Catch Up!

So it seems that I have somehow gotten behind in my blog. Maybe it's the ridiculous amount of homework looming over my head or the traveling i have taken part in, but either way i need to catch up! Well, last weekend after my family left I got to have a visit from my friends Zeke and Katrina, which was amazing. It was great to have to have them come right when my family left because all of my roommates were in Rome and I probably would have gotten really lonely without them here in Dublin!

We started out their short visit by meeting down in Temple Bar after they went to the Guinness Storehouse. I didn't want to take the tour with them because I've already done it twice and am most likely going to do it again in 2 weeks with my grandparents. Well, we met and decided to start by walking around the city center and seeing some main Dublin sights. I don't exactly remember the order of our touring, but I'll do my best to get it somewhat right. We went to the National Museum to get an overall history of Ireland and to see the bog bodies- which has turned out to be quite the popular sight! We spent some time there and enjoyed the building as well as the exhibits. We then made our way to St. Stephen's Green and got some nice weather in between rain storms. We walked around the green for a while and enjoyed the fact that spring is officially here- all the flowers were in bloom and the trees are finally starting to bud. We also walked around Temple Bar and Grafton Street and eventually were hungry and tired and took the Luas down to Dundrum to make some dinner and relax.

That night we decided to go down to Devitt's, a pub near the city center. This pub has trad music sessions nightly and really is a great place to see some Irish culture. When we first got there it was pretty empty and I was worried I had made a mistake in pub choice, but as we drank our first pints of guinness and bulmers the place started to fill up with younger people and the music session got going. Musicians just kept adding in and towards the end of the night there were about 7 or 8 people playing the fiddle, concertina, guitar, and uilleann pipes. I really enjoyed the music and it turned out to be a really relaxed pub. I hope that Katrina and Zeke liked it and enjoyed the trad music as much as me!

The next day we got a later start and left the apartment around 11 or noon. Katrina and Zeke showed interest in having a DART adventure so we decided to head down to Dun Laoghaire to see the ocean and a smaller Irish city. Luckily, the weather cooperated while we were down in Dun Laoghaire and we got to walk around without getting wet- which is always a plus. We walked around the city, got some ice cream, and ate lunch on some rocks down by the water. Then we walked up and down the pier looking at sail boats and the coastline. We then walked farther into the city center and looked at some old churches and buildings. Then it looked like the weather was taking a turn for the worse so we got on the DART and went back into the city center of Dublin. As soon as we arrived at Tara Station the rain started and we waited in the station for about 15 minutes until it slowed down. As soon as the weather perked up we headed for O'Connell Street so they could see the GPO and the spire. After we saw those sights we back tracked to the Temple Bar area along the River Liffey and went over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was glad we decided to do this, because I had actually only driven past the Cathedral once and it is really pretty. Unfortunately, part of the exterior is under construction so that takes away from the beauty of the building. After we walked around the grounds for a little while we decided to make our way back to the National Gallery so Katrina could see some art. After making the long walk up to the Gallery we were disappointed to see it was closed. We couldn't figure out why it would be closed when it was supposed to be open for at least another 45 minutes, but nonetheless we moved on and walked over to Merrion Square to take in some more green:-) Merrion square was beautiful and then we went back to Dundrum on the Luas. Before going back to my apartment we stopped at the Dundrum Town Center and Katrina found the Build a Bear store. She was lucky enough to get a free bear from them- which was so nice! After the excitement of building her bear we went to my apartment and we made some pizza and garlic bread and had a relaxing night because their flight left at 6:40 the next day.


Overall, the trip was short, but we had a great time. Their original plan was to fly out on Tuesday, but Aer Lingus moved their flight back a day and shortened their trip. I wish we could have had one more day, but I was glad to have that day and half with them! I think it's definitely possible to see all the big sights in Dublin in 2 days, but there are some extra things that can be fun if you have more time. We fit a lot of stuff into a little time and now I'm excited for Katrina to show me around Vienna is about 2 weeks!!