'arry potter

Last night, Kyle, Kiran, and I decided to venture to the north of side of the Liffey to find a movie theater. After about twenty minutes of wandering (we didn't get very good directions before we left, apparently) we finally found this movie theater to find Harry Potter 6. A lot of things in Dublin are smaller than things in the United States, such as small specialized butchers and bakeries instead of supermarkets. However, I have never in my life seen such a movie theater. You have to pick out seats when you buy your tickets (but reduced prices for students!) and then we were in theater 10. Out of around 30-some screens. It was about 5 floors, and you went down long hallways that reminded me of airport terminals to find where you were going. There were even waiting room areas, just like a loading area for a plane. There was also an ice cream parlor, a diner, the traditional movie concession stand, and a bar. Yup, a bar. Too Irish. But, we had a great time, made it right as the movie was starting, and got to enjoy HP in the European atmosphere it was created. Afterwards, however, we found a way to get lost again. We wandered O'Connell street before finding the Liffey. Walking along the river we saw an interesting collection of people, as the streets were crowded and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The city is gorgeous at night by the river, with the Ha'Penny bridge all lit up and the colorful storefronts illuminating reflections along the water. 

lost my heart to a galway girl

Last night, most of the kids in the program headed to The Pale (pub down the road) from some live traditional Irish music. We all ordered our pint of Guinness and gathered around a makeshift band, composed of around six older men, each playing a different instrument. With a guitar, a banjo, a traditional Irish drum, and many other unnamed apparatuses, the group sang ballad after ballad. It was so much fun to listen to how the regulars in the pub joined along, sometimes even going and sitting down with them and leading them in song. We saw a few local drunks as well, but all in good Irish fun. Can't wait for next Tuesday night! I think we've found a favorite weekly pastime. 

photography overload

1. spire 2. north of the liffey 3. ha'penny bridge 4. molly malone 5. me, jena, and mary-marshall in the temple bar district

christ church crypt

christ church

viking life

1. dublina, viking museum 

exploring!

1. st. stephen's green 2 and 3. grafton street. 4 and 5. dublin castle

more

This morning was ridiculous as none of us could get out of the bed. We loved being so lazy (as we dread another week of waking up early for work) and just bonded in our rooms, laughing about the night before, and procrastinating being the first to hop in a cold shower.

At around 3:30, Jena, Mary Marshall, and I finally rolled out of bed, got our lives together, and headed to O’Connell Street. The street is north of the Liffey and a long, tree-lined boulevard that used to be the center of the town. During the Easter Rising a lot of the old buildings were destroyed, but there is still a ton of shopping and in the middle of the road is a sidewalk decorated with monuments of important people in Irish history. There is also the Spire, a hugely tall monument-thing that is about a bajillion feet high (slight exaggeration) but is really modern and cool looking. We walked up and down and did some more shopping (the bug bit us this last few week).
We also walked along the River Liffey for a while, enjoying a beautiful view of the colorful buildings lining the water. We also crossed the Ha’Penny Bridge, one of the most photographed places in Dublin. It was pretty cool.

Now we’re home, gathering our thoughts, uploading photos, and in my case, uploading the blog!  

TGIF

It has been quite an exhausting weekend!

Friday night we headed to a few of the bars in the Temple Bar District. It’s so crazy busy there at night, I can’t even explain. It’s also been an extreme mad house here because U2 is performing in Dublin this weekend. As you can imagine, they have quite an Irish following, and the amount of people milling around in U2 tee shirts is ridiculous and there are a ton of cover bands performing at every bar. We came home a little bit on the earlier side after hitting up a few nightclubs and a pub, but overall, great night!

We’ve been having a series of late-starts this weekend, because Saturday morning again we didn’t get up and get out until around 1 or 2. My three roommates, a girl from the room next to us, and I headed straight to Dublina, a Viking museum located in Christ Church Cathedral just a block from our apartment. It was pretty cool (dorky history major part of me kicking in right now.) Did you know the word slave comes from Slavic people because so many of them were captured and sold into slavery by the Vikings? Or that the swastika is based off of a Viking symbol because Hitler idolized the blond-haired blue-eyed Viking people. The museum was also a little scary, kind of more like a haunted house. It was composed of all these wax figures acting out daily Viking life. Pretty scary when you’re actually near them.

