I arrived at the hostel at 8:15AM and I can't check in until 2:00PM. I was able to rent a locker with plenty of room for my stuff. I decide to walk around and maybe get lost. I did have about seven hours to kill. I was going on minimal sleep from the airplane. Just couldn't do it for more than 10 minutes at a time. I eventually gave up.
Walking around, I noticed that Dublin is extremely multi-cultural. So many people were speaking different languages. I loved it! It felt like I was in a mini New York. I made my way to Temple Bar, an area in Dublin that might be my favorite so far. There were so many different restaurants, bars and neat little shops. I stopped in to "The" Temple Bar - bar. I had my first Guinness and it was delicious! I ate the tuna melt, as recommended by the server but it wasn't that great. I was there more for Guinness anyway. I was offered Guinness and oysters but had to pass. My jet lag was kicking in and I was starting to feel delirious.
Speaking of jet lag, I don't think I have ever experienced it in my life until now. It sucked! I always thought people over-exaggerated the effects. Is was wrong. Once I checked in at 2:00PM, I went to my room and settled in a bit. I met a girl from Puerto Rico, Debbie and a girl from Canada, Rachel. Both very nice. Debbie had been in Dublin for a few days already so she dropped her stuff and took off. Rachel was going through the same thing I was; severe jet lag! She dropped her bag after introductions of name and where from and went right under the covers. I tried the same but wasn't as successful as Rachel. I woke up with weird dreams every 15 to 20 minutes. I would almost call them nightmares. My body felt weird and my stomach was upset. I started to get nervous. I fought through it, luckily. Again, I'm not sure if it was jet lag, but I felt weird and didn't feel comfortable.
After about two hours of this horribleness, I gave up and tried to walk it off. I wasn't sleepy anymore for some crazy reason. I went to the basement where the lockers were and changed (the weather here was a lot colder and wetter than I anticipated. My fault!) there I met Amelia. Just made a little small talk and that was it. I saw Amelia upstairs in the lobby and chatted with her and her friend, Charlotte. Amelia is from Michigan and Charlotte is from Wales. Amelia was tired and went to bed. It was around 7:30PM. I stayed and chatted with Charlotte. She was waiting on two friends to arrive at the hostel at 8:00PM. Charlotte and I both talked about what we were both doing in Dublin. She has travelled quite a bit and is at the end of her wandering. I told her about my plans and she seemed genuinely excited for me.
Charlotte's friend show up. One friend is from London, Chantal and the other from San Jose, CA. Both very nice. The three get their room keys and go upstairs. They all three come back to the lobby 15 minutes later and say they are going to a pub for a pint and invite me. I, of course, say yes. Meeting people in hostels is an amazing thing. I recommend everyone do it at least once. We go to the nearest pub, three minutes walking distance and drink one beer and talk for almost two hours. It was fantastic! Everyone is ready for bed after the beer so we all say good-bye and agree to meet the next morning with Amelia for a walking tour.
Fast forward to my second day. More shitty sleep (sharing a room with seven people, mind you), and I decide to just start my day at 5:00AM local time. I walk around and surf the Internet for a couple of hours. The five of us meet in the lobby for the tour. We also see Rachel, my roommate there and everyone becomes friends.
The tour was okay. After the tour I had a realization. I was barely on my second day and I'm making friends that I'm pretty sure I will see later on this trip. Everyone has their reasons for traveling and all of them awesome. I start to realize that I can do this travel thing. I know it's early, but I feel like I can do it. I think this feeling is going to take me a long way.
This stream-of-consciousness writing is starting to take hold. I'm sure I'm forgetting things but typing on an iPad is hard for this amount of text. Luckily I have my written journal too.
Be well, everyone! I will check back soon.
