Hi Everybody!
I am in Ireland. I still cannot believe it. My dad’s ancestors came from Ireland. I cannot wait to find out more about Ireland. So, Travel with me to Ireland.
We just arrived at the apartment we will stay in for three days. It is freezing, my back hurts from carrying my heavy backpack, and I am exhausted. All I want to do is sleep. On the way to this apartment, our taxi driver said that my real name and my family’s last name were Irish. That is very surprising. I knew my dad’s ancestors came from Ireland, but did not believe it. Now, I do believe it. We are heading to the supermarket we saw a few minutes from the apartment. As we walk, my mom tells us she had come here with my dad before I was born. We just got into the store, and I will see you when we get out. Bye for now.
Hi again. We just got some strawberry milk, regular milk, frozen ravioli, yogurt, and more. Now, we are going back to the apartment. My mom will make the frozen pizza and then we are going to McDonald’s.
We just got the McDonald’s nuggets with curry sauce, which is very good. The mall is next to the McDonald’s, so we are going inside. I think most of the stores in the mall are closed because it looks empty, but thankfully, the ice cream shop is not closed. We each get a 99 vanilla ice cream, which includes a chocolate flake stick. I have never tasted such good ice cream before. I have tasted delicious ice cream from different states, but Ireland has the best. I feel embarrassed because we are eating ice cream in the freezing cold. Now, we are going back to our apartment, which is across the street. See you tomorrow.
Hop-on Hop-off Tour bus
Today, we are going on a hop-on, hop-off bus tour for Dublin, Ireland. We are heading over there now. It is about a five-minute walk from our apartment. We can already see some of the buses. We finally arrive. There are two buses. Which one should we go on? So, we are going to ask. The gentleman says the first bus is in German, and the second only sells tickets. So, we have to wait for the next bus. A few minutes later, the bus arrives. All we have to do is scan a QR code for the tour. Now, we are going to the top of the second deck.
As we go around Dublin, the driver tells us jokes, important history, famous people, and fun facts. We drove by the Guinness storehouse and stopped in front of their famous door, which we were told, was the most photographed door in the world. He also tells us about a famous woman named Molly Malone; there is even a song about her and a statue. We passed a renowned monument called the Spire of Dublin, locally called the Spire. It is a pin-like, stainless steel monument. It is also 398 feet tall. Less than 6% of the Irish population speaks Gaelic; at least, that is what our taxi driver told us yesterday. The rest speak English with really nice Irish accents. Since I can
do a British accent, it would be nice to learn an Irish accent.
Now the tour is finished, we will do the same tour again to record it so you guys can see it on YouTube. Right now, we are going into this store called The Hot Donut. When we get inside, we see different types of donuts that look so good it should be illegal. There is also ice cream. My brothers are getting ice creams with chocolate syrup. I am getting a donut with raspberry filling inside, and my mom is getting hot chocolate since it is cold. As we eat, we walk back to our apartment because we need to rest. So bye for now.
Hello, we are going on the bus tour again. We just got on. Our driver is hilarious because every time someone gets on the bus, he would change his name. First, his name was John, Patty, and then James. The tour is the same, but the order of the stops is different. So, in the last tour, we would stop at the big park in the middle of the tour, but in this tour, we will stay until the end. The tour is over now, so we are returning to The Hot Donut. This time, we are switching what we get. So, my mom and I are getting ice cream, and my brothers are getting donuts. I am still very embarrassed because I eat ice cream when it is cold. Since we are very tired and have to wake up early in the morning for a tour across Ireland, we are returning to the apartment. Bye. See you in the morning.
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Hi guys, we just got to where we are supposed to wait for our tour around Ireland. There was a huge bus that we thought was for us, but it was not. Now, a black minibus just parked in front of us; it has been there for about ten minutes. I wonder if the minibus is for us. The driver just got out, and this is our tour. Now, we are in line to get on the bus. The bus looks like it has about 40 seats. It looks really cool.
Heading to Kilkenny, Ireland
The bus driver says he will pick up some more people, and then we will start our tour, which will take at least eight hours. After we pick up the rest of the people, the driver says we are heading to Kilkenny. It is about an hour and a half away from Dublin. I am just looking out the window, thinking about what we will see. Somewhere along the way, we stopped at a bridge where the movie “PS, I Love You” was filmed. As I was looking out the window thinking, I did not notice we stopped at a gas station. The driver says we have fifteen minutes to do whatever we want. So, we go to the bathroom and get some croissants and donuts.
Kilkenny Castle
We just got back on the bus and are on our way to Kilkenny. We just got to Kilkenny. It is so different. It kind of feels like we are in the 1700s. The driver tells us some places we can go to and where they are. He also says we only have an hour and 30 minutes. So we are going to the Kilkenny Castle. It is so cold, like freezing cold. We finally got to the castle. It is about a five-minute walk from where the driver dropped us off. My mom is going to buy the tickets for us. Tickets are free for children under 12, so she’s only buying one ticket for herself. It is freezing, so I am happy to go inside. Once we get there, I see a vast garden in front. We go inside quickly before we freeze to death. The inside of the castle looks like something you would see in a movie. It seems so old-fashioned. A gentleman said we could put our stuff in a locker and choose a code. So, we put our things in two lockers. Now we are going to explore the castle.
The castle is small. It has a bunch of rooms and stairs. The same man shows up some stairs and says that if there were any guests, they would use the stairs, but the servants would use hidden stairs, which is sad. If you want to see the video of the Kilkenny Castle, just go on my YouTube channel.
