Dublin: Day 2

Thursday, the last of our trip, was an amazing one. We did and saw so much and the five of us had such a good time together. It’s just unreal that here I am in Europe, able to travel to three different countries within a week, with great girls and have a fabulous time. I am so lucky! Time seemed to pass so slowly during our trip and, at the same time, it seems like it just flew by, as if it were a dream. Study abroad is really just an amazing, life-changing experience. Again, I am SO lucky! Okay, now back to Dublin!

We woke up early Thursday morning and ate breakfast in the hostel. We left our bags there for the day and went, first, to Trinity College, which is basically like the Oxford of London. Can you imagine going to school there?! How cool! We looked around the campus and then went to see the Book of Kells. It is one of Ireland’s most prized artifacts- an ancient book containing handwritten and illustrated versions of the four gospels. The exhibit lead you through how the Book of Kells was made and has been maintained. So interesting. And then at the end we could see the actual book, which is beautiful. Then we walked up to the old library, the “Long Room,” in Trinity College, which is filled with over 200,000 books and historical documents pertaining to things like Ireland’s declaration of independence from Great Britain. Seeing Trinity College was a great learning experience.

Street view along our walk

And one of the river, too

Trinity College campus

Second, we went to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral. On our way, we walked past Christ’s Church and the Dublin Castle. The cathedral was founded on stones from the river where the saint baptized pagan Irish. It’s a beautiful space that we were lucky enough to be able to take pictures of- first time we could ever do that in a place of worship. St. Patrick’s Cathedral was full of both Christian and historical monuments- it was really interesting to see how the two played together. After the cathedral, we walked around the park adjoining it to snap a few more pictures and then went to a café. Lovely little place. One of the places where I felt the “I’m so lucky” feeling. The five of us chatted and ate, felt relaxed, calm, and content.

Inside of the Cathedral

And another

View of St. Patricks from the park

SOLD.

Cutest place of my life

After we had thoroughly warmed up (Ireland was cold and covered in ice), we walked to the Guinness Storehouse. This was one of the moments where we must have looked pretty lost. An older man stopped us on the street corner and asked if we knew where we were going. We told him and he informed us, in his sweet Irish accent, that we were going in completely the wrong direction. He then proceeded to lead the five of us to the Guinness Storehouse, which was probably about a thirty-minute walk, chatting all the while and stopping to tell us about different places along the way. When we arrived, he shook each of our hands and said, “If I were a young man, I would be chatting you up!” It was one of my favorite moments in Dublin J

The Guinness Storehouse is serious business! People are intense about their beer in Ireland. It is a 7-story museum of sorts that tells you all about how Guinness is made and its history. It was very interesting the space was really cool. At the end of the self-guided tour is a bar on the 7^th floor, a sky deck of sorts, with panoramic views of the Dublin. Since I can’t drink beer, I sipped a delicious glass of orange Fanta and enjoyed the views!

On our way back to hostel we stopped at a department store called Penney’s where I purchased the best thing of my whole life: a Sherpa. It’s a man’s flannel shirt with sheep’s wool on the inside. It’s so comfy and so warm, I don’t even care that I look like a lumberjack in it. We headed to another pub for dinner then to a second pub for Irish coffee and cider, where they were playing live music. We chatted for a few hours, ended up asking a man to take our picture who happened to be from Chicago. Then, off to the airport around 10:00 pm for another restless night before our flight at 6:30 am.

Sherpa loving

So much fun with the five of us!

Really, just the best vacation.