Okay, so this is the full post about my visit to Ireland. In honesty, I don’t think I’ll be able to describe how amazing my trip was. I think it’s just a feeling and experience which is personal to myself, and I doubt I’ll ever re-live an experience like it ever again, however, I’ll try my best.

All of the images taken can be found here.

Day 1, Monday 2nd of July

Today was spent primarily travelling. My grandparents picked me up at around 8am to take me to Exeter airport. Meanwhile, Meeka spent the morning travelling from Galway to Dublin on the coach to meet me. I managed to check in at the airport safely, and surprisingly quickly, without being touched by any strange men. However, I got quite sick in the departure lounge. I sat around waiting for ages with my headphones on and played my Nintendo DS for a bit. I completely forgot that I was supposed to be boarding the plane at 9:40. I was just going to look around when the plane was due to take off at around 10. Luckily I noticed people leaving and saw on the screen that the flight heading to Dublin was boarding. Close one.

I boarded the plane with no real problems, until I got to my seat. I hadn’t reserved a seat online, but when I was checking in, the woman asked if I wanted a window or isle seat. I was hoping she’d say “would you like a window seat or isle?” so that I could pull out some Jimmy Carr and say “window seat or you’ll what?”, however, this didn’t happen. I asked for a window seat, which was clearly marked on my boarding pass. However, when I got to my seat, there was a woman (I’d guess in her 50s) sitting there. I wasn’t bothered asking her to move, but she turned out to be one of those typical 50-ish year-old women who just seemed to look at me with that “oh the youth of today” look, and frowned upon my long hair and long coat. It didn’t bother me. In fact, she didn’t bother me. I was far too excited to bother with her.

A rather quick flight later, consisting of the woman next to me flapping her chins around a bit as she ate a cream tea, a very slight bit of turbulence, and me managing to avoid taking the typical sheet-of-clouds-out-of-the-aeroplane-window picture, and I landed. Coming in to Ireland was amazing. It’s great to see other countries from high up, especially as you get closer, and you start to see more and more. The sea looked really nice, with all the boats and such.

Dublin airport is a fair bit bigger than Exeter airport. In fact, I’d say it was bigger than Gatwick, but I haven’t been to Gatwick in a while, so I can’t really compare. It’s big though. I found my way to the baggage collection area after standing amongst some huge lines of people, and asking an elderly couple if I was actually standing in the correct line. It took a while for the bags to start their conveyor belt journey, and I didn’t actually find mine for ages. Turned out it had actually gone past me a couple of times, and I didn’t even recognise it. I weaved my way out of the airport, which was easy enough, carrying my case, and spoke to Meeka. She said her coach would arrive in 5 minutes, so I waited outside.

5 minutes later, after a foreign girl asked me if we’re allowed to smoke outside, when I was stood right next to the bin with the somewhat obvious ash tray on top, and Meeka arrived. There was much huggery and what-not. A little while later we were on the coach back to Galway, which took 4 hours or so.

We didn’t really do much that evening. There was just some guitar playing, , some computer use and some “oh my god I’m/you’re here” and dinner with the parents, which I rocked at.

We also took Marieke’s dog, Clifford, for a walk down to the beach which was nice, and wet.

Day 2, Tuesday 3rd of July

Today we had a gig to go to in the evening at a venue called The Black Box. We decided to head into town for the day. The weather was rather windy, especially as we were waiting for the bus. We first headed out to Maplin to buy compressed air so that I could clean Marieke’s computer at some point. Whilst we were in the shopping precinct where Maplin is, we went to Eddie Rocket’s, which is an Irish fast-food chain based on the classic American diner.

After having a bit of a rest in Eddie Rocket’s after our food, and a little boy making a strange comment about my hair, which neither of us completely heard, we headed to PC World, primarily to joke about the intellect of the common member of staff, and the over-priced technology. PC World was exactly as it is in England. Poor quality and filled with idiots. Ho-hum.

After this we walked back into town, enjoying the light showers as we went. The town centre in Galway is amazing. Filled with nice shops, bars, restaurants, music and lots of people. It’s amazing walking down a street and seeing so many pints of Guinness. Marieke showed me around for a while, telling me about the various places, and gasped when I said that we did or didn’t have certain shops in England. I bought a guitar lead in a very cool music shop so that I could use the guitar amp at Marieke’s house, because the lead had gone missing. There was some real traditional Irish music playing in there. There was also a guy testing one of the guitars; completely failing to play Wish You Were Here, and one of the women behind the counter was singing very badly. I also went to Boots and bought myself a new hairbrush.

We wondered around for a little while longer before walking to The Black Box. The gig was basically an event organised by a youth community group, and there were lots of different bands playing of varying styles. This is where I first met Marieke’s friends, who were very nice, although I didn’t get to speak to them very much. Most of the acts were quite terrible, to be honest. However, most of them had one or two things that stood out about them, but one or two things missing. Meeka’s friends band, Eitinn, played. They were very good, actually, and with some practice could be playing a lot of gigs. Another band, AcidTone, were also very, very good. They were quite young, the singer only being 16 or something, I think. They were a kind of hardcore rap/metal band, which sounded like a heavy and younger version of Rage Against the Machine.

