You've got the cross, now bring on Jesus!

IRELAND ADVENTURES COMPLETE! The Best Nontraditional Easter ever! SOOO many updates: Prepare yourself!

Let’s start at the beginning of the adventure on Friday. It was Good Friday and the city was desolate! Easter is such a bigger deal abroad. There were businesses closed down and hardly anyone on the streets. I wish it was like that in the US! Lucy who works at BADA brought in hot cross buns and chocolate eggs for us! In rehearsal we finished almost all of Act 3 (except the last scene which is the one I have the most lines in) because Zach who plays Mac, main guy character, was getting a rash checked out, and we needed him. Turns out he has shingles, which is just awful for him. At the end of the day Zach came in, and we did an almost entire run through (minus that last scene) with the set and costume designer there. It went pretty well I thought except that we were all pretty exhausted from the week. And then I embarked on my Ireland adventure….

Got to the airport really early so I grabbed Prett and a Cadbury egg mcflurry. Finally figured out which gate was mine and waited in line only to find out that I had to get my passport checked out, and so I had 20 minutes to go back through everything and get it checked and go back through security. So I head to information, wait 10 minutes for this lady to show me where to go because she is saying Happy Easter to all her coworkers. She walks me and another lady through all these backdoors to get our passports checked, which we do. So then I start running back towards security. Get to security, and I can’t go back through with my old boarding pass and apparently though my passport has been checked, they did not stamp it, so after they were very bitchy to me, I am told to go to the Ryanair check in. There is no one there! By this time I am in tears because my flight closes in 5 minutes and I can’t get anywhere. I see the other lady that had to get her passport checked at another counter, and we get them to reopen the Ryanair counter. They give us new boarding passes and check our passports again. So I hall ass back to security, with a small hope I will still make my flight. Of course I go off in security because I have metal on my bra, and I have to wait for the woman to finish checking someone else before she gets to me. I run over to get my stuff, and the security guy says, “I need to run a liquid test” and I respond, “just keep the liquids they are not that important. I’m LATE!” But he insists it will only take a minute. I huff and puff and wait, and then take off like a fool running as fast I can through a really freakin long airport. I reach the gate barely breathing, but I make it. Needless to say, not the best way to start off my trip. Also fun fact about Ryanair…they sell smokeless cigarettes on board. Weird… and if you land on time they say. “Duh duh duh duh! Your flight has arrived on time!”

I took a taxi from the airport, and the guy was really friendly. He kept trying to ask me questions about London and studying abroad, but I didn’t understand half of what he was saying because he had such a thick accent, but I appreciated his kindness anyway. Got to the hostel and just kind of hung out and talked to Heather, Ameila, Stephen, and Jordan all from Miami’s campus in Luxembourg. We were also sharing the room with a grandpa named Patty who was visiting family, and he was really cute. He kept thinking we were from Idaho in potato country despite the fact that we said Ohio like 5 times.

Saturday in Dublin! We woke up fairly early and headed to St. Stephens Park. We stopped at Bagel factory on the way, which was delicious! The park was absolutely gorgeous and it started out nice and sunny too. Then we went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kell and one of the oldest libraries (same one where they filmed Star Wars!). Also found out that a ton of famous playwrights grew up in Ireland- Wilde, Shaw, and Beckett! After taking lots of pictures on campus we went to a market near Temple Bar because Jordan heard they had the best orange juice ever, which they definitely did! I also had a delicious barbeque sandwich that had all sorts of stuff on it. Really really darn good food! After stuffing our bellies, we headed to the Guiness factory. It was huge! And I am now a certified pourer of the perfect pint. We also got to drink the pints we poured…I had a sip; decided it was the most disgusting drink I had ever tasted, and gave the rest away. We also went to the top of the warehouse where we could see all around Dublin. We were exhausted after spending a while there, so we came back and took a two hour nap before dinner. We went to a traditional Irish pub that had some delicious food. Then we headed to church because our tour on Sunday left too early for us to go to Easter service. We went to Christ Church, which we thought was protestant. The service started in the crypt of the church, and we lit candles. When we got to the communion part we knew something was up because they were doing the cross and drinking out of a cup of wine, but it was Easter and I wanted to take communion, so we went up! When in another country, try everything! Found out after the 1 hour and 45 minute service that it was Episcopal, which would explain why the Catholics were confused and the Protestants were confused, but nonetheless it was nice that we got to church. After church we went to a restaurant called Eddie Rockets (exactly like Johnny Rockets) and got delicious brownie sundaes. Then we went to a bar and played cards and just kind of chilled out. Also discovered that I really like Bulmer’s pear cider. Tastes like candy!

Happy Easter! Sunday was one of the best days ever. We got up early to get on a tour of Wicklow, which is the countryside of Ireland. Because of recent snowfall we had to go a different route, which also took us by the coast. There were 16 people on our tour, and our tour guide was incredible and absolutely hysterical. The kind of guy you would love to be our grandfather. His name was Ed, and he knew EVERYTHING! Some of the stories he would tell were absolutely wonderful. We got out along the beach, and we saw seals in the water! Eventually we worked our way up into the mountains full of sheep, goats, and deer. Probably the most breathtaking sights I have ever seen. Absolutely serene. If you ever get the chance to go to Ireland, DO! We got to take pictures at the bridge from P.S I Love You (definitely a highlight of the tour), and we saw where they filmed Brave heart and Saving Private Ryan. We stopped at a little town for lunch, and then headed to a monastery from 900AD where Saint Kevin lived and taught apparently he helped in brining the Christian religion to Ireland. Ed took us all around the grave sight there and told us stories. One of the funnies things he said was when he was showing us a tomb stone and what it meant and he goes, “You got the cross, now bring on Jesus!” Oh Ed! He told us how to walk through a wooded path and said he would meet us on the other side. After hiking the 20 minutes he called us and said that he couldn’t get to the other side, so we had to hike back. It was gorgeous so it didn’t matter too much, it was just cold!!! After this we headed back to town because it was about 5:00. I wanted to stay awake for the scenic ride back, but I could hardly keep my eyes open! We went souvenir shopping when we got back, and then headed to dinner at this nice steak restaurant we found for cheap! It was Easter after all. I got Bailey’s coffee, which was delicious, and I tried Irish coffee, which was gross. We went back to the flat and just kind of hung out before going out to a bar. We didn’t stay there two long before 3 guys came up and started hitting on Jordan (yes, Jordan is a straight boy). It was kind of awkward, but funny! After awhile we got tired so all of us but Jordan headed back especially cause I had to get up early!

Finally brining me to today! Woke up early for my flight. Stephen was flying today too, so we took the bus together, and got to the airport with enough time to eat breakfast (and of course I remember to get my passport checked first this time!). However, it wouldn’t be a flight without something going wrong. They lined us up, and then had us wait standing up for 45 more minutes, but eventually we took off! And I was reading a Jodi Picoult book so I didn’t mind too much. Made it back to my flat and was really excited to see Emily and Mara. It was nice to be missed! I was excited to be back in London because I love it here, but it was hard to leave such a wonderful weekend! Went to McDonalds with the girls and opened my Easter package from the family, that was filled with tons of wonderful stuff! I think I made some people jealous :P But I was really excited!!! Now I am resting and preparing for another week!