Dublin, Day one!

I landed in Dublin this morning after what felt like absolutely FOREVER on a plane. I sat next to an Irish man, who was very kind and shared his caramels with me, claiming it was good for my jaw as we flew haha. When we were beginning our descent, I asked him where to find a cheap clothing store, and he laughed and called his wife over to trade seats with him so she could talk to me. She told me to find the Penny's (JCPenny's!) On O'Connell street, that was fun! She also gave me some great tips on exploring Dublin, which I hope to put into action later this week.

Finally made it!!!

After getting lost a few times (Irish directions in "English" are really quite difficult to understand!),

I don't know if they know this, but that is not how you spell "Stop"

I made it to my hostel, which is in Merchants Quay (pronounced 'key' as I learned), facing the River Liffey, which divides Dublin in two, north and south.

Looking across the river from my hostel.

I was so tired, my head was swimming, even sitting down. I tried to write a blog post earlier, to kill time until my room was ready, but it came out very..strange sounding. I finally decided to try a short walk and I asked the receptionist where a grocery store was, she told me my room was ready and I decided to sleep instead. So, I laid down for a nap at 1pm and woke up at 8....but it was lovely! I woke up starving, and decided to go for a walk to find food like my earlier plan. I found a little convenience store across the road and had a ham,cheese, and coleslaw sandwich, a "happy hippo" cookie, which was incredibly rich, and a drink called "Shandy". Now. Let me tell you a story about the Shandy.

On recommendation, I tried Digestives! Crackers with chocolate..odd

I knew you were trouble when I walked in! Jk..I didn't

I was looking at their canned sodas, and decided to try one we didn't have at home, in the name of getting the full experience, right? I didn't read anything else on the can except the name. Sitting on a bench in front of the river, I ate my sandwich and opened my soda. *Sip* gross!!!! I turned it around and read the first line on the back "a lemon soda". Ok, so I don't like lemon soda, apparently. I finished my food and kept walking, wandering Temple Bar.

Temple Bar is a neighborliness. This is also Temple Bar, in Temple Bar. 

I was just passing City Hall on my way back to the hostel, less than a block away from home, when I decided that even though it wasn't my favorite drink ever, I actually enjoyed this Shandy.

 I turned it around again to read it, since I was now interested, and was shocked to find the second ingredient was beer. Beer. Well then.... When I got back to the hostel, I googled it, and according to the interwebs, since it has less than .5% alcohol content, it's not considered an alcoholic drink, though you can order the real drink in a bar (lemonade mixed with a lager). So there we go, for all you telling me I should drink in Ireland, I did. Oops.


Things I've learned so far:

Irish English is not the same as American English
Check your sodas!
And don't break your shoes on the first day, or you'll have to walk slightly lopsided for the next couple of months. Darn it.

If this isn't the coolest McDo ever, you're wrong.