Dublin, First Night
I can hear my mother's eyes rolling from across the pond as I ate my third pizza of the week.
We arrived safely in Dublin... although that plane was rocking so hard on our descent that I didn't know if we would make it or not.
We are staying in the important, beautiful, and historical Trinity College!
We didn't even go into our rooms before everyone insisted on taking a selfie in the hall! We are such white girls..
Our rooms are (thankfully) much larger than our rooms in London.
Our bathrooms don't have heated floors.. or outlets.. so I take back all the negative things I said about the London bathroom!
We were complete tourists and went into the Tourist Shop and got our money exchanged and asked about all the best pubs around here..
We were directed to O'Donoghue's
First Irish Pub... enjoyed it much more than a London Pub..
It's more relaxed and the food selection is better..
Random thought: I wonder if there is a way to gauge how much drama a child can handle and understand in stories, movies and books.
Dublin, Day 1
I didn't eat pizza today!!!!
I was a grandma, yet again, and slept 12 hours (and I'm not complaining)
We had our first experience with a 'Continental Breakfast' which is a piece of bread and a piece of fruit..
So, much for being a free-loader!
In London, our classes were from noon to two and it would make everyday seem practically over before it began... So, we asked Dr. Grimm if there was anyway we could move up the class time in Dublin, which she agreed to!
I swear no matter which school you are at, room 106 is the coldest in the building.
I have noticed that the Irish substitutes most lunch meats for chicken. I miss pork.
We went on a walking tour in pouring rain.. it was miserable.. I will never again complain about Kent's wind tunnel ever again... this entire city is a wind tunnel!!
But, our tour guide was so excited about the history of Dublin that it made the rain a little more tolerable.
We went to the Dublin Castle which was pretty cool and Temple Bar which was awesome! I can't wait to go out and experience that at night!
Megan and I dipped into this little cafe after our tour and I ordered the BEST hot chocolate I have ever had!
Alyssa and I have finished out final project's outline, and tomorrow we will finish our powerpoint!! Woohoo!
Kallie is in love with the guy that works at the front desk so she tried to find him on Tinder and across a guy that looks like Garrett!!
And today I officially ran out of underwear.. had a lovely experience going back to the 1800s and washed my delicates in the sink..
Tomorrow: Guinness!!
Dublin, Day 2 - Guinness!
I would just like to start this post off by thanking Kallie for all the wonderful words she spoke to me today:
"Abby, your hair is so course"
"You have really tiny hands!"
"Can I stand next to you in all my pictures? You make me look really tan!"
Today, was our last day of class! The rest of the week is time for us to finish our final presentations.
Class ended at 12:00 and we had a tour of the Guinness Storehouse booked for 3:30. Dr. Grimm gave us two options:
1. To lunch eat now from the convenient store down the street and walk by yourself to Guinness
2. Meet in 20 minutes and we will all walk to Guinness together and have the best stew of your life.
Naturally we all wanted the stew.
Unfortunately, the walk to Guinness was only supposed to be 25 minutes. But, it ended up taking us an HOUR to get there.
Let me just tell you... 15 hangry young adults walking down the street is not a fun and cheerful place to be.
I have determined that there are leprechauns standing on the roof of every building just peeing on all of us... because there wasn't a cloud in the sky AND IT WAS STILL RAINING!
THE STEW WAS TO DIE FOR! Oh my God. It was sooo rich and thick and creamy! We all took a nap in between eating and when our tour started.
Our tour was nice, except the headphones we were wearing to hear what the tour guide was saying kept cutting in and out, so I really have no idea what he was saying 3/4 of the time. But, Dr. Grimm got us the hookup! We had our own private lesson on how to drink Guinness properly and it does make all the difference.
Alyssa, unfortunately, found out that she is allergic to something in the beer :(
At the end of the tour you were offered a free pint of Guinness on their 7th floor bar, which had a look out over the entire city of Dublin!
Alyssa and I went on a date after our visit to Guinness at this hole-in-the-wall burger joint, pretty much in the ghetto of Dublin. These burgers were amazing! Probably a step up from 5 Guys!
AAANNNDD on our way home WE SAW A RAINBOW!!! IVE SEEN A RAINBOW IN IRELAND!!! I can die happy now.
This trip will be 100% complete if I find a four leaf clover! The hunt begins!
Dublin, Day 3 - Cliffs of Moher!
3 hour trip on a bus to the west end of Ireland!
Half way to the cliffs we stopped at Clonmagnoise which is the ruins of a Monastery.
It had the most spectacular view of a river and the hills that surrounded it. With such a presence of God in a peaceful seeing was what my soul truly needed half way through this week.. and half way through this trip.
THE CLIFFS!! Ohhh the cliffs..
My brain couldn't wrap around how massive these cliffs are!
We went on a gorgeous day! Apparently, with how rainy the weather in Ireland is, most days the mist is so thick you can't see 5 feet in front of you, let alone the cliffs.
It was kind of like the stars on the airplane.. I had the sense of being extremely small... but more in awe of God's wonder, instead of doubtful of myself.
