Teamweekend in Dublin & Off the grid in Fanore

17 - 5 - 2019

So far, I've already had some lovely people coming over to visit me, but there's still more to come. 

Today I'm taking the Dublin coach to travel over to Dublin once more. 2pm and as I step on to the bus, I get a message from Gijs, Casper, Patrick and Milos that they too are on their way to Dublin, although their journey is gonna take a tad longer than mine.

For those reading this blog: At home, for these last 2 years, I've been playing basketball at my local student basketball association called G.s.b.v. De Groene Uilen-Moestasj. Last season however, I had to leave my team halfway through the season due to my minor in Ireland. But luckily enough for me, my buddies Gijs, Patrick, Casper and Milos were so kind to take the time and effort to come and visit me for a weekend.

I've booked us a hostel for 2 nights just outside temple bar square and I arrive there way before the boys do. I walk in to the reception and check all of us in already. The lady is kind enough to give me all the keys to the room already. I make my way up the stairs and as I unpack my stuff I receive a message from the lads telling me that they will probably arrive at the hostel around midnight. Right now it's 6pm, so I still got quite some time left on my own.

In order to kill the time I head down to the tv lounge and decide to work on some unfinished work for school. However, I can only focus for around half an hour so Netflix instead it is. 

A good 2 movies further and I get a text from Gijs that the bus they're just came around the corner and that they are getting of any minute now. So I get up and walk towards the bus stop and I can see the boys standing there waiting for me. We walk back to the hostel first so they can drop their luggage and freshen themselves up a bit before we hit the pubs.

We head over to temple bar square, which is only a 5 minute walk down the road, and we discover that it's quite busy tonight in town. After a first round of pints in the one and only temple bar we feel like there must be a quiter bar somewhere around. 
We continue down the road and find ourselves in a lovely small pub called "the Auld Dubliner" where they play some nice live music. 

However, after a few rounds we think it would be a good idea to head back to the hostel in order to catch some sleep. Tomorrow is a full day of walking around and sightseeing, and after a day full of traveling it is probably a good idea to lay our weary heads to rest.

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18 - 5 - 2019 

It's 9am and my alarm clock basically wakes everyone up but me, as usual. Soon enough I find myself sitting on the side of my bed as well. We freshen ourselves up and head down to the lounge area for breakfast. It's not much but the cups of coffee together with the toasts with jam is sufficient enough to get us through the day. 

Since nobody really did any research into what they wanted to see when they came here I lead them as a tourguide through the city. First stop, Trinity college and the long room/book of kells. 
Yes, I know that I've mentioned this before in my previous logs. But my new guests haven't seen it yet.
By the time we arrive it's 10.30am. We thought we were smart by going there early so it wouldn't be all too busy yet. But oh boy, we couldn't be more wrong. Even at this time there was already a 20-25 minute waiting line outside. 
So instead of going inside to see the long room (or the old library), we keep on walking and do small self-guided tour around trinity college campus.

After Trinity college, and our struggle to find an exit out of it, we head over to the National Museum of Ireland - Archeology. We head in for free, due to the fact that all national museums in Ireland are free of charge, and split up so we can see everything at our own pace. A good 2 hours later we meet up again and agree on the fact that we've pretty much seen everything and that it's time for lunch.

We keep on walking through town to find a decent place to eat and after a while we come across a lovely small pub that serves traditional Irish dishes. And honest to god, so far during my stay in Ireland I don't think I've had a nicer lunch than I did here. And this opinion was shared by the rest of the boys as well. 

With our bellies filled and our legs rested we continue our walking-tour through Dublin. Next stop: Dublin Castle. On the way to Dublin Castle we remember that we didn't even have a cup of coffee after lunch. So instead of heading into the castle right away we get ourselves a bit of caffeine first. After our regained energy we split up in 2 groups, Milos and Gijs are heading back to the hostel already instead of joining Patrick, Casper and I in paying a visit to pretty much the last tourist attraction on my list of to do & see.

