Top of the mornin’ to ya! I am back from Dublin and happy as a clam. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! My flight was an early one Friday, leaving at 6:30 AM! That means very little sleep again…this time I was on my own getting to the airport so it was a bit nerve-racking. I woke up around 3:30 am to get all ready and head to the station to get the express train to the Stansted Airport. The train took about 45 minutes and I got there at 5. I then proceeded to try to print my boarding pass off. This was a BAD idea. I did not print it out early because I thought I could just go to a kiosk and print it. Well, when flying Ryanair (the cheapest airline there is in Europe) they find every way to fine you; therefore I had to pay 40 pounds just to get my boarding pass printed!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, that immediately put me in a bad mood along with the fact that I was still half asleep. I do it anyways and get through security just in time to board the plane.
Ryanair is not like any airline I have ever flown. I felt as if I was in the movie Airplane. You walk outside and climb the stairs into the plane (the first time I have done this-I thought it was only done when flying private planes so I was excited!), and then I walked inside and was blinded by the bright blue and yellow interior. I then chose my own seat, which was nice because I love the aisle seat-easy bathroom access and no motion sickness from looking out the window. The flight took off right when everyone was seated, possible the fastest take off I have experienced. Then the weird part starts…I look up and the flight attendants, dressed as if it is the 60s in bright blue suits and hats, are walking down the aisles selling everything you can imagine-cigarettes (which you obviously cannot smoke on the plane), magazines, food, drinks, lottery cards, and even perfume. The flight went up, the flight attendants sold stuff and we then landed. At the landing the intercoms blasted the sound of victory (like the trumpet you hear at camp in the mornings) and said “Ryanair has landed yet another flight on time!” and some other nonsense; I felt like I was on a party plane or something.
I find the bus to get to the Santry area where Ben lives. He, I am sure exhausted since it is 8 am his time and he went to a pub crawl the night before, waited in the convenient store right next to their apartments. Walking down the road to him I could not help but smile-I was SO excited to see him after a long month being apart. If you know me-you know I am emotional, and as soon as I saw him my stomach dropped and tears started streaming a happy cry! It was the best feeling! And when I hugged him I had to stand back and look at him because he felt SO skinny (not fair because I am gaining weight!!!!). Then of course went in for another hug.
We went up to his apartment to unpacked my stuff and we got our day started. First, we took the bus downtown to O’Connell street (the main street downtown). The bus was a great way to see the beautiful city with the mountains in the background. We walked around O’Connell street toward the Temple Bar area. After walking and exploring we went to Christ Church. It was beautiful and so interesting to read about. We were lucky and the Canon singers (or something like that) were in there singing also. It was very peaceful and spiritual. We then made our way to Dublin Castle. Unfortunately, the tours for that day were full, but we got to see the outside and got out only picture together that day. We got a little hungry and it started to drizzle a little so we wandered into Dublin’s city hall where they had the most amazing architectural ceiling and decided to split a personal pizza at a restaurant across the street (we are trying to be frugal!).
After a small snack/lunch, Ben and I wandered to St. Stephen’s Green. We sat on a bench and people watched and walked around the pounds, fountains, and flowers. It was so nice to just relax and take in the nature. We saw all sorts of birds (my favorite was a Magpie). There was even a huge swan in one of the ponds. As we were leaving the park we saw a man feeding the pigeons (which are even more disgusting and terrifying because they ARE NOT afraid of people in Europe) and he was holding TONS of them and letting them crawl all over him…GROSS! We wandered out of the garden and into the area where Trinity College is located. When I took my first look at the campus the first thing I said to Ben was “And I thought Auburn was beautiful…” I could not imagine going to school there because the campus is unreal. All cobblestone, grass, and old, architectural stone buildings covered in ivy. We decided against taking a guided tour because it was 10 euros (or something around there). There was a stage set up right in the middle of the courtyard that imitated ‘The Globe Theatre’ in honor of Shakespeare week so there were a lot of people and activity on the campus which was neat to see. Across the street from the outer part of campus was a famous bookstore called Books Upstairs so Ben and I went in and looked around in honor of Dad (Dad- you would have LOVED it; it reminded me of a miniature version of Strand in NYC).
