Snow

One of the things I was really looking forward to when coming to a very cold and rainy country around Winter was to see some snow... Unfortunately, when I got here and shared that aspiration of mine with the locals they disencouraged me immediately saying that snow is a very rare phenomenon around here and I guess it's understandable due to the proximity to the sea. Nevertheless, I still kept dreaming and wishing for it. I mean, it's so cold... The least you can do is give me some snow!!

I had already lost up... But... Today I woke up, looked out the window and it was snowing!! I felt like I was in a movie set around Christmas time... Even though I've been to Serra da Estrela back in Portugal and saw some old snow turned into ice, I've never actually seen snow falling from the skies and I certainly have never played with it...

Imagine my delight going through the streets to go to work feeling the snowflakes in my face. Never thought I could enjoy a Monday morning so much, but the snow really made my day!

Random shots around Dublin

I just realised I have so many cool pictures that still haven't made it to the blog, so I decided to create a post with some random shots I've been taking around here...

Dublin Writers Museum

The Gate Theatre

General Post Office (GPO)

O'Connell Statue

Trinity College

Stephen's Green

Merrion Square Park

Saint Andrew's Street

Saint Andrew's Street

Temple Bar

Temple Bar

Temple Bar

Temple Bar

Smile!

Dublin Wall of Fame

View over the Liffey from Essex Bridge

Essex Bridge

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Marlborough Street

Saint Mary's Pro-Cathedral

Look right. No, the other right!

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral

More to come soon! =)

Guinness Storehouse

So, I've been in Ireland for a whole month now! But I still hadn't been to the Guinness Storehouse, which is one of the most iconic places to visit when in Dublin. So I decided to make amends for my sin and go there this weekend. The weather wasn't spectacular either, so a nice indoors activity was in order. The ticket for a student over 18 like me was 13 euros, so I was thinking to myself "this better be good...", and it turned out to be great!

On the way in there were some horse-drawn carriages outside and this little fella immediately put a smile on my face! 

Horsey with a leprechaun hat

In the beginning of the tour, a member of the staff told us the building was shaped like a pint glass and it had 7 floors. In each floor we'd learn a different step of the process of creating Guinness stout. After that everyone was free to take the tour at their own pace, since the way through each phase and floor is very well marked and you can just guide yourself through the building.

On the first floor we discover the 4 ingredients that make Guinness so unique in taste and consistency: barley, hops, yest and, of course, water.

One of Guinness' most important ingredients: Water!

After that we learned about the skillful work of a cooper and how they created a wooden barrel capable of retaining Guinness' unique flavour to be transported around the globe. This was certainly one of the most impressive parts of the tour.

Guinness Barrels

Guinness Barrels

Replica of a Guinness ship

Guinness train

And then we stumbled upon this beautiful pint shaped sculpture that caught the eyes of everyone around. Truly remarkable!

Recreation of a Pint of Guinness

On the Guinness Storehouse Wall of Fame there were tons of familiar faces captured on their visits to the brewery, like the Queen of England, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Paul Rudd and, my favourite, Conan O'Brien!

Conan O'Brien at Guinness Store House

I also really enjoyed the Advertising and Sponsorship floor, in which you get to see some of Guinness' advertising campaigns over the years, including outdoors, bottle labels, TV commercials and merchandising.

Guinness Advertising Campaigns

Guinness Advertising Campaign

Guinness Harp

Guinness labels over the years

Guinness Advertising Campaign

Guinness Advertising Campaign

We then reached the Guinness Academy floor, and this is one of the main atractions of this tour because you get to learn all 6 steps to pour a perfect pint and then try to do it by yourself. If you succeed you get a certificate stating you poured the Perfect Pint and you also get to drink your masterpiece. Sláinte! (or Cheers if you prefer).

Guinness Academy

Bar tables with Arthur Guinness' signature

The final floor is called the Gravity Bar and it's basically a space covered in windows all around in which you can get a stunning 360º view of Dublin, while enjoying your Guinness. It's impressive and really, really beautiful!