Since all of us believe we are educated enough to read, we also decide to take the self-guided tour around the castle. And after an interesting 45 minute walk around all the gold plated rooms, we too decide to head back to the hostel in order give our legs a bit of rest after all the walking we did. 

Approximately an hour later we get ourselves ready and head out again for our last activity of the day, a tour around the Teeling whiskey distillery. Most of us never really tried whiskey or at least had a sip when we were old enough to buy alcohol in general, but we are excited regardless.

The tour starts of with the history of Whiskey in Ireland and the history behind the several distilleries that were once active in Dublin. The Teeling Whiskey Distillery became fully active 3 years ago and with that, for the first time in many many years, Dublin finally had an active whiskey distillery again. Needless to say, the Teeling Whiskey Distillery is quite a modern looking one, but this doesn't make it in any way less interesting.

Our tour guide takes us through the entire process over how their whiskey is being made and after a short hour we head into the final stage of the tour, the whiskey tasting. We sit down behind a bar and in front of us are two glasses, one filled with the most sold Teeling Whiskey sort and the other is filled with a cocktail. Our tour guide takes us through the process of taking a proper sip of whiskey and after which, altough being a bit hesitant, we try it ourselves. Surprisingly enough it's really enjoyable and it leaves me a bit sad we only get to taste one type of whiskey. 

We head back to the hostel and after a game of pool in the lounge area we head to the pub in the back of the hostel as we were told we would be able to get some dinner here as well. After dinner we agree on the fact that the pub we ended up last night was absolutely lovely, so we decide to go back tonight for a few quiet ones. Milos sadly enough stays behind in the hostel, he has to wake up extra early tomorrow morning to catch his early flight. The rest of the boys won't leave untill later in the afternoon.

However, it wasn't just a few quiet ones. At 3am the pub finally closes and Casper Patrick and I finally head back to the hostel as well. (Gijs decided to go back approximately half an hour before us since he was feeling too tired)

An hour later and we finally find ourselves in bed as well, calling it a night.

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19 - 5 - 2019 

I wake up at 6am to the sound of Milos getting ready and packing his bag. Although I'm still really tired due to the fact that I've only went to sleep a mere 2 hours ago, I get out of bed and walk with Milos downstairs to say goodbye to him. After which I head back into bed and catch another couple of hours of sleep.

Again we wake up around 9am and head into the lounge downstairs for breakfast. During breakfast we discuss our plans for the rest of the day, since we only have a couple of hours before all of us have to catch our bus either back to Limerick or the airport.

Casper and Patrick want to give The Long Room another shot, but Gijs and I are not really all too interested in that. So after breakfast we split up. Casper and Patrick on their way to see The Long Room and The Book of Kells, Gijs and I on our way to find a nice café to get ourselves a good cup of coffee.

Roughly an hour and a half later and we meet up at the café where Gijs and I have been sitting this entire time. One final cup of coffee later and we walk back to the hostel to get our bags and to catch our busses in order to go home again.

We all say goodbye to each other and I thank them for coming down to Dublin to come and see me. 

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21 - 5 - 2019 

I've hardly had the time to recover from my busy weekend in Dublin and I already find myself packing my bag for my next adventure. It's 12pm and in 2 hours I'm getting picked up by Robert Jordan and Lauren to go to Fanore with them.

Fanore is a lovely small town in county Clare, Lauren's family have a family cottage near the beach.

But before we drive straight to Fanore we make a stop in the small surfers town of Lahinch, where a few people from basketball are camping for the night. We meet up at the beach and since the weather is so lovely we dive right into the sea. I have to admit, it takes a couple of minutes for my body to get used to the cold but sure enough I find myself fully under water in no time.

After our lovely swim Lauren, Robert Jordan and I head back into the city centre to do our groceries for Fanore and to get some food at the local chipper. After that we head back to the rest of the group's campsite to chill out with them for a bit before we continue our way to Fanore. 

