HAPPY RAINY DUBLIN!!!

Being back in Ireland felt amazing, even though it rained the entire stay, it felt like I was never gone, specially not for two years, I still can't believe it's been two years since my best friend Emeline and I have scoured the roads of Ireland (and I'm talking about Northern Ireland and the Eire) we've been everywhere!! 

So I came back but this time with my sisters and some friends of ours to spend an amazing girls weekend in Dublin, Shortly after Prague my sense of orientation seems to have left me because I couldn't recognize anything...sure the fact that the entire City was under construction makes it harder to recognize but still...

WHERE TO STAY?

The first time I went to Dublin I stayed at the Ashfield youth hostel which was super nice and really crazy, but this time we stayed at the Belvedere, we all decided that a hotel was better for a weekend between girls!


THE BELVEDERE

• The receptionists were super kind and welcoming, they helped us find a great pub nearby not too expensive and really good!!
• The hotel was nice and close to the city center, we could to everything on foot which is really important when you are staying for only 3 days.
• The hotel itself was clean and quite, like most hotels I don't have much to say about it, it wasn't too expensive, the bedrooms were comfortable and as a group of 8 we booked two rooms of four and it was a real plus to be next to one another!
• The only argument I have against the hotel was the bedrooms of our friends smelt the moisture and it felt oppressive, but really it is the only black mark I can think about!
• More information

DUBLIN

I have told you a little bit about Dublin in my post 10 PLACES YOU MUST VISIT IN IRELAND and in my GUIDE TO IRELAND but never that much because during my first visit to Ireland I didn't stay long in Dublin!

So what about the City:

• first, it rains a lot haha, on our stay we had some Sun during a grand total of 2h for 3 days the rest was rains, wind, and clouds!
• Dublin is young, full of life and multi-cultural, it's a real heaven for tourists, we have so much do to and to see, even when it rains!
• The city as Vikings origin, so if you have a particular interest about Vikings (like I do) you'll be more than happy there!
• It is quite a big City, I got lost, even though I knew the city (for my defense the city was under construction !) 
• Of course, I'm never tired of Ireland and Dublin is amazing, even though it's not my favorite part or Ireland, you have to love walking and shopping because there are so many shops to do!

WHERE TO EAT?

• Well near the Belvedere there's a nice pub called the Parnell Heritage Pub (the food is just amazing!) and the staff is really nice!
• For breakfast, I discovered two addresses, first one is recommended in The Routard and is called Beanhive, for this one you need to go there super early especially if you're a group, because it is a very small place, and I think it deserves its place in the Routard or any other travel book, even though we were a group of 8 and that we had to wait for about 1h to eat they did everything they could to make us some space! The second one was The Bakehouse, not as known as the Beanhive and not as good but still really great to have Irish breakfast in the 50's!
• Where NOT to eat? The KINGFISHER Restaurant Even though they told me they just opened I wouldn't recommend them, well yet, they are apparently good for breakfast but not for the rest, we ended up there because of the good recommendation in TripAdvisor, only to discover that they are only good at breakfast, their salad was not good and too small for a price that was too high, we had to change our order four times because they didn't have any left of what we wanted and well it was really too expensive for what they brought us at the table!

WHAT DO TO AND WHAT TO SEE

• The Guinness Storehouse obviously...one good thing to know about, if you're willing to pay by credit card you can avoid the queue, enter where it's written 'online ticket' you'll go directly to the machine and take your tickets to the terminals and tada you avoid a 1h queue at least!
• The Temple Bar, more than just a bar it's also a street full of bars!! to me the best is The QUAYS, practically as popular as Temple Bar, I found a better atmosphere and more locals! but you have to go to the temple bar to decide by yourself!
• The Trinity College and the book of Kells...it is a must do if you like books and history and architecture! I love if and their library is just amazing!!!! I was in heaven!
• Go to the parks, you have like a crazy number of parks you can go to and there are super cute and calm!
• Got to the Markets (I love the markets) there is a St George's Market not the same as the one in Belfast but still quite nice and there's a street full of shops nearby!!
• More Information ( Français) and More information (English)
• And what do I ALWAYS say? GET LOST!!!!

Like I said I love Dublin, it's culture and it's Guinness haha!! I think that for a weekend it is perfect...

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO DUBLIN BEFORE? IF SO WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CITY?

PLEINS DES BISOUS

OH PRAGUE DEAR PRAGUE!!!

That's it! for the first time in my life I've traveled to Eastern Europe, and it was amazing...it is a real change of scenery and I truly felt like I was conquering an unknown land!
Everything was different when I arrived in the Czech Republic, even though I had a few surprises,...but that's what travel is about, right?

FIRST THINGS FIRST!

• Even if the Czech Republic is part of Europe, EURO isn't the local money, it's Czech Crown (Koruna) nowadays 1€ = 26CZK (I spend my entire weekend wondering how the conversion was working...really I had no idea and trust me when you see that the lowest cash that ATM propose is 1000CZK you won't be happy...I tried, like the French girl that I am to type another amount like 100CZK because I still thought that it was approximately 100€, Finally, I gave up!)
• Second things to know, the conversion is going to hurt...bad, when I took my cash at the ATM (about 2000CZK so 77€) they took 82€ on my account meaning 5€ commission (I have to admit that I use a currency converter and it told me that 2000CZK was about 70€ so I was pissed of to be commissioned of 10€...but now that I do the maths 5€ isn't that bad...I mean England must be worst!)
• Something NEW, buses only takes credit cards, no cash at all, my friend and I went to the ATM at the airport only because we thought that Buses only took cash...WRONG things don't work that way in Czech republic, it was actually the first time I ever saw a bus that takes credit cards only!
• It's the same if you take the metro but that's more usual than the bus!
• Outside of Prague, Czech doesn't seem to speak English that much so prepare yourself like I should have done...you'll have to use the universal tongue of hand signs! (To be fair most French doesn't speak English that much as well, especially outside of Paris!)

