Week in Putney and Dublin

My last blog (Sunday 1/25) seems like so long ago that it's hard for me to remember last week much. Monday and Tuesday we laid low and tried to rest up for our weekend in Dublin. Wednesday we went to ASDA which is so much fun b/c they have loud music and it almost seems like a party in a Wal-mart. The food here is so different and interesting and we stumbled upon a few things. First, these people love their crisps (which are potato chips back home) and one company had a contest for the next new flavor of chips. Some of the flavors included: Fish & Chips, Chili & Chocolate, Crispy duck with Hoisin sauce, Cajun Squirrel, and Builder's Breakfast. So crazy!! So we decided to buy a bag of Cajun Squirrel and see how that goes. We have yet to try it, but I'm sure they will be some info in the next blog about how it tastes. There was also an interesting frozen entree called Mr. Brain's pork faggots. Not quite sure about this one either, but I hope everyone can now understand these people are not typical about their food. Thursday we ventured out to Oxford Street which has a good shopping area as I really want to find some black boots (but still has been unsuccesful) and went to a famous Fish & Chips place as recommended by one of my travel guides. The place had a line outside for a table, which is always a good sign. Once inside, we found out it was BYOB so Jenna ran down the street to pick up a bottle of wine (after seeing someone else venture out for wine). The fish and chips were nice, but just not very flavorful. I can now say I've had them, but don't feel inclined to eat more. We took it easy on Friday night and had dinner with Georgia and Laura before going back to the dorm since we had to get up early.

We got up super early (around 5) to get walking to the tube station, caught the tube and ended up at Heathrow with plenty of time. Unfortunately, our plane was delayed and we all realized we could have slept in, but made the best of our time. We heard from Nic, the guy from my ward who went with us, as he got an earlier flight into Dublin and he informed us it was windy and raining. Once we got into town, it had lightened up but the day was still dreary. They were having a Trad Fest that celebrated the traditional Irish music, so we were able to hear that as we walked around when we got there. We checked into our hotel, which was nice and realatively close to all the good areas. We walked to see Trinity College and then hoped onto a Tour Bus to the Guinness factory. It was loads of fun and full of info as it was 7 stories tall. Also, this year is 250 years of Guinness and there was a special floor opened up that day to commemorate this milestone. We got to the top, The Gravity Bar, and had our free pint and a look at the city from above. As it was cloudy, the view wasn't great, but still enjoyable. We went back to the Temple Bar and Grafton Street area, browsed/shopped for souvenirs and headed back to the hotel to get ready. Unfortunately after dinner my stomach was giving me problems, so I called it a night early and let everyone else go out and party. They weren't out late as the Irish get pretty intoxicated and become quite annoying. Thankfully I didn't miss out!

Sunday morning we slept in a little, grabbed some breakfast, met up with Nic and headed to an old famous jail to find out we had missed the next tour. We then went to get back on the tour bus and found it was broken down (this should've been our sign that the rest of the day would be filled with drama). Another bus came and we hopped of at Ryan's Victoria bar stop to have a pint where George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton have both had drinks in the past. The pub was nice and we then carried on the tour bus to another pub and had lunch and watched some soccer. At this point, it was already time to head back to the hotel and get to the airport. Overall, Dublin was a little too hectic for me. Some parts even reminded me of the dirtier places of New Orleans. Nice city, but a little to busy for me. I will continue on with my journey home in another blog. Cheers!