From there we went and toured Christ Church Cathedral. It was absolutely stunning. I was partial to the intricate floor tiles and the colorful stained glass. There were at least fifty windows highlighting chapters of the bible, and the rose window was, ah I can’t even describe it! I’m such a dork. But everyone really enjoyed it. It was much larger than I had expected. We also went down into the church crypt. Another creepy aspect of our day. It was so cool though. All underground, it had a ton of memorials where people were buried. Also, there was all this old stuff the church used to use or hide during dangerous times, including jewels and gold coffers. Pretty legit. Oh, and the best part was a mummified cat and rat that got stuck in the organ pipes. You can tell how it looks like one was chasing the other.

After the church we headed to Temple Bar District to have lunch at Quays, a traditional Irish restaurant. A little more on the expensive side, but a nice treat. Then Jena, Mary Marshall, and I headed back to Grafton Street to explore a little more vigorously, stopping by the beloved Molly Malone statue.

After a ton of walking, we headed home and made a classy dinner of white wine and pasta. Everyone goes out really late here, so we didn’t even head to the bars until after midnight. But we went to this super intense dance club that I had seen when my parents and brother were here. It was four floors with a roof top terrace. We met up with the guys in our program and got our groove on the dance floor. It was a late night, but I have never laughed so hard with my awesome roommates.

 

 

sightseeing galore

Today was crazy busy!

 

It was our first day to sleep in, and we took advantage of it for sure. None of us set our alarms or anything, so the first one of us to wake up was Krista who rolled out of bed at 12:30. Might have had something to do with all of us going to bed at around 3 AM, but still…

 

We then proceeded to go find a café for breakfast, and settled for an adorable little one in the Temple Bar District.

 

After a late breakfast (closer to a lunch, let’s be honest) we got our acts together and headed out for some old Dublin sightseeing.

 

First stop was the Dublin Castle (take 2 for me). We got tickets for a 4:45 tour, and it was already 4. So we went to an Asian art exhibit in Chester Beatty library. It was pretty incredible A lot about the religions in China, India, and Japan- so I was fascinated. Then we went on the tour of the castle (my second one in less than a week)- but it’s such a cool place, I loved even my second tour. And got some great photo opportunities in the throne room.

 

We then headed to Grafton Street. This is a closed-off, pedestrian-only road with shops galore. We tooled around for oven an hour, just wandering in and out of the shops. It was such an awesome place, with live music every ten steps and more crowded than Times Square. At the end of Grafton Street we found St. Steven’s Green. It is one of the most picturesque parks I have ever seen. It has ponds, gazebos, wild flowers, and swans. Basically, Narnia. Just so magical.

 

At this time it was already around 8 PM, and we were dead on our feet from the miles of walking. We grabbed some McDonalds (how American of us) and went home for some naps and Skype dates. Now, time to explore Temple Bars on a Friday night!

outtt tonight

Tonight was our first “weekend” night out!

Temple Bar District is just so happening. You can really hardly walk on the roads there are so many people; I loved it.

Mary Marshall, Jena and I made some pre-made chicken cordon bleu and pasta salad (amazing) for dinner while some of the other kids in the program came over and joined us for a little happy hour. Our apartment has by far the best view of the city. It really is amazing; we’re higher than any other building in our immediate sight, so we can see ridiculously far.

After dinner and happy hour, we all went to The Pale then to Fitzsimons, a dance club and live music bar in the Temple Bar District. It was amazing! Packed and about four stories high, we went up all the stories to a rooftop garden and bar. It was complete with it’s own bar, heat lamps, and a great view. After some hanging out, we went back downtairs where a cover band was playing some popular hits. He was amazing! We were all obsessed, and the crowd was ridiculous. Below the cover band floor in the basement was a night dance club. A lot of techno and strobe lights. It really was a great night out, I love all of the people I am with so far and we just have such a blast when we are out.

Tomorrow we have the day off and we have some pretty intense plans to go get some European coffee, do Pilates, and a lot of sight seeing. I can’t wait (even though I did a lot of the sight seeing with the family, no harm in doing it again. )

Oh, and great news! We finally got Internet in our room! Still waiting on hot water though.

pictures of work!