That's the first things I wanted to share with you about the Czech Republic because it was the first things that happened to me as soon as I landed.

OLD PRAGUE HOSTEL

• I was mostly surprised by the unwelcoming welcome of our host in the youth hostel (OLD PRAGUE HOSTEL) who didn't do much of an effort to help us understand CZK and even though he did his job perfectly to check us in, he wasn't much of a receptionist!
• The Hostel as the advantage of being near the Old Prague center and that was a must (well that is if you're not like me and my friend, We were completely unable to find that Hostel without using Map on our phones to find our way, I don't know why because my orientation was particularly good on that trip, it's not always the case...but in Prague is was really good except well ...for the Hostel.)
• Well the only good point really was that it was near the city center because other than that it wasn't the best hostel I stayed in, usually in youth hostel you look for proximity, the possibility to encounter other travelers and to exchange, talk about why you're here and discover what others have discovered, or even just the warmth that you can't find in a Hotel, well we didn't find any of that, maybe because the Old Prague was too big or perhaps because it had too many levels I don't now, it was a building, and that the rooms were split between apartments and each apartment had its own kitchen, bathrooms, and living room, I didn't felt that little something I love so much about Youth Hostels. (even though we had a good laugh with our roommates for two days! Two french guys Steeve and Zach who were clearly there to party, sleeping during the day and partying all night!! even though we only saw them 2hours a day they were real fun!

PRAGUE

Bloody Hell, Prague is such a BEAUTIFUL CITY!!
Like I wrote before, being in Prague was as ecstatic to me as discovering an unknown land and the more I walk through the city the biggest this feeling was getting, it was dazzling, between the gothic Churches and the architecture, the paved streets and the animation... I didn't know where to look first...I had that stupid dazed face all along, looking up and down, going in every direction possible, taking pictures of anything and everything...it was truly gorgeous!

We wanted to visit Prague Castle but honestly, there was soo many people waiting for it, I'd still be there if I had made the queue, But I have no doubt that it was amazing to see, as beautiful as the Basilica that we didn't visit either...I know you are wondering, what have I visited during my stay in Prague?...well my stay was short, we arrived on Friday night and left on Sunday morning, meaning that we only had Saturday to explore the most of Prague....Now I can say that I've seen Prague, because we mostly wandered through the streets, ended up in deserted ones, not a soul or even a cat ...that was really strange but now I think that it was because they were all waiting to visit the castle, haha!!

If you've never been to Prague like it was my case a few weeks ago, don't hesitate...the food is horrible, everything you know is completely different there and some people aren't really kind and don't make you feel wanted but it's worth a few bad looks and a diet...we actually were lucky because we had an AMAZING weather...only sun and warmth during our entire stay (I know one day makes it easy for a good weather...but it could have rained all day!!)

( This thing is freaking scary!!!! ps: I'm terrified of clowns now people can understand why!)

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO SEE

• Charles Bridge obviously it is really a beautiful bridge and you know I love my Bridges! (one more thing, some people might tell you that it's best to see it at night well I strongly disagree!!)
• St George Basilica and Prague Castle (if you have the opportunity).
• Strahov monastery (really nice to see and leads to an amazing view over the city).
• The Romantik Hotel U Raka (personally I found it scary as hell, with the Teddy bears on the windowsill but apparently it's quite known since we saw a tour guide presenting it).
• Eat at the Green cove Cafe (All description below).
• The bohemian Carnevale (we actually didn't know it was happening when we were there, it was a really nice surprise, all the people invaded the streets in costumes named "divertimento furioso", both amazing and scary, the Carnevale is an old tradition (from 700 years ago) respecting symbolic rituals and there are singings and floats...it is a beauty to see and for us it was an amazing surprise!(here for more info).
• Walk trough the streets both day and night (there is a lot animation and you have to see the cars!!! I'm not a true fan of cars but I know when to admit that a car is gorgeous!)
• And what's best than my fabulous advice to GET LOST!!!!!

GREEN COVE CAFE /  KAFE U ZELENYCH KAMEN


First this place is amazing, near the monastery you can't miss it, it is a very nice place, you feel immediately cosy and welcomed, plus they attract you with food special (fresh Panino or wrap + beer or soft drink for the price of 105CZK = 4€) and a dessert special (coffee or tea + any delicious dessert for 85CZK = 3€) at least that was the deal when I was there haha, but I had a really good lunch for 7€ in total I think you can't really be too difficult about it!

The Staff is super nice and thoughtful, you don't wait as long as it might happen in any other restaurant and they even take some time to explain to you what's on the menu and that was awesome!

conclusion: I highly recommend it !!!

MORE INFORMATION HERE (hope you can read Czech though)

Well, Prague was amazing and kind of an adventure out of my comfort zone for once, nothing was working really as I thought it would but the worst was not to be understood...It kind of makes me want to learn more languages...I finally discovered that even if I'm out of everything that I know the lust for discovery is more powerful than my fear of the unknown and that's fantastic!!

I hope you liked and I'm still happy to share my adventures with you, don't hesitate to leave a comment below...

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE?

PLEINS DES BISOUS