Carolyn Cortes and Anna Sheridan in Dublin. Their flights arrived on May 23rd, (1 day after I arrived), so I had some downtime to do my own thing. I checked into a 20 person bed in the Kinlay House Hostel for around €9 a night and then walked around the neighborhood. I stopped into a barbershop and got my haircut by an older Irish man who told me things to do and where to go on my future travels in western Ireland. I went thrift shopping and then met up with a couple people from Couchsurfing.
*Side note: Couchsurfing is an app I’ve been using for a couple years to meet up with other couch surfers or locals in the area. It’s also a good source to get free housing by sleeping in a random host’s house. It’s such a good way to literally live like a local. I’ve stayed in MANSIONS with a family for free and they typically feed you or take you out to the city. This one time in Massachusetts, the host left for the night and Carolyn & I were left alone for the entire time lol. It’s generally safe because hosts have reviews from previous surfers, social media links, and in-depth bios. In my opinion, hosts should feel more afraid because he/she is letting a random person into their home. I have never felt unsafe staying with anyone.*
I met up with a girl named MARIAH CAREY who lives in a nearby city from where I grew up in Pennsylvania, so weird!!! She’s studying at Trinity College for a couple weeks and currently goes to PennState. We grabbed drinks at a couple pubs and met up with a few other people from Couchsurfing who live in Dublin, Justin & Luis!
I met up with Mariah the next morning & walked around Grafton Street. We met up with another couchsurfer, Yehia, who showed us around the area. We did a little photoshoot in Stephen’s Green Park and then Mariah & I walked through Trinity College. Mariah has been in contact with a guy she met on Omegle from 7 years who was from Dublin, and has been staying in contact with him ever since. He took us to a burrito place and then we ate cookies in Stephen’s Green Park. He was leaving for Indonesia the next day, so he couldn’t hang around with us for long. Afterwards, Mariah & I took a bus to Phoenix Park to feed deer!!! It was crazy. They just came up to you if you had food, so we bought a couple more cookies and hung around . I met up with Carolyn & Anna at a bar that night & then they showed me their Airbnb. It was literally a tent in someone’s backyard (it was super far from the city center, so we had to take a bus.) We pregamed in the tent lol and then went to a club called Dicey’s. We got BLASTED, it was so much fun.
I checked out of my hostel that morning & cooked the rest of the food I had. There was a ‘free food’ shelf in the kitchen, so I copped a bag of wine and a bottle of merlot:) I walked around for about an hour with my 30 pound bag on my back until I found a visitor’s pass for the bus. It was so bad, I was in so much pain lol. The Airbnb host ended up letting me stay in the tent with them, so I dropped off my baggage and then we grabbed lunch. I was so drained and they were still jet lagged, so we napped the entire day and then pregamed. We went to Temple Bar & a club called George’s. We didn’t get back until 4am and then had to wake up at 9 to checkout and catch a bus to Limerick at 11 lol.
Kilfinane, 05/25 - 05/27
We were only in Limerick for a couple hours because our hostel was in a small village called Kilfinane. There were only 2 time slots the buses ran to/from the town, so we only had until 5 to wander around Limerick. We grabbed burgers and fries & visited a couple churches. We got the bus and then headed to Ballyhoura Luxury Hostel. It was by far the best hostel I’ve ever stayed in. There was even a sauna!!! & everything just felt so homey. All of the wooden furniture was custom-made from the shop next door. A husband and wife ran the reception who were super helpful. They gave us a map of the town and a couple things to do. They even offered us to drive us around! That night, we went down the street to a small bar where there was traditional Ireland music. The Guinness was to die for. It was so good. Everyone was staring at us, we felt like such outsiders cause everyone knew each other fro, the small town lol.
We tried renting a car from literally every company in Ireland, but it’s strictly illegal to rent to anyone under the age of 25. Like it SUCKED. The town had a population of only 700 people, so there was literally nothing to do. We couldn’t drive or take a bus anywhere, so we picked up some snacks at the local grocery store and walked around the town. We almost got plowed by a couple cars because every roadway was narrow country roads lol. When we got back to the hostel, the husband surprised us and gave us the option to check out the next morning with a full refund!! He felt bad cause we didn’t have a car and couldn’t do anything. We booked a hostel called Rowan Tree Hostel in a town north of Limerick called Ennis. We took an early bus to Limerick and then a connecting bus to Ennis.
