Arriving at the hostel in Dublin on Friday night, we were well aware that the trip had crept up on us really fast and that apart from go to the guiness factory, we didn't really have a plan. One of the best things about staying in a hostel however is that there are always plenty of brochures of cheap trips around the place and after perusing these for about an hour, we settled on a day Celtic trip.

We had another great tour guide who, like the guide we had in Scotland, was a born story teller... (think both the Irish and the Scottish) are well known for this ability). We saw a lot of really cool places and heard a lot of really cool stories, but they probably won't sound so good written down, here is the general overview from the tour company

OVER THE TOP TOURS CELTIC TOUR OVERVIEW (click)

And here are our highlights:
5000 year old tomb with some pretty cool carvings on the walls. Only the priest was ever allowed to go in to 'talk to the spirits' and make sacrifices to ensure that the gods were happy with them and that the sun would come back again. Not much to look at from the outside, but very impressive that it has been there so long.

Unfortunately the King Stone on top of the Hill of Tara didn't sing for either of us (so neither of us will be the next king of Ireland). But the sunset made up for it!

This story starts a couple of months ago when our flatmate, Kate, asked if I'd heard about the 3 million flights that Ryan Air was giving away? With an offer like that, who can refuse so it was straight to the web. Now there is always a catch, but considering the catch is that we still had to pay taxes, resulting in each flight costing only about £13 - we were still keen. (That's what I love about this side of the world).

Arriving in Dublin late on Friday night we managed to find the right bus and even get off in the right place, though I'm sure it was more good luck than good management. We headed to find the hostel, which was in the old Litton Lane Recording studio. As we walked into our hostel room, I was surprised to see that people were actually living there, and having the tact of a doornail, I announced this to Aaron who was right behind me. This resulted in an evil stare from the girl reading in the top bunk that I had failed to realise was there. Not a good way to make friends...

Feeling that 10.30pm was a bit too early to head to bed, and that we were never going to be able to get to sleep with the bass from the nightclub outside our window shaking the glass, we headed out to pace the streets of Dublin. Dublin has quite wide streets (widest I've seen since I've been over here) and quite a nice feeling to it. We grabbed a bite to eat and I'm sure I got chatted up by a few very drunk Irish guys, but I couldn't understand them, so it didn't really matter.

Sunday morning, we headed down to breakfast a bit later than Saturday to find the place buzzing with people. This caused a minor electrical dilemma as people attempted to run 2 toasters and the microwave all off the same plug, hence blowing the fuse. However, everyone just jumped to the conclusion that the toaster was broken - but not Aaron... he kidnapped the toaster and headed off to the reception to make our toast in quiet. Handy man to have around...

With that out of the way, we headed to the most famous landmark in Ireland - the Guiness Storehouse and Brewery. I was expecting a tour through the part where they actually make the guiness, but instead it was a bit of arty museum. If you're going to Dublin, you should probably go, but it didn't live up to my expectations.

From there it was quick bite to eat then souvenier shopping before heading to the airport for an late afternoon flight home.