So, I know I said I would never go to another country with just one day to see everything, but we had already booked flights to Dublin, Ireland: a place I had always dreamt of going to. Since my entire family and all my ancestors had come from Ireland, I felt like I was truly getting to see a piece of where I had come from. My heritage was here in this wonderful place.
We took yet another long train ride to a different airport, since there were three in the London area, and we had now been to all three of them in a matter of days. Kayla was nowhere to be found that morning, since we were supposed to meet at the underground station, and she wasn't there. We left to get on the train hoping that she would be close behind, but we couldn't risk missing our flight.
When we got to the airport, Kayla was a good 30 minutes behind us, and it was unlikely that she would make the flight since she still had to go to security and get to the gate. When we boarded the plane, she was stuck in security. I knew that going to Ireland just wouldn't be the same without her, and hope that she would somehow make it before the gate closed.
I sat there looking out the airplane windows hoping that Kayla would be among some of the last stragglers and she was! I was so happy and relieved that she made it, and could finally relax. I had enough airport stress incidents to last the rest of my life. The flight was a little under an hour, and we were there before we knew it.
We climbed on a double-decker bus when we got there, immediately heading to the top. Dublin was a lot like places here in America, but it had more of a culturally-dense feel. There were so many old buildings, plenty of pubs, and even castles right in the middle of the city. It also didn't even feel like a city, because though there were lots of people, it was really clean and everyone seemed calm and relaxed.
The first stop we made was a small cafe, where I chowed down an English breakfast. After we took a short time to reconvene, we headed to Trinity College, where I had to see the long library and the Book of Kells.
The campus was so beautiful and green, and everyone was talking and laughing in their Irish accents. We bought our tickets to see the long library, and as soon as we stepped foot in it, my jaw dropped. I had never seen such a large building, with so many books, and such beautiful architecture, in my life. The building was filled floor to ceiling with ancient books that were so valuable. I felt so fortunate to get to be in a place like this, with so much history and so many stories.
I walked around for the longest time, admiring the library and scanning the books, until I realized that we should probably to see somewhere else.
Our next stop was Dublin Castle, which was equally breathtaking. I couldn't fathom how there was just this giant castle in the middle of this city. We toured the castle, and I couldn't even believe my eyes the entire time. It really was just how I imagined, and just how castles looked in the movies.
Once we finished the tour, we had tea on the ledge of the castle in the sunlight. This was a moment I will never forget, and I was overcome by the feeling that I had been in that exact place before.
After the castle, the day started to come to an end, so we decided the last stop had to be a famous Irish Pub. We had a glass of cider, and I had an Irish carrot soup with a Yorkshire pudding.
Once we had finished our drinks, we quickly walked to the bus stop, since we didn't want to risk missing our flight or even coming close. It took forever to get on a bus and to the airport, but we had made it. I didn't want to leave Dublin, and I felt like I could spend three more months in this place, but I was thankful for the day that I got to spend in this place where my ancestors had lived and immigrated from. I knew I would be back someday in the near future.
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