I really loved this experience, even though I'm not a major beer drinker. It's worth the money and it's an afternoon very well spent. Now I can see why it is so popular...Highly recommend it!

Clashes - Part I

Since today marks my first month in Ireland, I thought it would be a good idea to make a post on the cultural, social and other forms of clashes I've experienced so far (hence the Part I, as I'm sure there'll be more to come). Some of them are for the better, some of them are for the worst, but all of them represent change.

Let's start with the basics. Going grocery shopping. In Dublin you have a lot, and I mean A LOT, of stores. The convenience store is a very strong concept around here, so there's a Spar or a Londis around every corner. And they're fine if you're in a hurry and want to grab something quick and cheap for lunch, but bare in mind that the things you buy there can be found for half the price in Tesco or Aldi. Luckily for me, they're just 5 minutes away from where I live. An interesting fact about Tesco and Aldi is that you may expect to find a big store, like you would in most places outside the city. But in the city, even the bigger ones inside the shopping centres, are the size of our supermarkets back in Portugal.

I've noticed that buying fresh produce, like fruit and vegetables, is much more expensive here than in Portugal. For instance, in Portugal there is a set price for a kilo of apples, so you pay according to the weight of what you're buying. So you can buy either 5 or 15 apples, but  as long as the total weight is 1 kilo you pay the same. In here you pay by the unit, whether that unit is big or small you always pay the same. And the unit price can go anywhere from 50 cents to 1, 50 euros, which can be almost the price of one kilo back home just for one single apple.

On the other hand, buying toiletries is much cheaper here. In Portugal, you can easily pay 2 to 4 euros to buy a bottle of shampoo or shower gel. In here you can find them as cheap as 1 euro. And I'm not talking about low quality brands. I'm talking about Sanex, Nivea, Pantene, etc. So I suppose what you pay extra in some things you regain in others.

And when you go grocery shopping you'll need at least a bag to carry them right? Well, in here there is no such thing as a free bag. In Portugal, we already started to adopt this method in most supermarkets as well and you can get a bag for about 5 cents, but the big stores, like Continente, still give them for free. In here you pay 22 cents for a thin plastic bag that doubtfully will make it to another trip to the supermarket as it will tear in pieces. A strong bag costs 70 cents and a stronger and long lasting eco bag costs 1 euro. This is a great way to disencourage the use of plastic bags and it is understandable that most people here have given up plastic bags altogether, which is great for the environment. Way to go, Ireland!

Now, as a student, something I've done a lot up until now is making copies and printing documents. And, as expected, there came a time during this period in which I needed to copy a document for my research. Well, amazingly enough, that proved to be a huge nightmare!

As you walk around you see countless Internet cafes in which you can browse the Internet, as well as print and copy documents. Therefore, I thought it'd be fairly easy to get my copies done. But the mental prices, along with the inefficiency of the staff got my nerves on hedge. So if you want to print something off the Internet, it will cost you 1 euro for 5 minutes. And a print or a copy costs 20 cents each. 

Well, the document I wanted to copy was 50 pages long, so I asked if they could make it front and back, so I'd pay less and waste less paper. But apparently front and back printing isn't a familiar concept around here. I tried to explain what it was for about 10 minutes and they were starting to mix up all the pages while trying to figure it out, putting them completely in the wrong order, so I just gave up of the whole front and back thing (should have given up altogether) and decided to go for the normal front copies.

The copying process took about half an hour, because the sheets of paper kept getting stuck in the machine and apparently they didn't know very well how to fix that (it's not like they do that for a living or anything)... So I just stood there as I watched them grab about 4 sheets at a time, in a complete random order mind you, and throw them in the copying machine.

In the end they handed me a bunch of loose sheets and told me that was the original. I was already starting to have a meltdown because everything was mixed up. They also didn't have a desk, so I had to kneel on the floor and try to make sense of the mess they handed me. It took me about 15 minutes to put everything in the right order again.

And then they handed me the copy bunch which, impressively enough, was even worse than the first one, because as they copied the pages they cut the page numbering part. So I had to go through every single page in the original and the copy document to get them in the right order and to make sure they had made a copy of every page, which I was starting to doubt at this point.