Medieval Mile Museum
Now we are finished with the Kilkenny castle. I do not usually like museum-like places, but I really enjoyed this one. Next, we will visit the Medieval Mile Museum, also in Kilkenny. It’s also old, and the yard looks like a graveyard with headstones. It’s still raining so we are going inside. A lady greets us at the door. She’s charming. She’s pleased to hear my dad’s ancestors came from Ireland. She tells us we are all Irish, not just Irish descent. The museum has a treasure hunt paper for children to fill out, and receive a prize if they find everything. I didn’t want to do it because I figured it was for children. But the lady was not having any of it. She insisted that I learn my history, so I did. The museum has mummies are made of stones, swords, skeletons, and more.
We are just going to look around. From what I am seeing, Kilkenny is very historical. The roads are made of bricks and tar. It is just so cool. Imagine living here; that would be awesome. It is so cold, though. Our time is almost up, so we are returning to the minibus. Surprisingly, we are not getting lost on the way back. It looks like some people are already on the bus. The driver is so funny. Some girls got back to the bus one minute late, and the driver said he would not wait next time, and everyone laughed. His tone was comical. I just like Irish people; they are so funny and easy-going. But they will curse at you sometimes if you do something terrible to them. But I just love them. Now, the driver is saying that we are heading to Wicklow. He says it is in the mountains. I cannot wait!
Heading to Wicklow Mountains
Again, I am just looking out the window, spaced out, thinking about what the mountains will look like. Will it look like the mountains in California? Or like Arizona? He says we are in Irish Hollywood as we pass through the beautiful mountains. There is even a Hollywood sign just like the one in California. He says this is the real one because it was here longer. (I know he is joking.) He is hilarious. He even pointed to where a famous actor’s “home” is supposed to be. My mom thinks he is serious. It is starting to rain now. I love the rain a little too much. You cannot blame me. It is really soothing to see and listen to.
A little two-year-old girl is looking at me and laughing. I think she is sooo cute. I love little kids. Especially their chubby cheeks and their eyes. The family is from India, but the dad works in Ireland. Her dad sits right in front of me, holding her as she stands and looks back at me. I cannot take it anymore; I might die from her cuteness. I am just going to play with her. While I am playing with her, we arrive in Wicklow. The driver tells us some facts and how much time we have. The first thing we are going to do is eat. We have not eaten since we stopped at the gas station.
The worst part about being here in Wicklow is the rain. Ireland is already cold, and the rain makes it colder. We cross a tiny river with rocks in it. We find a little place that sells food outside, but is too cold to eat outside. So, we keep walking. We finally found a place to eat inside. It is so warm inside. I have not felt this warm in such a long time. A piano is at the entrance, and kids are playing on it. So, I guess I can play too. I am going to play a song called Cuckoo. It is hard with both hands, but I can do it. I just finished playing it. Now, we are going to sit down and order our food.
We are going to order food and share it. So, we will get pizzas, a burger, and cottage pie. We discovered a difference between cottage pie and shepherd’s pie. Shepherd pie is made with lamb, as the name suggests, whereas cottage pie is made with beef. Many people confuse the terms. We all are getting hot chocolate because it is freezing cold. The food is so delicious. I think this is the first time we are eating actual Irish food. It is so different but in a good way. The hot chocolate comes in one of the huge cups you drink beer in, just a smaller version. So, the hot chocolate was a lot, but it was also not so sweet.
It is almost time to head back to the bus. So we will try to look around, but it is so cold that I do not think that is possible. So we are just going back to the bus. When we returned to the area where the driver dropped us off, the bus was not there. My mom and I were confused. Then, it started to rain a lot. My mom is so cold that we follow her into the bathroom while we wait for our driver to return. We are heading back to the bus after the driver “picked us up” from the restroom. It was so funny when he did it. He just came and was like, “Let’s go.”
Now we are back on the bus and going back to Dublin. I expected this drive to be longer, but the driver says it will be shorter. I think I am about to fall asleep. Before I fell asleep, the same little girl who was sitting in front of me looked at me with a huge smile. She is so cute. I suddenly do not feel the need to sleep anymore. The rest of the drive is basically me playing with the little girl and the driver making jokes with my mom.
Back in Dublin
We just got off the bus in Dublin. Before we do anything, we are going to The Hot Donut, of course. We are all getting 99 ice cream. This place is awesome. Now my mom wants to see the traditional Irish dance. I do not know why she wants to stay out. Is she not tired from our ten-hour tour? I know I am. We walked everywhere and asked where they do Irish dancing, but we could not find one. It was either very late at night or later in the week. We had no chance because we are leaving tomorrow. So, we are heading back to the apartment. We have to sleep well to leave early in the morning. See you in the morning.
Leaving Ireland
We are at the bus stop on O’Connor Street, waiting for the local bus to the airport. It will be here in two minutes. I really do not want to leave Ireland. I actually like it here. I have already decided to live here when I am older. It is friendly here. According to our tour bus driver, Ireland is the third most peaceful country in the world. I really do not want to leave. The bus is here now. Surprisingly, it is only 5 euros for all four of us. The bus driver says it takes 45 minutes to get to the airport. On the bus, I am saddened that we have to leave Ireland. Irish people are sooo funny. I wish I could stay forever. Unfortunately, I cannot. Not yet.
I hope you guys like everything I did in Ireland. Maybe you will visit and love it as much as I did one day. Thank you!
See You On My Next Adventure!