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| Pigeon Man |
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We then picked up some wine and headed back to Ben’s apartment where his entire group was making dinner and I was introduced to everyone! Friday night his group was so tired that a few of us went to the local pub called The Comet. I had a blast for a low-key night and got to know some of his group really well, and probably talked their heads off!
Saturday we woke up around 10 got dressed and headed to lunch toward down town. We had a delicious lunch in a whole in the wall restaurant and were able to eat outside to enjoy the beautiful day! Ben and I split a blue cheese burger and a chicken pesto Panini (his choice, the burger, obviously was the winner of that lunch). Then we met Ben’s group and hopped on a train to Bray (about 20 minutes south of Dublin). The train ride there was amazing! We rode right down the coast and got to enjoy sights of pebble beach, sailboats, and the sun was shining. Once we arrived we were greeted by a little strip of homemade ice cream shops, adorable restaurants, quaint pubs, a sandy beach, blue water, and a rocky mountain topped with a wooden cross in the back, which we were headed to climb. After a photo shoot on the beach we made our way toward the mountain. I was worried because I of course did not dress accordingly, but luckily wore boots and was able to climb it just as fast as the others! Once we got to the top we all sat, took in the amazing view of the wooden cross and nature that filled the background at a 360 degree view, and opened our bottles of wine for a big toast to life (actually it was to me being in Dublin, but I decided a better one was to life ;)! After relaxing, brown-bagging, and laughing we started to make our way down. We ate dinner at a little restaurant called Katie’s before heading back to the center of Dublin.
Saturday was so filled with activity that everyone was exhausted. I joined the boys at the Comet again while the girls went home to shower and get ready for a big night out on the town. After they showered, they came to the Comet dressed normally because their minds had changed and we all enjoyed a low-key night at the Comet together drinking pitchers of Fosters. The group had gone to the Comet so many times they had made friends with the locals and bartenders there. That night they even met the owner who brought us out 4 free homemade pizzas! Of course none of us were hungry, but we had to finish the pizza so we did not look rude ;). Once the lights flickered for last call we knew it was time for a good night sleep.
Sunday was a great day as well. I woke up and explored a little more of downtown Dublin with Macy (my friend from Alabama who I met through Ansley), Macy’s brother, Cody, and her roommate Ann, who had just arrived in Dublin that day to participate in the same program as Ben. We went to a street off O’Connell Street (main street downtown) where there are markets, shops, street performers, and tourists all around. We ate lunch at a pub next to the river. At lunch we discovered our waitress had lived in Alpharetta, Ga for a bit and her sister went to Georgia Tech – what a small world!
It started raining and got quite chilly so Ben, David (his roommate), and Tyler (another boy from his group) went to see X-Men: First Class. Seeing a movie was so great, and we even got to scoop candy into a bag just like a candy store! After the movie we went home and Ben and I decided to cook, one of our favorite things to do together! We made sausage, bell pepper, broccoli, and mushroom pasta with a chili pesto sauce alongside a blue cheese salad and garlic toast. Then, we watched Gladiator, once of the movies that termed me ‘movie deprived,’ and I actually enjoyed it! It was a great, lazy, rainy-day way to end the trip.
It was a better trip to Dublin than I imagined. I was also more than thrilled to spend time with Ben and cannot wait until he comes to London! There is still so much more to see and do in Dublin, so I hope to go back there sometime in the near future! Now I am back “home” to London and back in my routine of work. My next blog, I am going to write an update of my work life, which has recently improved and I have gotten to do some pretty cool stuff!!
Hope all is well at home! MUCH LOVE xoxo,
Kara x (everyone in London signs with their name and x –not sure why, but I will find out and post it!)
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