Dún Laoghaire

We experienced another beautiful day here in Dublin. This afternoon, Kate and I ventured out to Dún Laoghaire, one of Dublin's southern coastlines. The commute was relatively short, only a short 20 minute bus ride and then another 20 minute DART or train ride and we had arrived. We spent a couple hours walking around, taking in the scenery, and just enjoying the free day. It was beautiful.

We couldn't pass up the opportunity for ice cream!

The afternoon was a relatively quick one, but we did have a chance to walk around the town before we headed back to campus.

It's Sunday, meaning week two of my internship is soon approaching. More updates will follow, but for now I can say I'm looking forward to another exciting week!

The Sun Shines in Dublin

Quick break from spring break updates...

It was a beautiful day in Dublin, the sun shining to reflect our happiness at having a weekend with no agenda. Today Tara, Marion, Mary, Cathy and I headed down to the city center for the weekly farmers market in Temple Bar. It was quite the scene. They had one section filled with fresh produce and another with other goodies including pastries, fresh meats and desserts.




I bought a sandwich and we headed over to St. Stephens Green, a large public park, for a picnic lunch.






There was a Scotland vs. Ireland rugby match today in Dublin, and the kilts were everywhere!

With the beautiful turn in the weather, people flocked to the streets to enjoy the sunshine and the city was packed. Different musical acts filled the pedestrian walkways.




After some browsing through shops and wandering around, Cathy and I set out to see some of the cathedrals in Dublin which I have not seen yet. First stop was Christ Church Cathedral...



followed by St. Patrick's Cathedral.



After a quick stop at a local farmers market for fresh fruit, we caught the bus and headed back to DCU to regroup.

Snow Day in Venice, Part 3

Wednesday, March 10

The alarm sounded at 3:15 am and I was the first to jump out of bed. Still affected by my interrupted dream like state, I danced around the room, almost obnoxiously, as I prepared for the 3:45 cab ride. Plans for the day had included Venice, most importantly a gondola ride. We quickly realized that we were in for quite the surprise.

We boarded the train at 4:40 am, glad to have made it out of the blistering cold which had made us quite giddy, said goodbye to Florence and began our trek to Venice. The train cost 13 Euros, but in exchange for a cheap ticket, we had a five hour freezing train ride with a transfer. We found the best way to keep warm was by sitting on each others feet. It worked and we made the most of the journey.




Our first snow sighting was through the train window, but we were very much aware of the changing weather conditions when we arrived in Venice to a blanket of snow.



Now this blanket was not a peaceful one, after checking in our luggage, we began the battles with the blistering winds. Slush quickly had our feet soaked and cold, and we did not waste much time before stopping to get warm. First stop was a cappuccino!



With warm thoughts, we ventured out into the cold to find that the wind had slowed down. Venice is a charming little city, filled with water. Bridges filled the city, and we decided to abandon the map for a bit and just explore. One of our first stops was Saint Roch Church.




We did well despite the weather, but soon needed another break. Next stop was lunch where I had a scrumptious quattro formaggio pizza. Wet from the snow, we tried to take off some of our layers in an attempt to dry off. Molly was especially inconspicuous as she even managed to dry her socks without anyone realizing.



We were greeted once again by the snow, except by this time it had begun to snow harder. Here is Molly in front of our restaurant after lunch.

By this point, all we could do is laugh when we thought about the situation. We had all come to Venice excited for a gondola ride, and instead we found the snow. It really was beautiful, even more beautiful now as I'm looking at the pictures in my warm room. I would say we were pretty successful as we made it to about 3:30 before we headed to the bus stop.

These masks filled the windows throughout Venice. They were decorated so beautifully that we felt obligated to look at each individually.

Having some fun in the snow!



Our gondolas...
Can you see Meghan and I on the bridge?

Refusing to let the weather get the best of us, we enjoyed our last gelato in Italy in our snow soaked clothing.



As we retrieved the map once again and started heading in the direction of the train station, we realized how far we had truly come. The walk back was much longer than we had anticipated, but we successfully picked up our luggage and caught a bus to the airport.

Now here is where we have to deal with Ryanair once again. Because we had arrived early to hide from the snow, we had plenty of time to rearrange suitcases to satisfy the requirements. I must say that we were all successful in our endeavors, yet some of us had to work harder than others. Here is Meghan with four tank tops, three cardigans, three scarves, a sweatshirt and a jacket.



If nothing else, we had a great laugh and were thankful to make it to our gate. We were very fortunate to only have about half an hour delay despite the weather, and we sadly said goodbye to Italy as we prepared for the next adventure. We arrived in Paris around 11:00 pm, took an hour bus ride to the city, hopped in a cab and arrived at our hostel shortly after 12:30 am.

What an exhausting day. After 22 hours, 2 taxis, 2 trains, 2 busses and 1 plane, we had finally arrived and were ready for bed!

Saint Patrick's Day

Today was Saint Patrick's Day and we had the full Irish experience here in Dublin. Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland and the Irish people take advantage of this fact and have created a national holiday in his honor. Over the years, this day has been a great way to celebrate Irish culture and our day today was jam packed with excitement. Small side note: I have officially started my internship with Enable Ireland. More on that to come, but because of the holiday, we had off work today and were able to spend the day in Dublin experiencing the fun. All decked out in our patriotic attire, we took the bus into the city center this morning for the parade.

We arrived to a sea of green in the city center and saw people gathered everywhere to snatch a spot for the parade.

It was packed, making it difficult to find a spot to watch. Some were more creative than others when it came to picking a location.
We were able to catch bits of the parade, and saw some pretty interesting acts.


We had fun enjoying the atmosphere and making friends.


We took a break from the large crowds outside and enjoyed a pint of Guinness at Maguire's Pub and listened as a live band played some of our favorite Irish tunes. Even the pub was crowded, and in fact I spotted two babies with their parents. This was something I would never see at home and the situation made me laugh as I realized how different the atmosphere really was.


The next adventure was Croke Park, home of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association). On our way we ran into some friends from DCU. With all of the people gathered that day, chances of finding familiar faces are pretty slim, so we all laughed when our paths crossed.
Today was the All Ireland Finals in both Hurling and Gaelic Football. With a five euro student ticket, we were able to see both games! Since I was very unfamiliar with both sports when I arrived in Ireland, I thought it would be fun to show a small clip of the games.

The first match was hurling...


and the second was Gaelic Football.



The day was a success, and we headed back to DCU feeling fortunate to have been able to join the celebrations.