I don't think I was meant to leave Paris.
Every time I try, something goes terribly wrong.
This time, on the way to Dublin, it was missed trains. Not just any train--the Eurostar. Oo la la la.
Ok now for the fun stuff.
Grand plans we made with Liz, Walsh and I to take a 9:13 Eurostar from Paris to London on Thursday night, arrive in London at about 10:30 local time, go out with friends of Liz who are studying there, catch a flight to Dublin at 6:45 Friday morning and let our Ireland adventures begin...
Not exactly what happened...
Walsh and I got to Gare de Nord at 8:45, get to the TVG terminal, and just then, Liz runs by saying "TrainisanhourlateIforgotmycellI'llbebackinahalfhour!"
Walsh and I looked at the departure board, which said our train was on time. Panic.
We asked some other passengers what was going on, and they all informed us that, yes, our train was an hour late.
OK.
Walsh and I left the station and got Irish coffees across the street while we waited for Liz. After that, we went to the Eurostar terminal a half hour before our departure time and were so excited to get to London and start out trip...
But,
we found out that even though our train was late, we were supposed to have (by some act of magic or the good Lord) have known that Immigration/Border Control close at 10...so long story slightly abbreviated, we couldn't get on our train because immigration had closed as we were getting our passports stamped.
Oh.la.flippin.la.
Surprisingly, we kept fairly calm...the next Eurostar wasn't until 645...conveniently the same time our flight left London in the morning.
SO we went back to Liz's apartment, talked over the situation, laughed and booked a flight from Paris to Dublin for 9:30 in the morning.
Since we had to leave for the airport at 5:30, we went out to an bar down the street ( http://www.myspace.com/truskel_paris ) and had the time of our lives until about 4, when we went back to the apartment, printed our boarding passes and from there, we actually made it to Dublin by 11am.
I loved Dublin. It was a wonderful trip away from Paris. As soon as we got on the plane, the three of us were REJOICING...but after we landed and started to encounter Irish folk, we were just the happiest. Everyone is so warm and welcoming and just plain kind.
We get settled in the apartment we were staying in in the south of Dublin, and then Liz found an amazing vegetarian restaurant that turned out to be almost all vegan and gluten free too. I love that girl. It was the best food I've had here so far...never expected to find great vegetarian food it Dublin, but it was pretty common. Ah I miss Cornucopia...I could rave about it all day.
Well that night, we went out to a pub called Quinn's. It was a huge pub full of students from Dublin City University. It was a blast...but we hadn't slept since Wedneday night, so we ended our night by passing our in the apartment and waking up at 1pm...
We went right to the Guinness Storehouse on Saturday. I already love Guinness, but the brewery made me just want to become the biggest beer snob...I might be drinking only Guinness for a while.
We went out to dinner at 7 or so after that. The restaurant was a giant sports bar with so much going on, that we ended up staying there the whole night. I've never been jollier...it seems that everyone is just out to drink and have a great time with friends and meet new people. We meet two really cool guys that bought us shots and played pool with us, I requested songs from the lovely DJ, I had the most absurd/hilarious dance floor experience of my life (it's Walshes favorite story to tell, so I can't infringe on that right now). I also discovered the most amazing drink--it's called a snake bite. 1/2 a pint of Guinness, a shot of vodka and it's topped off with hard cider. Ah I want to make them for everyone upon my return. We stayed out til almost 3 and had a really great time.
The flight back to Paris was fine. It's so crazy that going back "home" means going to Paris. It's surreal.
Liz and I rushed over to the ending of the Salon du Chocolat expo that was going on this weekend. We got plenty of chocolate samples and a lot of delish Baileys. Ah I love it here. Just shower me in chocolate and Irish things and I'd love it anywhere though...
I'm off to skype with my fam for the first time in a long time. Miss em.
Big hugs/Cheers/Bisous
Erica
Cheers.