Ennis, 05/27 - 05/30
Ennis was rainy and cold, but super cute! The streets were lined with shops and everything was so colorful. When we arrived to our hostel, they upgraded us to a private room with a bathroom for free!!! So that was sweet. We walked around the town, grabbed a cheap dinner, and went to a bar.
The next morning, we headed to the Cliffs of Moher. Literally so beautiful. We took a bus to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Center & then hiked 6 miles along the cliffs to a town called Liscannor. We hitchhiked to a Ennistimon and then got the bus from there to Ennis. We cooked pasta for dinner and then I finally had the chance to do laundry (it’s been a month since the last time I washed my cloths lol). There was a tattoo parlor in town, so we all got tats!!! I’ve been wanted to get Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam painting ever since I started studying in Rome, the painting is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. My parents have always had the painting hung up in their bedroom, so it’s a childhood memory of them. The tat was only €50!!
We checked out of our hostel at 4am the next morning and took a taxi to the Shannon Airport. We took a €15 flight to London where we spent 4 days at St. Christopher’s Inn in Camden Town.
London, 05/30 - 06/04
London was by far the best city I’ve ever been to. Literally I see myself living there in a couple years, but it’s expensive!!! The currency was in pounds and all of the food, accommodations, and touristy stuff was so much money. London is not that walkable. You need some sort of transit pass, so we bought a reloadable Oyster pass. We stayed in a super cool neighborhood called Camden. There were a lot of markets and really weird stores. Everyone dressed like the early 2000’s, very emo. Every wall had graffiti, and the restaurants either sold burgers or fish & chips, it was so annoying lol. We walked around for a bit and then went to a grocery store where we accidentally walked through a fire exit and set the fire alarm off :) Ooop! We pregamed and then went to this fun latin bar.
I was in contact with a girl named Serena who needed a model for her final project in uni. She took me to a roof where we shot some video and pics. It was super chill. We walked to Green Park where we had a picnic and then made a stop at Buckingham Palace. That night, we went on a bar crawl. £15 for free entry into 5 bars and free shots!!! We ended at a huge club and then walked home at like 4am from another club in SOHO. We stumbled home and met the two girls staying in our room. They went to a rave and literally the one girl’s legs was all bloody and messed up lol.
Serena told us that we needed to go to Brick Lane. The neighborhood was crazy cool. Everything was so artsy and had a ton of vintage and thrift stores. There were so many local vendors and food trucks. We spent the entire day walking around the neighborhood and then walked to The Gherkin. We did a mini photoshoot in front of the red phone boxes and then picked up booze to pregame for later. We went to a couple clubs that night, not sure what else happened lol.
Everyday at 1:00 there was a free 3 hour tour of London. I left Carolyn and Anna and met up with the tour guide near Trafalgar Square. He took us to St Jame’s Palace, Buckingham Palace, St. Jame’s Park, Palace of Westminster, and the Elizabeth Tower (known as Big Ben). Elizabeth Tower was under restoration because they were trying to stabilize the structure. I bought tickets for the Tower of London and met up with Carolyn & Anna. Turns out we wouldn’t have had enough time to go through the entire tower because it was closing soon, so we had to postpone it until the following day. I was supposed to do another shoot with Sabrina, but had to cancel :( We walked around the neighbors and saw the Tower Bridge (known as the London Bridge.) We walked along the river and then went to mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral because it was only free if you attended a service. It was GORGEOUS omg. We took a train back to Camden and went to a diner for dinner.
We checked out of the hostel early and left for the Tower of London. We saw where prisoners were held, tortured, and some old weaponry. There were jewels and crowns from previous kings and queens who ruled the United Kingdom. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend because we had a flight later in the day, so we had to go through stuff super fast. Hoping to come back to London soon xoxo.