Mid-term Break, Part 2: Ireland

Ireland made me appreciate London- a lot!
First of all, we had to take a bus to Stanstead Airport (it's about an hour outside of Central London) and spend the night there at the airport before our plane left the next morning. It was an adventure- one I hope I never have to repeat. It's not easy sleeping on a cold airport floor, no matter how many dozens of other people are also sprawled out around you. After getting a couple hours of sleep here and there, we got onto our RyanAir flight. I think Whitney said it best- it's a cartoon flight. Everything is blue and gaudy yellow, and not-too-subtle commercials play over the plane's speakers every few minutes of the hour-long flight. It's the cheapest you can get, and it's not too hard to figure out why. We did make it through with our ONE bag (no handbags or cameras or anything else are allowed to be carried outside of your one carry-on, and they will charge you 35 pounds if you don't abide by the rules), and we made it safely to Ireland.
I was told that Ireland never snowed. As our flight landed in Dublin, heavy snow was blocking most of our view. It wasn't sticking, just enough to make it wet and cold outside. Welcome to Eire? We did end up having pretty much every kind of weather possible (except for natural disasters, thankfully)- snow, rain, hail, pouring rain, drizzle, cloudy weather, and SUN! Yes, it was sunny for most of Wednesday and Thursday, which I believe was a direct miracle from God. Thank You, Lord! Ireland is much more beautiful when you're not wet.
After landing we took the bus to Abigail's hostel. The bad news was that the hostel just wasn't the best- no baking sheets when we wanted to cook chicken nuggets (we now know that you can use a dinner plate in the oven), nothing to do in the lounge, a complicated security system which kept the key from us, and nice but unapproachable staff. The good news was that our hostel was very clean, had a free luggage room, ensuite bathrooms, and, best of all, free tea at all times (kind of a standard hostel thing, but incredibly appreciated nonetheless).
It didn't take us long wandering the streets of Dublin to realize the biggest problem with the city: it's expensive! I've heard London is the most expensive city on Earth, but now I'm pretty sure Dublin is. We looked around and visited a couple of museums, but we didn't get too much done that first day before we made our way back to our hostel to take a much needed 3-hour nap.
On Tuesday I got to visit the Book of Kells at Trinity College. It's an old, very important illustrated manuscript of the Bible (I suggest looking it up for yourself). Not only did I get to see extremely old manuscripts, but the exhibit also included the Old Library, where other old and valuable books are preserved. The library is magnificent, like the library of my dreams. I'm not sure how to explain it all, but I think that this visit affected me somehow. It's like I remembered what I want to do with my life, one of the things that makes me excited and overjoyed. It gave me some sort of direction.
On Thursday we went to Bray, a small bay town about an hour from Dublin on the overground system. It was beautiful, more like the countryside Ireland I wanted to see. We went for a long walk along the waterfront and on the hill, saw swans, had ice cream, and discovered the Town Hall which was turned into a McDonald's. A more pleasant Ireland than Dublin, it was.
Thursday night we went to a bar where we saw traditional Irish musicians and dancers. It was probably my favorite part of the trip! It was all fantastic (Bulmer's cider is now one of my favorite drinks). The flutist that night had played in the Lord of the Rings, which made me very excited. :D And one of the songs they sang was from P.S. I Love You (the song the guy in the bar sings when she's out drinking). It was a great night!
The rest of the trip was kind of dull. We didn't think when we booked tickets that that Friday was Good Friday- in a Catholic country no less! So, since all the pubs and most of the museums were closed, we did a little shopping and then spent a good 5 or so hours waiting in the lounge until we could leave for our plane back. I think we probably had 10 cups of tea between us.
Our flight back was uneventful, but we did get to take the night bus to bring us back home around 2:30 a.m. Another experience! (night buses are generally known for being a little sketch . . . safe, but usually have a few drunk people going home from partying)
All in all, Ireland was an experience. I'm glad I did it. The countryside was beautiful, the Book of Kells exhibit was great, and the music and dancing was a lot of fun. The whole thing was a character-building experience, to say the least. It was good, but I am SO thankful for London now! Praise God that I can be back at my home, sweet home!