Been There Done Nat

I love visiting new places, exploring new countries and all they have to offer. So it’s rare for me to come back to a country, and more specifically a city, I’ve been to before. I spend my preciously partitioned on new experiences and opportunities. But I loved Dublin so much I booked a return trip not six months later, tugging some friends along for the ride with me.

We rented a car and added a few more spots along the ride, so it wasn’t just Dublin. We also had a beautiful layover in Iceland, a country we’ve visited before and also adored.

The original plan was to get into Iceland around noon and do a little exploring, but our flight was delayed due to bad weather in Iceland. Good news is Icelandic Air is amazing and gave us vouchers for a ridiculous amount of food at the Keflavik airport, which is great because Iceland is expensive. Free food! So after a brief adventure in figuring out how to drive in Ireland (SO MANY ROUNDABOUTS) we just got in and passed out at the hotel, ready to explore the next day.

This is my second stay at the Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport by the way, and I still love it. We opted to stay up by the airport since we knew we’d be driving out of town anyway and it was significantly cheaper than staying in town without sacrificing amenities.

We woke up pretty early because jet lag, so after a very enjoyable hotel breakfast spread we headed into town.

I’d somehow missed St. Patrick’s Cathedral, so we made it out there just in time for me to get a call from my tattoo artist telling me he was ready. Oh yeah, I got another tattoo in Dublin. Absolutely adore Legendary Tattoo Studio. Mauro Delafuente has done amazing jobs on both pieces I’ve had done by him. And as an old school anime weeb, it’s extremely cool to get to chat with my people while you sit there and have someone stab you repeatedly with needles for hours. This one only took around four hours, so it wasn’t too bad.

While I got inked my buddies went to explore some spots of Dublin I’d already been to. They’re both artists, so unsurprisingly they adored Trinity College’s Book of Kells experience. They change which page of the book is visible each day, and reportedly they stood there staring at the illumination detail for a good period of time.

They also swung by Hodges Figgis, the oldest book store in Ireland, founded in the 1700s. And by the time they were done so was I, and it was time to drive up to Northern Ireland.

As an American, when I travel I’m always taken aback by how comparatively easy it is to travel around other countries. Taking a train from Paris to Luxembourg? Doable! Driving to my parents house in Texas from where I live in the pacific northwest? A three day trip at least! Dublin to Belfast is only a two hour drive, so we went up that evening. We weren’t planning on doing much in Belfast, it was mostly a stopover on our way to the Giant’s Causeway, but it was my first time in Northern Ireland and I wanted to do something.

So in the morning we went to St. George’s Market as we happened to be there on a Sunday. It’s a really fun mixed market, amazing snacks and shopping that’s a mix of standard souvenirs and things made by local artisans. Snagged myself an Irish wool hat from a lovely saleswoman who was amazing at her job and successfully sold me, a person who doesn’t buy hats, a hat.

And then it was on to the causeway!

It was raining and chilly when we got there, so it wasn’t crowded at all. You walk in through a gift shop and a little museum area that talks about some of what you’ll see and the history of the place, and I’m not gonna lie I got distracted by a lot of cute stuff in that gift shop. I almost walked away with a modular wooden tea light set modeled after the cliffs.

You can walk down the pathway to the cliffs and see a ton of additional features, and a lot of people were. Or you can pay a couple of pounds and have a shuttle take you down, which we absolutely did because it was cold and wet and our fingers hurt.

They have lifeguards up at key points to reel people who climb too far out on the coast looking for the best photos.

dsfadsf

Test text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test

Test text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test testTest text test text test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test