After a good 40 minutes kneeling on the floor I was exhausted and completely pissed at the completely useless and incompetent staff in this place. I finally finished putting everything in order and I had some good 10 copies of the same thing. But they didn't have the nerve to charge me for them. They "just" charged me for the 10 euros for the 50 copies and they didn't even gave me a receipt. At this point I was about to bite their heads off, so I think I half gnarled when I asked for one that they reluctantly gave me. So yeah, I'll never go back in there again and hopefully won't need to copy anything any time soon!

But let's move on to an happier note now and talk about going out. Ireland is very famous for its pubs and that's where you generally go in a night out around here. Now, I must say pubs in Ireland are totally different from what I expected. They're much quieter than I imagined, considering the irish pubs I've been to in Lisbon. Here, people can actually have a conversation while enjoying a drink and, my favourite part, no smoking inside. In Ireland, smoking is prohibited in all indoor public spaces, which is just brilliant! The thing I hate the most about going out at night in Portugal is the horrible cigarette stench in my clothes and hair when I get home. I feel disgusting. Or even in restaurants. It's just terrible trying to eat with someone's cloud of smoke invading your nostrils and depriving you from fully savouring your dish. Well, I don't have that problem here, so yey Ireland and I truly hope Portugal adopts this policy sometime soon.

And I guess this is enough clashing for today... I'll write some more about this topic soon! 

Kilrush

I spent this weekend in Kilrush, a small town in County Clare. As I've learned in my trip last week, 'Kil' means 'Church', so Cill Rois, the Irish name for Kilrush, means 'Church among the Rushes'. And Kilrush is listed as one of the Heritage Towns of Ireland and is hosting the National Famine Commemoration 2013, so it is definitely a must-see.

I really loved the atmosphere there. It reminded me of the small villages back in Portugal where everyone knows each other and says "Morning!" as they pass on the street. Everyone was very welcoming and warm.

But, as has become an habit lately, my favourite part was the food. It was just sooooo good. You just can tell when something is made with love. There's this pub called Crotty's in the town centre which is incredible. It's a small and cozy space with fireplaces and tons of adorable knick-knacks and memorabilia. The food there warms your heart, it really does. 

Crotty's

And they have 'Death by Chocolate' which is just the best dessert in the world, it has to be! My goodness! The moistest, creamiest Chocolate Fudge Cake ever with Rapsberry Coulis and Vanilla Ice Cream on the side and a delicious crispy Brandy Snap Basket wafer with cream on top. I mean...FOODGASM!! I get way too excited about food, don't I? Oh well...

Death by Chocolate

But food isn't the only great thing about Crotty's. By night the families go home and Crotty's becomes a proper pub with a relaxed atmosphere and great live music. I had pear cider for the first time and loved it!

Another great attraction in Kilrush is the Marina at the mouth of the Shannon Estuary, where the River Shannon meets the Atlantic Ocean, which is used as the starting point for trips to Scattery Island and for dolphin spotting cruises.

Kilrush Marina

Kilrush is definitely a great place to spend a quiet and relaxed weekend and I'll be going back in May or June for some dolphin spotting for sure. Can't wait!

Nando's

Guess what I discovered... A Portuguese restaurant right in the middle of Dublin!

It's called Nando's, short for Fernando, a very true Portuguese name. It was actually my father's name, so I immediately liked the choice. But there's so much more to like about Nando's... The food is unbelievably good. It really reminded me of the food back home. The richness of flavours and textures... I was missing this so much! Not that I don't like Irish food, on the contrary. So far I've loved everything I've eaten. But this is special to me. It comforts me, takes me back to my mom's cooking and that's just priceless.

I've been told it's a chain and there's a couple more in Dublin and abroad. So if you have a chance to go to one, don't miss it. It's the best chicken you've ever had in your life, guaranteed!

