These stories are personal diary entries I wrote about true events from my travels abroad. This particular day had to have been my favorite so far. Not because we saw some big tourist attraction, or because we spent a wild night in a pub, but because we went on a truly authentic adventure.
Let’s start from the beginning. My best friend Shelby and I were eating our regular jam & toast at the free breakfast station in our hostel in Galway. It was 9:30am & we had no place to sleep that night. It was the weekend & all of the hostels in Galway & Cork—our next destination—were booked for the night. We scoured the internet & eventually landed on a place called Dingle. Yes, like dinglehopper. It was a seemingly cute little harbor town with lots of small shops, great seafood, & beautiful views. “Why not?” We thought, it’s not like we have a schedule we need to stick to.
Now it was time to hop onto Hostelworld (the easiest place to find hostels abroad) & find a place to sleep. Ten minutes later we had booked 2 beds for 30 euros each at a lovely beachside hostel called The Seafront Inn. The beauty of traveling around Europe & the UK is that since it’s so easy to get to so many places, you get the unique opportunity of letting your experiences lead you instead of a plan. Today it was leading us to Dingle. After our breakfast was finished we went upstairs to pack our bags & headed to the train station. Our hostel will definitely be missed, stay at Sleepzone if you are ever in Galway, Ireland!
The travel sequence to Dingle went as follows: a 2-hour bus from Galway to Limerick, 3 hours from Limerick to Tralee, & 1 last hour from Tralee to Dingle. We got our bus tickets from the desk & noticed another passenger pronouncing Dingle, DING-LEE. We probably sounded like idiot tourists pronouncing it wrong, but at least now we knew. Our journey started out relaxing, watching Netflix & catching up on work, when all of a sudden the largest wasp I have ever seen starts buzzing around our heads. This created an hour-plus long game of musical chairs with… an insect. Not my proudest moment, but I was sure you didn’t have to be allergic for this wasp to send you into anaphylactic shock.
Exhausted from our “moving escape room,” we lazily switched onto our last bus for a nap. The next thing we knew we had arrived in Dingle. It was just like a storybook. Authentic & quaint, with tons of little stores & restaurants along the water. However, the views could only distract us for so long, & we suddenly realized how ravenously starving we were. After all, it had been almost 12 hours since that jam sandwich.
It didn’t take much walking to stumble upon a small seafood place called Danno’s. We dragged our stuff inside & found the most adorably eclectic restaurant with so many wooden details you might have forgotten you weren’t on a ship. There were several tables open so we took the closest one and ordered ourselves some “Dingle Bay Mussels” & fish & chips. Our plates were clean in no time & now that we were fed we realized our hostel check-in time was in an hour! Neither of us had a phone plan & the wifi didn’t work, so I went up to the bar to ask about a cab & pay. “Where ya goin?” He asks.
With weak confidence I reply, “The Seafront Inn in… Ding-LEE, I think.” That’s when I realized we should have stuck to our gut on the pronunciation.
The waiter & bartender had a look with each other and chuckled, but smiling kindly he replied, “No no, it’s Dingle. Are you sure that is here? Do ya have an address then?”
I nod & pronounce the address with a crooked smile, “Ardroe, Inch, Dingle, Ireland.” Then I get a look of big surprise & he says…
Bar: "Oh so you're going all the way to Inch are ya?"
Me: "All the way....? No it said it's in Dingle, it's on the beach.”
Bar: "Oh no my dear that isn't in Dingle, you are thinkin’ of the place across from Sammy's on Inch beach."
Bar: "Why ya goin there? It's pretty, but there isn't much to do. The only good pub in town is called Foley's, you should be able to walk there."
Me: "Oh geez... we just looked up hostels in Dingle..."
Bar: "Yeah I'd go to Foley's tonight, Inch is about a 25 minute drive from here."
Bar: "Local cabs aren't going ta take ya that far."
Me: "Oh God, so what should we do??"
Bar: "Just wait a second and we will make some calls for ya."
Me: "Thank you so much! What was your name?"
Bar: "Danno!"
