Priceless

Ireland has got to be one of those countries everyone should experience at some point or another. The trip was amazing, we had a blast from start to finish. The five of us left at 5:00am Friday morning, and arrived in Dublin around 8. The plane nearly left without us....thanks Ryan Air, but nonetheless we made it there. We came in on a fairly rainy day and did a "touristy" double decker bus and saw ~25 locations that are big tourist hits. We jumped off the bus halfway to go to the Guinness beer factory. It was quite an experience to see every single step of how the beer is made, they even had samples of the different ingredients throughout. To top the tour off, once we got to the 7th floor it was a circular glass room and they gave us a complimentery beer. I must say I am not a dark beer person, but it was rather satisfying.
Saturday morning we got moving when the bus routes started to open up and made our way toward the coast of Ireland, going to the small town of Malahide. I could have spent the entire day just walking along the beach and sitting along the wall. We did walk about ~2 miles down the beach and along the rocks. Many people brought their dogs down to walk and play along the beach. The weather could not have been better (keeping in mind that it is Ireland) and we chose the perfect day for a beach walk. Before heading back to Dublin we wanted to see the Malahide Castle and we were quite pleased with that choice. It was like being in a book walking through the forest pathway to go to the castle. The smell of everything around us was remarkable, it felt completely free from all signs of civilization. The castle was beautiful as well, and i sat outside and watched some younger kids play Cricket...still not quite sure how it works. I do know those kids would be quite good at baseball though.
Around 2 we headed back into the Dublin city area and did some more touristy shops. We took some fun pictures and walked through the day. That night we ate at a very good local pub, and had some sort of sausage stew type meal that is unique to Dublin and i must saw it was amazing. From there we walked the streets and experienced all that the night life had to offer, enjoying street performers and going into a great pub.
The weekend was a blast and so far the Irish are at the top of my list for frinedliness. They were just a blast to be around and were always so helpful. The only problem, if you get a fast talking local go ahead and give up because you won't understand one word of what he says. We had that happen quite a few times.