Nando's

I was also very pleased because the waiters there are portuguese, so I got to talk a little Portuguese with them and share some experiences of the life of a portuguese person in Dublin. It felt really nice, like I was transported to a portuguese corner right in the heart of Dublin. So I guess I know where to go next time I'm missing home! =)

Clare

Today was officially my first trip outside of Dublin. I've been craving countryside ever since I set foot here. Dublin is great, but, just as I experienced in Scotland, the big cities, magnificent as they are, don't enclose not even a gram of the beauty and greatness these islands possess. I knew I'd love it. That's why I couldn't wait any longer and booked a one day Paddy Wagon tour to County Clare. I've been told Clare is one of the most touristic counties in Ireland and that's easily understandable having in account its breathtaking natural scenery.

In a Paddy Wagon tour you get to travel in a 30 people or so bus with an incredibly passionate, funny and true to its roots irish guide that tells you all you need to know about the places you visit, gives you some very interesting information on Ireland's History, sings songs, tells jokes and above all keeps you in a good mood. I had a similar experience on a weekend tour with Wild in Scotland last Summer and it is without a doubt my favourite way of travelling through the countryside, resting assured that I'll get to see everything there is to see, learn and above all have a good time. Highly recommend it!

We left Dublin at 7 am. It was quite painful waking up so early on a Saturday after an intense work week, but it was all worth it! First stop was Dunguaire Castle, right outside Kinvara, a small town very well known for its hookers! Yes, I know what you're thinking, but the hookers i'm referring to are the Galway traditional fishing boats that are usually at Kinvara's bay, celebrating the traditional sailing craft. 

Dunguaire Castle was built in the 1500's by the Normans and to me its beauty comes not only from its mystic architecture, but also from the gorgeous lake beside it.

Dunguaire Castle Lake

Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle Lake

View over Kinvara 

Next stop was at Corcomroe Abbey. Built in the 12th century by the celtic king Donal Mor O'Brien, this picturesc abbey is fascinating by its beauty and the fact that it's located in a very secluded and isolated place. It is said that this is due to the fact that the Christian monks searched for places like this so they could become self-sufficient and maintain free from the contact with society.

View from Corcomroe Abbey

Corcomroe Abbey

Corcomroe Abbey

Their dead were buried inside and out of the abbey and you can still see the stunning and well preserved statuary marking the graves.

Graveyard at Corcomroe Abbey

Child's Grave at Corcomroe Abbey

Corcomroe Abbey

On the way out I found these adorable horses in the pasture by the abbey and couldn't resist to play with them for a bit. 

Horses in the pasture by Corcomroe Abbey

Celtic Cross at Corcomroe Abbey

And the journey continued as we then headed to the so-called  Baby Cliffs, Cliffs of Moher's little brothers.

And the view was breathtaking...

Baby Cliffs

Baby Cliffs

Baby Cliffs

After a break for lunch we finally arrived to the Cliffs of Moher, one of the world's greatest natural atractions. I was already impressed by the Baby Cliffs, but when I saw this I was completely in awe contemplating such a magnificent view... Even more so having in account that this was one of the sets of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! *.*

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher Tower

View from the Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

View from the Cliffs of Moher

I absolutely loved the Cliffs! The only bad part was how cold and windy that place is. The guide told us that last week they had to close them for safety purposes, because it was so windy people could actually fly away...

Last stop: Bunratty Castle, a 15th century Norman Castle with military architecture that delights all of those who, like me, are fascinated by the medieval ages. In here you can experience a true four course medieval banquet accompanied by harp and violin enchanting melodies. It's definitely something I would like to experience sometime...

Bunratty Castle

Bunratty Castle

 But for now I'll stick with some refreshments in Durty Nelly's, one of Ireland's most famous pubs since 1620 and a trully delightful place.

Durty Nelly's Pub

Durty Nelly's Pub

We arrived in Dublin at around 7 pm, 12 hours after the adventure began. I was tired but really happy because I saw so many beautiful places today and the weather was surprisingly good! It was raining when we left Dublin, but the stars aligned and we experienced a lovely day with very little rain and just a couple of clouds, which are a very important part of Ireland's mysticism after all.

I will definitely keep this day dearly in my memory and hopefuly there will be more to come!