Of course with my blogs I have to include pictures! Lets be honest, the only reason why you are reading this blog is for the pictures. But if I put my pictures of this trip in just one blog post, it would be the longest blog post known to man. Instead, I am going to break up the trip into different post, so hopefully it will be easier to read.
Now, some people don't like organize tours because they feel like they don't get the real experience of the country. I can totally agree with them on some level. But I do firmly believe that tours are great! One of the main reasons why I love tours is because you get information on the place you are visiting that you wouldn't get if you went alone. And we all know how much I love information! The more the better!
Not only do you get a lot of information about the places you are seeing, but you get a taste of what the city has to offer you. I really like my mom's view of tours. She sends my family on tours of different places to give us a taste of what that place has to offer. If we really like, we can always go back and really experience the culture. A taste is better then having nothing at all.
But that was not my main reason for going on the tour. I was going by myself since no one in my group seems to like to do anything. All they are interested in doing is getting drunk. Really? But I was not going to let that stop me from going. Some people might think that it is strange that I went by myself, but sometimes if you really want to do something, you have to do it alone. Don't let others alter or influence what you do. You can never really rely on people.
So, since I was going alone, a tour seemed very good because I would be with other people and I didn't have to worry about getting some where unknown by myself.
The tour started in city center at 8 am. Why so early? Now, 8 am might not seem early, but remember, I live outside the city and I have to rely on the bus to get me there. This takes a while.
Don't even get me started on the buses. Let's just say that I waited 45 minutes for the bus and in the end I had to take a cab. The cab driver was great though! We had a whole conversation about how we both wanted to keep learning the rest of our lives.
I found the meeting place easy enough and loaded unto the bus. I was one of the last people on the bus, so there was not that many places to sit. I sat down by this girl in the middle of the bus. I saw an empty seat way in the back by the window and decided to move there instead. Bad idea. At the next stop to pick people up, a couple came down and sat by me. This was horrible because the woman was quite large and took up her seat and half of mine. I was in the back of the van, up against the wall, trapped. It was horrible.
Our guide was Kevin and he was a great guide! He totally looked like Harry Potter! He was a Trinity student who was studying medicine. He was also fluent in Irish. Needless to say, I was in love with him. But when I talked with him during one of our breaks, he confessed that he had chased a girl around America. I didn't like this. But none the less, he was very knowledgeable about Irish history and I was envious of his job.
Even though I went on the tour by myself, I wasn't alone. The girl that I had sat next to for a minute when I first got on the bus, turned out to be from Tennessee traveling the U.K. by herself. After the first stop, I switched seats and sat by her. We talked and hung out the rest of the tour. She was very smart and very interesting to talk too. It turns out, that she was doing some family research in Ireland. We had a whole conversation about that. I told her that one of my co-workers thought it was silly that Americans try to trace their ancestors to other countries. We concluded that he didn't understand because most families in Europe have been in their mother country for years. Their countries have been around for thousands of years. America is founded on immigrants, and since the country is not that old, other cultures really influence American families today. That is why Americans have an interest in finding their families around the world.
In my other posts, I will go in more detail about each place we went to. Overall, the tour was excellent and I was so happy that I went. Paddy Wagon is a very reputable tour company with in Ireland. They have many options for all kinds of tours around Ireland, whether you are looking for a day tour or taking longer trips.
If one is ever in Ireland, they should definitely check out Paddy Wagon if they are interested in taking tours around Ireland.
No comments:
Post a Comment