1. lounge 2. main entrance 3. lobby 4. building front 5. view from front door

Already Wednesday! I cannot believe the days are going by so fast. 

Yesterday was our first full day of work. So far we are still working in our teams to develop a recommendation for Digital Hub. Our team has been researching various advanced technology that could be applied to the company's repertoire, including a Microsoft touch table and a "sixth sense" device that consists of holograms and projections linked to your cell phone. Or something like that. Some of it is a little over my head.

We have an hour break for lunch, where some people go out to the cafes around our building, some eat their lunch at Digital Hub, or head home to our apartments. Our apartments are only about a seven minute walk, so it's nice to be able to go home, save some money, and take some time to relax.

This is my first time really living on my own. Even at school I am used to just having a dorm room and an amazing food plan. Now I'm on my own for all three meals! So far it's been okay, doing a little bit of grocery shopping and buying some pasta, etc. I feel pretty darn grown up. 

As wonderful as our apartments are (they really are great, only seven minutes from work and probably seven minutes from the Temple Bar District) right now we are all a little frustrated. Internet is still not working and the other day our hot water decided to peace out. So we feel like we're in the Dark Ages with no means of contacting family except during work and taking millisecond showers to avoid frigid water. Hopefully the management will finally do something.

Who knew is was light so much of the day in Dublin? The sun doesn't set until around 10 PM and comes up at 5 AM (I think, I've never actually been up for that part of the day) It's actually very nice, you really get to enjoy daylight so much more.

We just booked out flights to London! My roommates Jena and Mary-Marshall and I will be heading to the UK next weekend for three nights, staying in a hostel on Queens Street. We're looking into what we want to do while we are there. A few of the guys on our program will also be there that weekend, so hopefully we'll all be hanging out. 

That's all folks!

working girl

Monday was our first full day with the program!

In the morning, the entire group went on a bus tour of the city in order to get our bearings and see what Dublin has to offer. There were spectacular views, but it was absolutely freezing with the wind blowing on the top deck of the double decker bus. 

Afterwards, we had a quick lunch then headed to our first day of work!

The Digital Hub building is located a stone's throw (and that's me throwing the stone, so really a hop, skip, and a jump) away from the Guinness factory. It is actually housed in the old Guinness store house, so it's an old, beautiful building. It's all brick walls (interior and exterior) as well as hard wood floors. You can even see the old train tracks that used to run through the Guinness factory in the old days. It's a very modern design besides the age, and it appears to be a growing company. 

Basically, our program is acting as a consulting agency for Digital Hub, an incubator corporation that helps beginning digital companies get on their feet in the fast-progressing digital world . We’re trying to find ways for them to improve their business, via technology, public relations, and green advances. We were split into four groups, each with a specific area to target: engineering technology, green energy technology, educational programs, and visualization. I was placed into the visualization group. Our goal is to advise Digital Hub on how to improve the use of technology (such as three-dimensional usage, website, and researching what else is on the market.) I was placed with three of the boys, so there are about four people in each group. 

After work we did some quick grocery shopping, ate a quick dinner, and the girls in our apartment bonded a little before heading to a pub up the road to meet up with the rest of the people in our program. The pub is called the Pale, named after an old nickname for Dublin and surrounding areas, dictating that those neighborhoods enjoyed prosperity via British association. The students from the program last year really enjoyed the pub and highly recommended it, and it was great. Reasonably priced and the bar tender loves the idea of Miami IN Ohio not Florida. We all stayed for a few pints and got to know one another better before heading home to prepare for another day of work. 

home sweet home

without the fam...

Sunday was my first day with the program. So far so good! Phew. Haha.

There are 8 women and 8 men in the program, with four apartments of four. Each apartment is two bedrooms, a living room/dining area, a small kitchen, one bathroom, and a small balcony. The funny thing is the apartment I was assigned is the same apartment I stayed in with my mom, dad, and brother.

I am living with Jenna and Krista in one room and my roommate is Mary-Marshall. Our view is spectacular. It overlooks a lot of the city and onto our little narrow street below us. We’re only the fourth floor, but since there aren’t too many high buildings here we can see pretty far.

