June 4

Dublin day 3

This day we decided to take a train outside of Dublin. We had asked the front desk people where we should go and they suggested Bray or Howth. After looking at pictures online, we decided we would go to Bray. This became a problem, however, once we got to the train station and were told no trains were going to Bray that day, which left us with Howth. The first thing we saw when we got off the train was a really small market. There were about 20 stands in a very small area, but it was a nice little place. Then we stumbled upon a amp and realized we could probably walk the entire radius of the town in about 45 minutes....we didn't, but it was discussed. Instead we walked along the piers and we watched a street artist perform for a while, before heading back into the market for lunch. 

Sitting at lunch I had to make the decision of ice cream or cupcake. While I was thinking about the pros and cons of each, I grew really grateful that I had mastered the art of traveling on my own. This is because I got a double scoop ice cream cone, my first ever, and I thought that if my parents had been there, as a child, that probably wouldn't have happened, but I am an adult, and it's awesome! We took our ice cream to the park like area across the street and relaxed a little before getting back on a train to Dublin.

This is where the fun begins. There was a very large group of students, who looked no more than 18, that obviously came to this town to party...but the police had other ideas, kind of. They were all dressed in skimpy outfits and many of the guys were in their swim trunks without shirts on, many people carrying bags, filled with alcohol. When we arrived to the station, there were no police in sight, but once we got back on there were at least 7 or 8. We don't know if they knew this was coming, or if it was a random occurrence. Once the kids tried to get off, they realized the police were checking bags and they wouldn't be able to get through. Some tried, and the police went after them, instead they were shoved back on to the train. They were pissed (and stupid). Once to the doors to the train shut they all, all 50 or so, ran towards the windows flipping the police off, banging on the door, and screaming at the top of their lungs. Once the police were out of view they started their own party on the train which included very loud music, smoking, and pounding the ceiling (which they were attempting to break). It was so crazy, I wish I had videos. This went on for another 20 minutes until they realized there was one police  officer on the train next to us watching them, then they go worse. We were trying to figure out why this guy wasn't doing anything about this, and we reached the assumption that the police here don't want anything to be their problem. He just waited until they all got off in Dublin, and that was that, basically. We talked to one of the girls, who was obviously drunk, and found out she was going to University next year, in Ireland that means she's 16. This whole situation was an embarrassment to watch as an American in Ireland. We had seen a bunch of drunk old men and now we see a bunch of drunk 16 year olds, that fits every Irish stereotype.

Once we got off the train a much larger, bearded, bulked up, tattooed police man started chasing them out of the building, but that was it, nothing else happened. Nada. We tried to follow the to figure out where they would end up and we did end up finding them jumping into the river about 20 minutes later. We walked towards the dock because there was a small festival going on, it was a pirate festival. There were tons of children dressed up as pirates, and the only food that was being sold had copious amounts of sugar in it. It was cool to see though, you could wait in line to walk onto a pirate ship and there were rides and whatnot.

We went to a movie after dinner, it's called Me Before You, and my friends cried a lot. It was nice to go out with the girls and see a sappy movie, and it was even better getting donuts (Bailey's style) and drinks to ease us out of our depressing moods. Also, I was awoken at 3:45am by rude french ladies who came in screaming, and once told to shut up, just started talking loudly, I was pissed. Also, also, there were, like, 3 people snoring really, really, loudly and it was incredibly annoying.