Luck-O-The Irish

editor's note: written on Thursday, Sep 9

After our crazy time in London, I felt that anything would have been a disappointment but boy was I wrong when we got to Ireland. Sure Dublin seems like another large British city since the architecture and building heights feel quite like London, but that’s where the similarities end. Filled with incredibly friendly people (and HORDES of American tourists), Dublin is a now a major European Capital city that is experiencing incredible growth and a hungry economy that is surging faster than the Guiness can be poured.

In an attempt to Create Value™ (Dublin is one helluva expensive city) we decided to give the Back-Packer’s thing a go. The first time Gavin visited Europe after college, he did what most recent college American college graduates do and got a rail pass and stayed in hostels along the way. I didn’t get a chance to do the whole Europe thing after I graduated, so I figured this would be my first time at it and boy was I in for a shocker. Some say that I’m a coddled and spoiled brat, but I’ve really gotten accustomed to having my own living space and privacy and it was quite a rude awakening when I found out that we had to share a 6 bedroom closet with a middle aged German couple and two young Aussie girls. (I figured it would be all male or female or trans-gendered or something, but that’s not how it works in Ireland! So much for the conservative Catholics!) Let’s just say that after a few beers to calm my nerves and some well needed ear-plugs and a face mask, I was ready to have quite a nice sleep. If you can get over the smell of feet, then staying in a European Hostel is quite the way to Create ValueÔ.