Dublin, Day 2

Our second day in Dublin started with us sat on the Paddywagon (that was actually the name of the bus) at 9am waiting to go on our tour. The tour would be taking us to Kilkenny with some stops along the way and it came free with our hostel booking. Armed with Gavin - the cutest €3 owl bag in the world - and the strangest packed lunch ever, we were ready to go.

Our driver, Gavin*, was amazing. On the Paddywagon tours the driver spends the journey telling you different facts and stories about Ireland in general and about the places you are visiting. Gavin kept us entertained for the whole day with funny little stories and jokes - he nicknamed us the "two Welsh girls" and we loved it.

The first stop of the day was at a place called Glendalough. Not only is Glendalough nestled in some of the most impressive scenery were saw that day, it's also home to a Monastic City. I have since read up on what that means and the history of it all but when we were there on the day, all I knew was that these were monastery buildings that seemed to breathe history.

We meandered through the different buildings, discussing how beautiful the surrounding areas were as well. We started on the trail to the Lower Lake, hoping we had enough time before we had to be back at the bus. We even made a friend along the way! A Spanish boy who was staying in our hostel and on the same tour as us asked if he could walk around with us. We agreed and even though the language barrier made the conversation a lot slower, we tried our best to keep the conversation going.

Once we were all back on the bus, it was time to drive through the Wicklow Mountains. We had a photo stop but it was really too foggy to see much. When the sun did clear though, the views were amazing.

We finally arrived in Kilkenny where we had about an hour and a half to wander around and do as we please. Of course, our first thought was to find coffee (tea for Sophie). Wandering around looking for somewhere cheap gave us a great chance to have a look at part of the city centre. It was full of quaint little shops and coffee shops/restaurants tucked away off the road. We eventually found somewhere reasonably priced and sat down for some people watching/even more catching up.

The rest of our time in Kilkenny was spent wandering around the streets or the castle grounds. We did see a couple of kids jump off one of the bridges in to the river and the two of us were so shocked, I'm not sure we actually knew what was going on. I think I was convinced they had died? Or were saving someone? I don't know but I had a hard enough time standing and looking out over the water, let alone jumping in to it...

We jumped back on to the bus, had a quick chat with Gavin about where he had been in Wales and then we were back on our way to Dublin. It only took a couple of hours thankfully and Gav kept us entertained for the journey as well.

Once we were back in Dublin, we dumped our stuff and headed out for either a coffee or a pint, we couldn't decide... We had to be up and outside the hostel reception for 7:15am the next morning for our next tour and neither of us could stomach the idea of travelling to Northern Ireland hungover and tired...

Naturally, we chose to go to the pub. We didn't attempt to drink a Guiness though. We played it safe and had a Bulmers (so much better in Ireland - not sure if it was because it was on tap or just better in it's homeland). We needn't have worried about a hangover either! Half a pint was all it took to get us "cheery" and since it was €5.30 for that pint, we wouldn't have been able to afford more than one anyway... We were just hoping the following day would be worth it!

*He was not the inspiration for owl-bag-Gavin's name at all.