Hide & Go Seek in a Graveyard

This was the night we went to an awesome pub called “Gravediggers.” It is a pub located right next to the largest graveyard in Dublin called Glasnevin Cemetery. This was the same night that we drank A LOT. Now, I was not a fan of beer prior to visiting the U.K. Since then, however, I have acquired the taste. That night I tried Guinness and Heineken. If you have ever tried these beers in the U.S., do not, I repeat, do not drink them ever again! The quality of these beers in the U.S. is NOTHING compared to those in the U.K. 

That being said, after drinking many of these high quality beers, we decided to head home. Home, of course, was only on the other side of the graveyard, which required us to walk alongside it. The graveyard, like most graveyards, was dark and filled with dead people. Typically, people like to avoid walking through graveyards at 3 a.m. HOWEVER, when you have been drinking for several hours, your judgment is weakened and you make some poor decisions. My friend decided it would be a great idea to play hide-and-go-seek in the graveyard. Much to my fear and objection, my friend convinced me to go in with her. We were basically running into darkness, hiding behind tombstones, and rolling around in grass. One of our friends even tried “planking” on a tombstone. Once we made it to the end of the graveyard, we discovered that we had to hop a giant, spiky

So much fun! 

No idea how I climbed that. 

fence. To this day, I still don't know how I managed to climb the fence without breaking my neck. But, I survived! When we finally managed to stumble our way back home, my friend realized she had lost her iPhone. We immediately grabbed the nearest flashlight and headed right back to the graveyard. We had to trace our exact steps. The tombstones, the dark walkways, and even the massive grass area where we fell. By some miracle, our friend managed to spot my friend’s phone in the grass. After it’s retrieval, we immediately checked the photos to see if any ghosts my have taken some pictures. No such luck.

Good Craic and Joffrey from Game of Thrones

Honest mistake. 

One of the first things we learned in Dublin was the word craic. It is Irish slang for something or someone being fun/entertaining. When my friend and I first heard that word, we automatically assumed it had something to do with the drug crack. Of course, our Irish friends gave us a lot of crap for thinking that. 

We also did not see any pandas. 

For our first night out, we went to this club called The Button Factory. Our friends told us there was going to be a “Panda Party” and Jack Gleeson, the actor who plays Joffrey on Game of Thrones, would be there. We hopped on a double decker bus and made our way downtown. After a couple drinks and some terrible disco music, we finally saw Jack Gleeson. My friend got to meet him and shake his hand. And I, being the awkward person that I am, took pictures of the back of his head. The rest of the night was a lot of fun. We drank, we danced, and we ate delicious pizza. It was a lot of fun and a great way to start our trip.

Joffery's head is the blond hair next to my friend on the left

Scary 

Crunchies and PG Tips

I have wanted to travel to the UK ever since I was a kid. My grandmother, nicknamed "Nanny," would make her way over to the states every few years for a visit. She'd "save up her pennies," pack two giant suitcases, and spend 12 and half hours on a plane. One suitcase was filled with boxes of PG Tips, delicious sweets like Crunchies and Lion Bars, and clippings of various English newspapers my Nan wanted to share. The second was filled with all of her clothes. She was bringing so much new culture that I wanted to experience myself. Every year she visited, she brought new pieces of culture. It only fueled my desire to visit the UK even more. I always told my Nan that I would one day come over and visit her. Unfortunately, my Nan passed away while I was in high school before I got the chance to see her in England, but that didn't stop me from wanting to go.

Chocolate covered honeycomb. Yes, please. 

            The final push that got me to buy the plane ticket was my friend. She told me she was traveling to Europe alone after college graduation. We talked about how much I've always wanted to go, but have never had the time, the money, or the courage to make that leap. She kept telling me how this opportunity to travel together might not ever happen again, and that this was the time to do it. I definitely had the desire to go. The only problem was trying to get over the fear of getting into a huge metal bird and flying over the open water for 10 hours straight. The thought almost stopped me from going.

Not ok, Lost. 

            Every time I get on a plane, I automatically think it is going to crash. I know, it is the absolute WORST thing to think of, but I can’t help it. I picture major turbulence, and the plane shaking furiously. The plane starts to descend vertically and the oxygen masks fall into our faces. People are screaming, luggage is flying, and I am crying. Yeah, you get the point. I blame it on the pilot episode of the show Lost. Thankfully, I avoided that thought on our British Airways Boeing 777. I watched nearly 4 movies and drank free wine. After about 9 and half hours, we made it to our first destination. Dublin, Ireland.