Dublin

Time to say goodbye to Dad!
It was hard to say goodbye, Dad was our final safety net and had made our time in Scotland so great, but now it is just the two of us and all we can do is hope for the best!
We said goodbye at the ferry terminal, this is where the adventure really starts! 

Ireland here we come!

Northern Ireland is an interesting place. Belfast was a beautiful city, but I don’t know if we will be hurrying back! Though it was pretty and filled with old buildings, it felt as though we were missing something, like something was a little off about this city.
There were such a range of people and for our first night of truly solo travel, we felt a little uncomfortable.

We had our first hostel experience at Lagan Backpackers. It was strange sharing a room with two strangers, but this is something I’m sure we will get used to soon. A few more of these and we should have it all figured out.
Not too keen to spend a whole lot of time in Belfast, we headed out pretty early to jump on the train to Dublin!

Two hours later, we were slightly disappointed we didn’t get a stamp upon arriving in the Republic of Ireland, but we were definitely not disappointed by the beautiful city of Dublin!

We spent two days exploring the wonderful city. Everything is old and gorgeous, and there is some comfort in some small similarities to home.
The Guinness Storehouse was a really cool place. We now know all the vital ingredients to Guinness, as well as how to pour a perfect pint! The building was awesome, shaped as a gigantic pint glass that rose 7 stories. I felt obliged to give Guinness a try, we are in Ireland after all, and I had just poured my own pint. So while Sam enjoyed his glass, I struggled through my own. In the end I conned Sam into asking for some lemonade to add, which made it only slightly more drinkable. However I am proud to say, I made it through a whole pint of Guinness!