The thing that amused me most at this gig had to be the volunteer team. As the event was run by a youth community group, there had to be volunteers to make sure there was no drinking, and that nobody got hurt, and what-not. So, naturally all of the heavy mosh pits (well, fight pits, really) were broken up by… THE RAPE SQUAD!

Yes, every time they moved in to break something up I had to at least think “Go, Rape Squad, go!”. It was very, very funny.

As the last band came on, Marieke and I left to go to the shop to buy alcohol, as the keyboard player of Eitinn, Shane, was having a party-like thing at his house. I was the only 18 year old, so people loved me. Unfortunately I didn’t have my passport with me, and did get asked for ID at Tesco. Thankfully I had my Connexions card and my college card. It was looking like they weren’t going to accept it, but the cashier at Tesco called another lady over, who kindly said “ah, just do it”.

We headed to Shane’s house when we returned to The Black Box with the alcohol, and stayed there until 12ish, when Marieke’s Dad picked us and her sister up.

Day 3, Wednesday 4th of July

We didn’t have any plans for today, so we basically spent the early afternoon cleaning Meeka’s PC. The amount of dust that came out of her case was crazy. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to fix the horrible sound that was coming from the graphics card fan. Ah well. It probably just makes that sound because Oblivion is installed on her PC, shudder…

Once the PC had been cleaned, I used it for a little while, and Marieke attacked my hair, which is generally inevitable. I think it looks quite nice plaited, actually.

We decided to go to the cinema in the evening. Marieke’s sisters were going to see Shrek 3, but we chose to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Before we sat down to watch the movie, I caught the unaware Meeka feeding on a feast of popcorn, which was funny. I wonder if she could get anymore in there?

The movie was pretty good, actually. Although, I think they’re continuing the story on a bit much, and should really have left it at the first one. It would seem that the ending of the third movie leads onto another, so yay. Ah well, the Johnny Depp fans out there will no doubt be cheering.

When the movie had finished, we stood outside waiting for Marieke’s Dad to come and pick us up. A funny moment occured when we were stood outside. The cinema had closed, so the electric doors weren’t working from the outside. We were stood in the cold, and Meeka said “I wish we had stayed inside now” in between shivers. Shortly after, two other people who were in the cinema left. We looked at the open doors, and time did that slowing down thing. I turned to Meeka and said “Quick!”, and we both ran inside, laughing at our silliness, but thanking the fact we were in the warm again.

A short time after, one of the members of staff started closing up properly, so we had to stand outside again. We took some black and white photos of the carpark at midnight, which looks quite scary, and also some photos of each other.

Day 4, Thursday 5th of July

Today we decided to do nothing much but some baking. I suggested making some Melting Moments, which are biscuits that my Nan gave me the recipe for a long time ago. Unfortunately I didn’t have that recipe with me, but we got one online. Unfortunately I haven’t really cooked anything for a long time, and the recipe wasn’t the same, so they didn’t turn out that great. A little later we went to the shop near Meeka’s house and bought some more cooking stuffs so that we could make brownies. Once again the cooking failed, and the brownies turned out pretty crappy. I’ve told Meeka lots of times that I’m a good cook, and I know I am, so it annoyed me that I completely failed at cooking whilst I was there. I think it’s just a sign saying that I should cook more, to get back up to scratch.

In the early evening Marieke’s Mum decided that she was going to get a new puppy. She had been considering it for a while, and was contemplating whether to get a cat or a dog, I think. Clifford seemed a bit lonely and depressed of late, so they thought they’d get him some company.

For some reason, at some point in my life, I completely went off dogs. Marieke’s Mum asked Meeka to go with her to get the puppy. She didn’t want to, and neither did I. I thought it would completely stress me out in the car, because I hate it when dogs bark and are generally loud.

When it was time to leave, I decided to go with them and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a cute little puppy. Marieke’s Mum actually said “for someone who doesn’t like dogs, Dan, you’re doing a pretty good job back there”, because I was holding it on the way back home. I hope because of this the puppy remembers me.

Whilst I was holding it, I thought of a couple of names for it, as we were going through some in the car. My first suggestion was Pixie (which I didn’t really like much) and my second was Matilda (which I really liked). Matilda was the popular name amongst everybody, actually, apart from Meeka’s Mum and Dad, which is a shame. They decided not to name it Matilda or Pixie, and I think they have settled with Mia now, which I dislike. Ah well, it’s not my dog, and if ever Meeka and I get a puppy (which I expect we will, as she wants one so much), we can call it Matilda. Yay!

Clifford didn’t seem to approve so much of the new arrival, though. He avoided her, and backed away when she got close. We gave him some extra attention and took him on a walk around the estate later in the evening. He’s loud, and whines a lot, but when he’s quiet and sweet, he’s a cutie too.

