"Glendalough" Sunday 10.08.14
Last time I posted one of my Dublin diaries, was back in 2014-- the year I went to Dublin. It's been two years, and I still remember Dublin so vividly. I still talk about it like it was yesterday. Anyway, since I've been posting my Indochina diary, I was reminded of the Dublin tales. I wrote this two years ago-- this is the 4/5 post in these diaries. We woke up early to get ready within the time we needed to get on the bus to Glendalough. Initially, we had planned on a proper breakfast, but it ended up being a quick trip to Dunnes Store, where we bought sandwiches and likewise. The night before we typed in the location of the bus stop on the Stay.com app (our savior), and we found that it was close by our location. However, we only knew the street, not how long the street would be, and where the bus stop would be located. Luckily, it was very easy to spot the buses once we turned into the street. We waited patiently for the bus to open for passengers. However, once it opened, it was quickly filled up, so they had to open the bus behind. Most people were good and stood in a proper line, waiting patiently, but then there were the rude ones who just eased their own way by pushing other people away. I sat on a seat by myself, whilst Ale and Marble sat together. I didn’t mind, it was more like my own decision, because I wanted to enjoy some time alone, and I knew I wouldn’t be a good candidate to converse with on the bus. I’m a silent person who enjoys observing, and when you add tiredness on the list of things I am, then I am most certainly quiet (unless I’m overtired, because then I giggle at the most ridiculous things). Mostly it was because I was much too busy with looking at all the sights on the trip, and because I was half-asleep. I am extremely glad we decided to go out of town, because we got to see “Ireland”. Wherever you go in this world, a city cannot represent a country. So, albeit I thought Dublin was a very nice place with a lot of Irish spirit in it, I figured it didn’t represent Ireland. On the bus trip to Glendalough, we drove past typical houses and buildings in Ireland, and we drove past a golf course, which is definitely one of the things that you find a lot in Ireland. The thing about stereotypes is that they’re often built on a truth, except it’s over exaggerated. I’ve always heard that Ireland is green, but I figured it was somewhat over exaggerated. However, when our plane touched Irish land, the first thing I saw was a farm with cows’ right beside the landing areas. Naturally, I was flabbergasted and a bit worried about the health of the cows. Men det var en av de inntrykkene som var med på å lage mitt førstinntrykk av Irland. Once we got closer to our destination, it was just a field of greens and mountains and sheep. It was very green. It did somewhat remind me of Norway, except they’ve got a different vegetation in Ireland due to weather conditions, probably. I was in awe of the nature, and I couldn’t stop smiling at the sights in front of my eyes. Once we got off the bus, we headed into the information center, then the loo’s, because the trip did take an hour and a half, and we did have our brekkie on the bus. We were informed to walk a few meters to get to the information center we needed to be at in order to be informed about mountain hikes. Once we got there, they had shut the doors due to lunch break. Instead of waiting, we just looked at the different routes they had made on this huge map, and we decided to take the Minors hike, or what it was called. Our first stop was the end of a lake, where took a few pictures. I joked about taking a swim, but ah- maybe I jinxed myself, because we all got soaked later that day. We stopped for quite a few times to enjoy the sights and take pictures. I remember walking past a family, where the dad and his two sons (I’m pretty sure they were his) were playing a game of “førstemann”. The dad put his flask on a random spot on the ground, and the two boys sprinted to get the flask first. The loser started complaining, and was very whiny. But the dad said: “C’est la vie”. We all awed, once we heard that, probably for different reasons. I “awed”, because I’d never heard any Italians actually use the phrase. For a second, the scene in front of me brought me to a place far away, to a warmer country with scenes just like those, with little boys running around in lin-clothing kicking a football or summat. We stopped at the “minors’ village” where there were ruins from what used to be a minors village. And that’s where the steep trails of stones started. Marble was at the front, then I, then Ale, who seemed to use a bit longer time walking the trails. It might have something to do with the condition of her health, though I doubt it. I think she was just not feeling too well. Once we had stopped quite a few times, we had a little intervention and told Ale to hurry up, to which I don’t think she was too happy about. On our way up, there were loads of people on their way down, seeing as you could walk the hike in two different directions. And some said hi, others didn’t say anything. The ones who didn’t greet were most likely tourists, who weren’t accustomed to the Irish customs. We had been in Ireland for a few days already, so we were used to greet people. Once we got on the top of the mountain, it started pouring down. It was rain, and then for a minute it was hail. “Is this hail?” I asked (shouted). Since we were on the top of the mountain, there was no place to shield ourselves from the downpour. I put my rucksack on my front, in an attempt to keep it from getting soaked by the rain, which hit my back first. We did take a few pictures, but they were foggy, and not too great in fright that I’d ruin my camera. And my camera did act strange for a bit, which made my blood pressure rise. On the top of the mountain, we started (at least I did) singing and humming to suitable songs for our hike. It was nice and funny because none of us could really hear each other, so we were probably humming different songs. Once we got away from the top of the mountain, the weather was better, and soon we were going down steep steps in the woods, which were made of wood. We almost started hiking another trail, because we were confused about the directions, but we quickly realised our mistake and went back on the other trail. On the way to the information center about the mountain hikes, we spotted a grave yard, which we promised to visit after our mountain hike. So that’s what we did, and I overheard a little girl saying “it’s a bit weird taking pictures in a graveyard, isn’t it?”. I both agree and beg to differ. I quite enjoy graveyards; because there’s a silence and serene feeling you won’t find many places. We only stayed for a short while, because although it was interesting, we were all soaked and hungry. We found shelter at the restaurant at the hotel in Glendalough, where we shared a corner of sofas with an older lady. I started a conversation with this lady, which is probably something I wouldn’t have done in another situation. But I’d been in Dublin for days, and become accustomed to their ways of being. Funnily enough she wasn’t Irish. She was an English midwife travelling through Ireland to visit her sister, I think. We had a chat for a while, before she finished her pie and tea and left us with byes and good lucks. On the way back to Dublin, we were sat with a lot of transfer students or like foreigners who were living and working in Dublin. Or something akin that, I guess. And for a while they started talking about Norway, which I suspect was because they heard us talking. It was funny, listening to their thoughts about Norway. On the trip home, I devoured a sandwich, and shortly after that I fell asleep. Poor Marble was soaking wet and couldn’t fall asleep. Both Ale and I had something to change into, so we were very comfortable. Once we got back, Marble decided she wanted to jog to the hotel, whereas Ale and I walked. When we were passing someone, Ale sneezed very loudly. And as polite as the Dubliners are, a man said “oh, bless you!” to Ale. It was both hilarious and swoon worthy. Once we got back to the hotel, Marble was having a shower. We all did, actually, after each other. Then we put on some nice and dry clothes to go out to dine in. We couldn’t decide where we wanted to go, so we just wandered the streets and ended up at Gourmet Burger Kitchen. I had an avocado burger with some “Heihei fries”. And oh my god, if that isn’t the best burger I’ve ever tasted, then I don’t know. Once we dug in, we were all like “oh my god, this is so good”. I guess we might have been quite hungry after our mountain hike and stuff too, but honestly, I’m going back to GBK someday to have another burger, because that was class. After that we went back to the hotel to enjoy an early night. Ale had an early flight on Monday morning, and I figured it would be good to wake up early and enjoy mine and Marble’s last day in Dublin as well.
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