A boy from Ireland

One of my favorite all time trips, that was also one of the most unexpected trips I went on from the past few years but of course one of my most memorable to say the least.

When I met Chris in November I had no idea I would be seeing him again a few weeks later. We kept in touch from when I visited in November, with cheeky texts and sweet FaceTimes. When my employer approved my Switzerland trip, I didn’t hesitate to let him know. He was excited but a tad nervous about seeing if he could visit me. Funny thing was I was completely on the other side and already planning on trying to hangout with him. The good thing was he was finishing up classes right when my trip was about to begin.

Thankfully Chris planned the whole trip from beginning to end.

Day one or should I say night one started in Dublin, having a quick dinner with some Guinness. The next morning was filled with a classic Irish breakfast which consisted of toast, eggs, beans in tomato sauce, and sausage. A good and plentiful start we began day 1 with a visit to Kilmainham Jail Museum. It’s one of Irelands most historical museum as it held some of Ireland radical freedom fighters, poor folk including children, and war prisoners. It was a great history lesson for me, especially being American as these are issues we’ve sort of glossed over. We followed the day be visiting the IMMA. The museum was incredible, even from the start as we entered there was this super cool music digital futuristic display, which was my personal favorite. I highly recommend you check out both museums.

The following day, Chris has set up the day with a visit to the west side of the country. Only about a 2 hr drive from Dublin the Cliff of Mohr and the City of Doonmacfelim are infamous in Ireland as a must see. And oh boy was I blown away. Unfortunately… I forgot to charge my batteries the night before but… Chris saved the day with his camera. We began the 2 hr hike and saw the back side of the cliffs, a bit of a trek but well worth it for a private view. The cliffs are seriously unreal. And our return, Chris planned a surprise visit to a castle. The castle was very unique as it had a surrounding neighborhood that was designed to fit into the time. Hay styled roofs and a chimney center to keep the rooms made these homes special to this time era.

The next day we did a walking tour, which provided beautiful views of the city and good insight on the country. We ended the day a little early and watched an Irish animation I recommended, song of the sea which in my opinion should have won the Oscar.

Day 4 was a bit more relaxed and towards the end of my trip. We visited his family’s home in the house he grew up, a very nice and quiet neighborhood and then checked out Phoenix Park which was magnificent. One of Irelands biggest public parks that had deer all around us, it also neighbors a few government homes and has a huge cross that we couldn’t resist flying the drone near. Our plans for the night were to do the normal thing and grab a dinner and some drinks. We checked out Chris favorite theater in town the Stella and watched Belfast. The theater was stunning with a historic feel but very comfortable private couches. I really enjoyed the feel and the movie was a perfect touch being it was about Ireland. We ended our night with some drinks at this super cool pub called Blackbird that had some awesome lighting and cheap drinks.

The last day was in preparation for Switzerland, overall it was an amazing trip over all and one that I'm very thankful. It allowed me to see Ireland in a whole new way and I'm so happy it happened.