First Weekend in Dublin

January 15

The First of Probably Many Shopping Trips

On Saturday, we decided to take the morning to sleep in and catch up on some much needed rest. Around noon, we headed into the city to Stephen Green's Shopping Centre, which is similar to an indoor mall. The mall was beautiful inside! It is definitely different from the more industrial-looking shopping malls in the U.S. I will definitely be coming again in future weeks!

We went into Zara and H&M to get some clothes that suited the weather here and grabbed lunch at Bar Rua. I got a delicious chicken sandwich! I learned today that it is very customary to get an actual drink with your meal, but we stuck with water this afternoon. We had to eat outside because there were no tables available inside, but it got cold pretty fast. Every restaurant has outdoor seating, and people sit outside all the time - very different than Boston in the winter. We also learned that the check does not come fast; people like to linger at restaurants and bars, so if you want your check, you're going to have to ask someone for it.

We headed back to campus around mid-afternoon and were absolutely exhausted. It is crazy how much the bus takes out of you and just general over-stimulation from all surroundings. Even though Ireland, and maybe even especially Dublin, seems similar to home, there is still a lot that is different and requires adjusting to. I'm taking everything in stride, though, and am slowly but surely adjusting to living in my new home city.

January 16

Visiting the Guinness Factory

On Sunday, we visited the famous Guinness Storehouse! We had a 1:15pm self-guided tour reservation, which allowed us to walk through the Guinness "museum." This tour led us through the Guinness-making process, from growing the barley on-site to exporting Guinness around the world. I learned that the world drinks over 10 million glasses of Guinness every day!

At the end of the tour, we were able to go up to the seventh floor Gravity Bar, which gave us a 360 degree view of Dublin. The view was stunning! We lucked out with a truly sunny day, so the experience from start to finish was incredible. At the bar, we enjoyed our free pint of Guinness (the best one I've had so far here). Unfortunately, we were only allowed one, so once we finished, we headed down the street to the pub, Harkin's.

We were early to our reservation at 1:15pm, so we had been directed to Harkin's before our tour. After the tour, we decided to head back for a drink and some food. I would definitely recommend going to Harkin's either before or after your Guinness tour. The drinks are pretty cheap, and the food was fantastic! I finally found chicken tenders!! I also tried a mojito there (it was, as expected, very good). After a pretty long meal, we headed back to campus to relax before classes started.

My first weekend in Ireland was fantastic! Each day is a day filled with exposure to new customs, new friends, and new experiences. I am so grateful to be here. Classes start this week, so that will be my next adventure!

Cheers!