Day 5, Friday 6th of July

We had arranged to go out to dinner with Meeka’s friends today at a restaurant called Cactus Jack’s. We didn’t do much during the day, and met Meeka’s friends in town in the early evening.

There’s a cool place in the town called The Gaf (if I remember correctly) which is a funded youth support place. Teens have access to the internet here, and it’s just generally a place to hang out and meet friends, etc. which I thought was pretty neat. We met up with Meeka’s friends and went here. Meeka and I left shortly after because it was insanely hot, and we wanted to get a drink. We went to a café and got two smoothies, which were big, but very, very good. This made me realise that there aren’t enough smoothie bars in Exeter. We went back to The Gaf after this, and then headed to Cactus Jack’s, which is a Mexican restaurant.

I can’t remember what everyone got, but I had some damn good Taco’s. And of course, Cactus Jack’s couldn’t be called Cactus Jack’s without cactuses.

We all messed around with mathematics in our head to sort the bill out, which didn’t work out well, as we were chased by one of the members of staff after we left, who said we owed them €5. Interestingly enough there was a service charge of about €17, which is something I don’t ever remember seeing in England.

After the meal, Meeka and I left her friends and went to sit at the Spanish Arch for a bit. It was a really nice evening.

After, we went to Java’s, which was a curious place. Java’s is owned by French people, serving mainly Irish cuisine, but has an Asian waitress. Such mixtures didn’t result in us having the best Irish coffee I’ve ever had, but the place was really nice.

Day 6, Saturday 7th of July

Today was the last day that I’d be spending with Meeka in Galway, so we decided to go into town again. We planned to go out to dinner by ourselves later. I wanted to get Marieke’s Mum some flowers to say thankyou for letting me stay. I got some nice pictures around the Spanish Arch as we walked towards Shop Street before we went to the market and got some really, really nice fresh doughnuts and then got a smoothie at a different place before looking around for flowers. There was only one florists around, and they didn’t have much of a selection, and didn’t leave much in one’s wallet after a purchase. Luckily I remembered seeing some flowers on sale at the market. A few minutes after I was drawing a lot of attention to myself due to having a nice boquet of flowers in my hands.

We went back home and I gave Marieke’s Mum the flowers, which she really liked. A few hours later we got changed and went out to Milano’s for yummy Italian dinner. There was a really nice flower on our table, and it looked nice in the pictures it was in. I ordered a pizza, which was the only pizza I had all week. I was suffering pizza deprivation, so I thought it had to be done. When we walked past the restaurant earlier in the day, they’ve got the words “Pizza Pizza Pizza Pizza” repeated all the way along the windows. I did actually suggest going in and asking if they served pizza… After pizza we both got sundaes, which were really good as well. However, we were both very full.

It was a really nice meal, and a really nice evening. Afterwards, we went to the Spanish Arch (again), and then Meeka took me to the carpark she said she’d take me to, which has an amazing view. We took some more pictures, and appreciated the last of our time together before heading back home.

Day 7, Sunday 8th of July

Sunday morning was spent travelling from Galway to Dublin with Meeka. It was really nice of her to come all the way to the airport with me just to go back home again, but I really needed her there. We spent most of the coach ride sleeping, and our time at the airport being sad. Once again I got quite sick at the airport, and actually had to stop for a few minutes because I thought I was going to vomit. After a quick drink of orange juice I felt slightly better, but not really.

Dublin airport seems even bigger when you’re checking in compared to when you’re collecting your bags and leaving. There were so many people there, which made me feel a little uneasy, and it took so long to check in. The queue management system was terrible, and there were people all over the place. The woman working at the desk for the Exeter flight seemed to be pretty useless. She was working really slowly, but when I went up to her to check in, I was done within a matter of 90 seconds at most.

Meeka got some food, and we spent our last hour together before I headed off to the departure lounge and we had to say goodbye “until next time”. I didn’t take any pictures today.

I was searched at security, and had to take my shoes off. Thankfully nothing was found on me, because that would have been odd. I waited around at the gate I was flying from until the plane was ready to board. My eyes were closed for the most of the flight, and there was some really awesome turbulence this time. Not long before we landed we hit a huge pocket of air, or something, and dropped quite quickly, giving me that feeling you get in your tummy when you fall, which was awesome.

Seeing England and Exeter as we got closer and lower was nice, but as soon as I landed I started to feel the bitterness of distance, and didn’t want to be back. I realised how much I fell in love with Ireland, and really considered it as home. I feel now like I should really be there. The atmosphere of the entire place was so fantastic, and I would honestly recommend going there to anyone (just don’t be another of the loud, annoying tourists that haunts the place).

I didn’t think I would be able to write about every amazing experience I had whilst I was over there, and I was right. This is just as much as I could write about. It really was the best trip I’ve ever been on in my life, and the most amazing week of my life I have lived. Things are different now, and England doesn’t feel right to me anymore.

Do check the image gallery to see all of the pictures.