Me: "OH! THE Danno?"
Danno: "That's the one. You can wait at your seat & we will let ya know when we have found something, don't worry we will sort it out for ya."
Irish people are seriously the kindest people on the planet. Not 5 minutes later our server, John, comes over to let us know our cab will be outside in 10 minutes. We would have never made it on time without them. Make sure to check out Danno’s if you are ever also in Dingle on accident, though it’s worth an “on purpose” trip too.
We gave our thanks to Danno as we walked out & he insisted one last time we go to Foley’s for a beer. 5 minutes later, our new favorite Irish man comes into the story. I know, it’s hard to believe the people in this story could get any better but they do. Paudie O’Shea is in his mid 70’s, plump & gray with the thickest Irish accent I have ever heard in my life. The main thing to know about our friend Paudie is he has one of the biggest hearts you will ever encounter. He pulls up to the curb, & insists on hauling all of our bags, in total together weighing about 100 pounds, helps us inside, & closes the door behind us. Right away he started asking how we ended up going to Inch.
So, I got into our story about Dingle & how we had never even heard of Inch before, & that this whole day was just one surprise after another. We couldn’t imagine having any complaints staying on a beach, so we were in high spirits despite the few hiccups along the way. Paudie too suggested heading to Foley’s, he even offered to drive us, but he was sure he had never heard of a place called The Seafront Inn. He seemed more concerned about this than we did, & he asked me for the number to call to make sure we were headed to the right location. Dingle & Inch aren’t that big of towns, so if a local hasn’t heard of something that usually isn’t a great sign. “RING… RING… RING…” The call was sent straight through to voicemail & this is when our lovable Irish taxi driver said the sweetest thing. “Welp, we’re about to pass my house coming up on the right, if ya girls don’t have a place to stay, me & the Mrs have a few spare bedrooms for ya!” He didn’t even have to think twice. We passed it after a few minutes & it was much bigger than I expected, but I digress…
Paudie called up his wife & let her know of the possibility of two American girls coming to stay the night. She told him she would have the beds ready. I don’t know if this was lucky or unlucky, because honestly I was really intrigued to see what the inside of Paudie’s home looked like, but 10 minutes later we ended up passing a hotel called The Strand. It looked exactly like the photos of our hostel, but obviously had a different name. Paudie walked me inside to ask for more information & that is when the receptionist informed us The Strand is in fact, The Seafront Inn. Apparently, they were just going through a name change at the moment. Paudie actually knew the owner so they chatted a bit & then he helped us get our bags. He left us both with his business card & said to call him if we needed “anything at all.” Can he get any sweeter? Answer: He can’t.
The owner, Diypna, showed us to our room, only one other girl was there & fast asleep. In no time we were changed into less gross clothes & Diypna gave us simple walking directions to Foley’s. I don’t know if directions were really necessary since it was only one—straight. But, 15 minutes later we arrived at a lively bar with a blazing fireplace in the corner. We grabbed two stools by the fire, Shelby ordered a Gooseneck Ale, & I ordered a Guinness. I am not normally a beer drinker by any means, but something about the Guinness in Ireland just becomes a daily craving. Oops, that makes me seem like an alcoholic. I swear I’m not. Anyways, we sat there for a few hours just chatting about life, the random fortune of our day, & our excitement to explore in the morning. “Puff the Magic Dragon” played & we sang along full of nostalgia (my Dad used to play this song on guitar when I was younger). Feeling full to the brim with gratitude for the people & opportunities life has given us, we wandered back to bed. Tomorrow wasn’t planned either, but we were sure that only meant it would be another unforgettable day.
maDELINE COVID-19 SUPPORT EFFORTS
Madeline is making handmade sweatshirts and sweatpants & sets and giving 20% of her proceeds to families and businesses affected by COVID-19. She was recently mentioned on the “Pretty Basic” podcast with Alisha Marie & Remi Cruz. She started this small business because she lost her job in NYC & had to move home. You can order yours at madx1of1.com and keep up with their donations on their Instagram @madx1of1