Last Day's Highlights
GO RAIBH MAITH AGAT, DHUBLIN!
My flight from Dublin to Atlanta GA yesterday morning GMT -being the first leg of the journey home- took about 8 hours 30 minutes, so I thought I’d use some time on board to do a write-up on my last day in Ireland. There have been a few trips on which I felt glad I was to go home, but this is not the case with Ireland. I have grown loads of love for this country: The people of Ireland; the national pride that the Irish people hold does humble me, the nature: the presence of flocks of sheep (those Wacky Woolies!!) and other cattle on the massive grassy field in the outskirts of towns keep me interested in the sight of Ireland. Pacific Northwest where I live is green and beautiful too, but it really is NOT the same (please pronounce the friggin’ NOT here like the Irish. LOL). I do not get to eat local lamb or beef from the village in my neighborhood like many Irish do. The people in Pacific Northwest also do not have cute distinct accents like the Irish (am just playing ridiculous here, of course they don‘t!), hospitality-wise the Irish appeal to me a lot more than people in the States do. Don’t get me wrong Mate, both parties I am comparing are perfectly fine. It’s just a matter of preference really. Ireland has been retaining this charm to my eyes since the moment I set my foot there, and I hope to keep my excitement over Ireland alive till the day I am there again.
A bit sad yesterday morning at the airport, by the way. I hope to be back someday, God Willing! It’s just that there are so many places in the world and it will be a shame to not travel there.
Spent the last full day in Dublin visiting the Archeology Museum as well as the Museum of Natural History. Stared at a bunch of artifacts from past civilizations (from the Ice Age, Medieval, Ancient Egypt, the Viking, and so on and so forth. Can’t remember it’s too many!) at the first one. Got to see the remains of the bogs bodies as well; Google ‘em up! Pretty interesting stuff!. The latter site was a bit kooky, I thought. It’s almost like a zoo except that all the animals are dead. I am still not used to seeing dead animals put on glass displays. Not my kind of thing, you see.
DIDN'T STOP PIGGING OUT, QUITE YET
We ate many different things on our last day. Had an early lunch at the cafeteria at Debenhams -it’s a department store. They price the food based on the weight so if you’re not a big eater you’ll save some loot here. Ended up spending like 14 Euros as we were not too hungry. Went to Temple Bar after. It’s a must visit spot in Dublin, I’d say. Pretty touristy. You’ll see a bunch of places to eat here, bars including (of course!). The original Temple Bar was still there, by the way. Looked alright. What thou shall not miss in Temple Bar would probably be Leo Burdock’s Fish & Chips. We first heard about this place from Lonely Planet, so we split a portion of fish and chips just for the sake of it. It’s a hell of a deal for 5.95 Euros. I mean, in Dingle we paid nearly three times for a plate. You decide which you prefer. Taste-wise, I fancied the Leo Burdock’s fish more; while I thought the chips were a bit dry -ain’t complaining for the price, though.
My pig-out didn't stop there, quite yet. I order some Chinese take-out near our hotel prior to going to Noel's concert. We ate like there wasn't tomorrow.
THE AMAZING GIG
Alright..before this post gets too lengthy and puts you to sleep, I shall start talking about the Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ gig on my last night (Feb 17th) in Dublin.
I was looking at this gig’s ticket online since late November last year, I believe. And the show was SOLD OUT already. First off, I didn’t buy ticket right away because I was still waiting to receive my Irish visa. It’s free of charge for Indonesian citizens, by the way. Was thinking to actually expand the travels to Northern Ireland to go see Noel Gallagher in either Belfast or Aberdeen (which is, territory-wise, a part of the United Kingdom) but I thought it’s not worth the money to get a UK visa as we would probably have traveled there for only a few additional days.
Back to the ticket! Anyhow, we got lucked out and ended up getting two tickets on E-bay. Paid a lot more (48 pounds/ticket) than the face value (39.50 Euros). but that’s expected. Some people from the UK bought many extra tickets so they could sell them online in order to make money. Well.. we were just happy to learn yesterday that the tickets we bought were not the counterfeit ones! I was just mad fer the show!
Got the opening act done. Group was called Concert No. 9. Wasn’t bad, but I obviously was there for Noel Gallagher, so all I was concerned about was having Noel on stage. We stood in the front row and wait patiently for the performance to start. The opening band turned up on stage at 8 o’clock, then followed by the Gallagher at about 10 minutes to 9. I was ecstatic to see him pop up!!! Noel looked to have aged a bit since his Morning Glory day. Still a good-looking fellow he is, though! The Irish-Mancunian wore a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath. He and the band rocked the O2 arena by his first song ‘It’s Good To Be Free‘. Man, as he sang the Oasis song, the more I wished the band had gotten back together!
…TO BE CONTINUED
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| Natural History Museum |
A bit sad yesterday morning at the airport, by the way. I hope to be back someday, God Willing! It’s just that there are so many places in the world and it will be a shame to not travel there.
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| Cute platypus I saw at the museum |
DIDN'T STOP PIGGING OUT, QUITE YET
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| Temple Bar |
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| At the Chinese Place |
My pig-out didn't stop there, quite yet. I order some Chinese take-out near our hotel prior to going to Noel's concert. We ate like there wasn't tomorrow.
THE AMAZING GIG
Alright..before this post gets too lengthy and puts you to sleep, I shall start talking about the Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ gig on my last night (Feb 17th) in Dublin.
I was looking at this gig’s ticket online since late November last year, I believe. And the show was SOLD OUT already. First off, I didn’t buy ticket right away because I was still waiting to receive my Irish visa. It’s free of charge for Indonesian citizens, by the way. Was thinking to actually expand the travels to Northern Ireland to go see Noel Gallagher in either Belfast or Aberdeen (which is, territory-wise, a part of the United Kingdom) but I thought it’s not worth the money to get a UK visa as we would probably have traveled there for only a few additional days.
Back to the ticket! Anyhow, we got lucked out and ended up getting two tickets on E-bay. Paid a lot more (48 pounds/ticket) than the face value (39.50 Euros). but that’s expected. Some people from the UK bought many extra tickets so they could sell them online in order to make money. Well.. we were just happy to learn yesterday that the tickets we bought were not the counterfeit ones! I was just mad fer the show!Got the opening act done. Group was called Concert No. 9. Wasn’t bad, but I obviously was there for Noel Gallagher, so all I was concerned about was having Noel on stage. We stood in the front row and wait patiently for the performance to start. The opening band turned up on stage at 8 o’clock, then followed by the Gallagher at about 10 minutes to 9. I was ecstatic to see him pop up!!! Noel looked to have aged a bit since his Morning Glory day. Still a good-looking fellow he is, though! The Irish-Mancunian wore a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath. He and the band rocked the O2 arena by his first song ‘It’s Good To Be Free‘. Man, as he sang the Oasis song, the more I wished the band had gotten back together!
…TO BE CONTINUED
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