When we arrive at the campsite we find ourselves in one of the most beautifull camping spots I've ever seen. Big Rob, Liv, Aine, Callum, Connor (Callum's cousin) and Aoibhin have set up camp on top of a cliff looking out over sea. And Big "daddy" Rob even takes care of a lovely campfire.

Sadly enough, we have to leave an hour later in order to get to Fanore before it get's too dark to get the cottage ready for our stay.

We arrive at the cottage just before it's fully dark and after we've taken care of the gas and electrics and cleaned up a little we sit ourselves down to finally relax. The best thing about these upcoming 2.5 days is that there is no reception at all here. So no smartphone, no social media and no tv for now. 

Lauren pops open a bottle of wine and Rob and I decide to have a lovely can of cider and we sit ourselves down at the dinner table ready to get started with a game of monopoly. A few intoxicated hours later and neither Lauren nor Rob has any money left.

I go to bed satisfied about my win and fall asleep within minutes.

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22 - 5 - 2019 

Sleeping in has done all of us pretty good, the three of us feel well rested and sit down to have breakfast together. 
We get changed after breakfast and get into the car for a short drive to Ballyvaughan to get a new gastank for the cottage.

When we get back the sun finally came out and we don't hesitate to bring out the camping chairs and enjoy every minute of sunshine we got. As Robert Jordan decides to go for a walk, Lauren and I stay behind and keep on chatting about everything and nothing. 

We get a little bit worried since it's been about an hour since Robert left for his walk, so we agree to get on our feet and start walking towards the beach to find him. 

Our worries were not needed cause we find him sitting on the rocks listening to his podcast. Robert joins Lauren and I in our walk across the sea shore line. 

A little while later and we see look on our watches to discover that it's already 5pm. So we head back to the cottage and about half an hour later we are accompanied by Big Rob and Liv, who were planning on coming over for another night of camping after their night in Lahinch. After dinner we take Big Rob and Liv to the beach were we have spent our afternoon, so we can see enjoy the upcoming waves and the serenity that the crashing of the waves provides. Sadly enough it's getting cold rather quick so we head back to the cottage just shortly after an hour.

Big Rob had been so kind to buy a few logs so that we too can enjoy a nice campfire like they did the night prior. The sun slowly sets behind the sand dunes and the fire really starts to get going. We fill the night with campfire songs and Small Rob's (Robert Jordan) guitar play, marshmellow & s'mores and simple banter about each other.

The clock hits 3am and we start to run out of wood. We start to feel really tired as well, so instead of letting the fire die out on its own, we put it out with water and go inside to call it a night. 

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23 - 5 - 2019 

When Small Rob, Lauren and I wake up we discover that Liv and Big Rob had already left early on in the morning. Big Rob had an appointment back at home so he didn't have time to sleep in and have breakfast with us and Liv was up early enough to ride along with him. 

Just like yesterday we take our time with waking up and breakfast. After we've eaten enough we start to pack our stuff and clean the cottage. 

Robert Jordan has to be back in Limerick around 5/6 so we don't have much time left today to go and see something in the neighborhood. After the cottage is cleaned and the car is full with all of our stuff we lock the cottage and leave to head up north to Ballyvaughan.

Our original plan was to go and see the bird sanctuary, but as we approach it Small Rob drives past it and we find ourselves on a lovely long and winding road uphill. So instead of turning around to see the birds we keep on driving to see where the road will lead us. 

Looking left and right we can see nothing else but rock formation for miles on end, something that county Clare is known for and the reason why it's such a popular filming location by many movie directors.

At around 5.30pm Robert drops me back off at Cratloe Student Village and I say goodbye to him and Lauren. 

It has been lovely to spend a couple of days completely off the grid. Just enjoying nature and the peace and quiet that a place like Fanore is known for.