Ireland

Life has picked up TREMENDOUSLY here.  Internship is from 9:45 until 6:30 on Monday and Tuesdays so by the time I get back to the dorm, it's around 7:30 and I just want to eat and sleep.  Wednesday are about as bad with a full day of classes and then Thursday, I just want to sleep.  But, never fear, after loads of badgering and sleep, I am here to blog about my adventure to Ireland.

Friday:

Alec and I left at 5:20 am to catch the tube to Heathrow.  Yeah...not a fun ride.  It was dark and boring.  Then we got the airport...where it was still dark and boring.  I was ready to just sleep like Steve did.

Awww.  Anyway, after a short flight over to Dublin, we were there!  The plane landed and we literally walked off onto the runway.  Oh cheap flights.  Getting through customs and stuff was a breeze...I literally handed him my passport and he stamped it with no questions.  Again, harder to get into Canada. 

So we made our way to our hostel by bus.  While on the bus, Alec and I convinced Becky that peacocks roam wild in Dublin.  How this worked, I do not know, but it's now a random joke that we all have.  Also, to get to Dublin from the airport, the road took us through a tunnel.  There was no reason for this tunnel and it bugged me.

Anyway, we went to check into the hostel and couldn't so we all went to find food cause we were starving.  So, we went to the pub next door that enjoyed butter.  By enjoy butter, I mean, it put butter on everything we ordered.  I had a club sandwich with butter.  It was oddly still good.

So, then we went on a walking tour of Dublin which I was really excited for.  Get to know the city, learn some facts, what's not to like?  Well the Wee Little Irish man leading the tour would talk to for minutes upon end about this rebellion and that rebellion.  I can now sum up Ireland's history really quick:  They had a revolution, and everybody died.  They had a rebellion, and everybody died.  They had a potato famine, and everybody died.  The end.  Seriously, worst tour ever.  But I got some really nice pictures so that's a plus side.  And we had fun coming up with ways to keep ourselves awake (I almost fell asleep standing up listening to this guy. That bad.).

Trinity College

Dublin Castle.  Quite umimpressive after seeing Windsor

Christ Church Cathedral

Performance Artist who paced back and forth

So, we were FINALLY excused from that dreadful tour and headed back to our hostel to move into our rooms.  It was pretty much a slumber party cause most of the girls in the room all hung out together.  Good times. Then we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  Again, not what I wanted.  If I'm in Ireland, I want some Irish food.  Not some really spicy pasta.  Yeah....regretful choice but we all shared and had a grand old time despite the food.  Then we went out to enjoy the Irish night life in the Temple Bar area.

Saturday

The morning came way too quick cause we were all exhausted.  But, we got up for the breakfast that the hostel serves.  Then, sorely disappointed with toast, cereal, juice and coffee.  Seriously, my toast was toast on one side and bread on the other.  Awkward.

Then we set off for the Writer's Museum because a lot of well know writers are Irish.  Plus, this trip was suggested for the Irish Literature class.  Anyway, I went because it's paid for and could be cool.  And it was to an extent, but I quickly realized that I didn't know any Irish authors.  Oops.

So Steve, Izzy, Drew, Josh and I left that kind of quickly and wandered to go find St. Patrick's Cathedral.   On the way we found this beautiful memorial to one of the numerous rebellions.  

So then we continued on to St. Pattys.  I really enjoy walking around since it was laughter and just talking the entire way.  Plus, Drew and Steve go to IU so we can talk about that some.  (Sidenote so I can remember this quote: "SHE'S FROM MONTICELLO" - Yelled by Steve).  Anyway, we finally go to it and it was beautiful.  Not only was the Cathedral itself beautiful, but it had a park right next door that had the greenest grass EVER!  Everything is so green in Ireland and lovely.

St. Pattys

The park we sat in

Drew looking like a giant.

"I want to have sex with this grass"

So we left there to get some quick lunch at Abra Kababra.  Real name.  Can't make that up.  We then realized we had 5 minutes to do a 10-15 minute walk.  So while power walking, I sent a quick text to Alec to make everybody wait so we could go to Joyce's Tower with them.  Best text I've ever sent because Sandy Cove was my FAVORITE part of the trip.

Sandy Cove is a 20-30 minute train ride from Dublin and totally worth it.  We got into this cute little town and headed towards Joyce's Tower. 

  

Sandy Cove

Jumping picture

We had a blast acting like little kids on these rocks.  I had my boots on so I got to climb out to the very edge.  I could have spent an hour out there by myself or just chatting with others.  So peaceful and just a great sight to see.  So, if you get a chance to go to Ireland, go to the coast.

Joyce's Tower

So then we went to Joyce's Tower and heard the history of it.  James Joyce sounds like a typical Irish guy from what I've heard.  I plan on reading Ulysses at some point in my life cause it starts out in the tower I actually got to tour.  We climbed to the top on these tiny staircases built for size 4 feet...seriously awkward.  Anyway, we all survived and got rewarded with a beautiful view of Sandy Cove.  So amazing to see.  I'd live in a tiny one room tower for that kind of view.  Plus, the rent back in the day was 8 pounds a month...score.

After the tower tour, we headed to explore a little more.  Saw the cutest old guy just sitting and watching the waves.  Awesome life sir.  

We wandered and got a drink that we all decided we had to have while in Ireland.  Then we got back on the train and headed into Dublin.  We all collapsed onto our beds and had girl talk for like an hour.  Love it.  I never really hung out with those girls before hand so it was nice to get to know others on the program.  We had dinner and then headed back out to enjoy the nightlife that Dublin has to offer.

Sunday:

We again got up after seemingly too little sleep and enjoyed another breakfast of toast and juice.  Yum yum.  Then a group of us set off to go tour the Guinness Storehouse.  It was really cool to see everything.  Like, how beer is made and then the advertisements through the years.  What made the trip a success was the Sky Lounge at the top.  Basically the tallest building in Dublin and you can see ALL of the city and the mountains beyond.  It was a sunny day so it was just perfect to sit up there and discuss how awesome our lives currently are.

Then the woeful trip back to the airport.  I sat next to Steve on the plane and we had some nice discussions.  Jacque colored with our chaperone type figures for the trip.  She made me a pretty fairy picture.  We were all ready to be back in London, but there was a Tube Strike looming ahead of us.  Luckily, we made it back in time to take the Tube back and not worry about paying for a taxi or other options.  Alec, Becky and I had fun during the trip on the tube.

Overall, I'm glad I went on the trip with IES.  It was already all planned out and a nice way to get me use to traveling in Europe.  There are WAY more pictures up on facebook.  I have pictures of Guinness if interested, but those are not going online.  Ieper, Belgium is in 2 weeks, Scotland at the end of the month.  Others will be planned for November and December is Amsterdam!

I need to blog about my internship and other things, but I am tired and need to shower.  I hope you enjoyed this.  I'm sorry for the wait, but again, life is hectic.  I hope everybody is having a good time in America cause I'm loving life here!  Cheers!