A lot of kids in the program got here a little early yesterday, but I was still with my family. I met up with them at around 2:30 to check into our apartments. At first it was only Jenna and me since Mary-Marshall’s flight was cancelled and Krista was a little bit late. After a quick nap for those who were still jetlagged (yay for finally adjusting to Ireland’s time after a week and still appreciating a good nap) we had a quick meeting with the faculty advisor. Then as a group we decided to venture to the grocery store. It was around 8:30 on a Sunday night, so it was a dismal task and we ended up at Subway and buying only a few groceries.

We then got together as a group in our apartment, enjoyed a bottle of wine as a dip into legal drinking (turns out I am the only non-21 year old on the trip, but still exciting) and watched Shaun of Dead. It was a really good time getting to know everyone on the trip.  I have a feeling it’s going to be a really good time!

 

guinness!

dubh linn

1. mom and dad in guinness factory. 2. river liffey. 3. dublin castle. 4. dance club. 5. first guinness!

family reunion minus one

Friday, we woke up early, got in the car, and drove five hours to Dublin. Again, my mom was a trooper and Ryan and I slept a lot…

We met my dad in Dublin on Friday after we got into town and checked into the Augustine Apartments south of Liffey. It’s where I will be staying when my program starts on Monday. The apartments are pretty great, in a quiet part of the city but less than a ten minute walk to the Temple Bar District.

So, we got into Dublin, everyone took a nap, and then we headed to the famed Temple Bar District. It’s such an awesome part of the town. It’s cobble-stoned roads and these bars just lining the roads. Each one is just full of people, tourists and locals alike. I have never seen just a happening area in any city. It’s not too, too crowded, but just a ton of interesting people and things to see. There are street musicians everywhere; we even saw a fire-breather. We had dinner and visited a few pubs and enjoyed good, old Irish hospitality. It was nice to be with my dad as well, although we all missed Spencer. He was in Virginia doing a mission trip so was unable to join us.

We also visited a bar called Purty Kitchen. Now, this was about as opposite to a traditional Irish pub as you can get. It was a night club, four floors with a different bar on each floor, including a roof garden. There was disco balls and strobe lights, little seating areas, and all these indoor balconies overlooking other areas of the bar. We loved it, but wasn’t our scene. Ryan and I could have stayed though…

Saturday was our day to explore Dublin. We woke up a little late, but wandered to the Temple Bar District, had a traditional Irish breakfast. We then went to Trinity College, an old university in the heart of the city. We viewed the Book of Kells, the oldest book in the world apparently. It was gorgeous, everything is choreographed ridiculously, with only three words per page.

We then headed to Dublin Castle, a Irish building still being used today. It was built by the Vikings in the sixth century, and was since partially destroyed and rebuilt in a palace style. We went on a great tour (it was actually a really good tour, and I feel like I don’t say that often)

We grabbed some quick lunch and headed to the real Irish monument, the Guinness Factory. It was like getting ready to go on the Wily Wonka factory tour for adults. The brewery is huge, and has quite a unique smell. The building is just amazing. It’s hard to describe; it’s so ridiculous. Seven floors of high vaulted ceilings, the building is built to represent a pint glass, with the Gravity Bar at the top floor. It’s more of a museum with a self-guided tour then an actual tour of the brewery. They explain the entire process of creating the beer, with a waterfall running through it, a giant barrel you go into to understand how barrels were made, and a tasting sample bar. The Gravity Bar is by far the best part of the whole museum though. It’s all glass, with a 360-degree view of Dublin. You can see the entire city. It was very crowded, but you get a complimentary pint of Guinness to enjoy in the leather seats overlooking the city.

We then hit up a family favorite- Mulligan’s Pub. An extremely traditional pub, we got a few pints, then headed to O’Hara’s, another pub with live music. We stayed there for a few hours, then headed home along Temple Bar District. It was another happening night, getting me more and more excited for the program to start!

My parents and brother leave Sunday to head back to the States and I will remain here for four more weeks. My internship starts on Monday and the rest of the kids will get here tomorrow. I’m a little nervous since I don’t know anyone else on the program, but I’m more excited I think.

Sorry for the super long entries! I promise once I start a normal day-to-day schedule it won’t be as long!

 

Lakes of Killarney

Killarney and Kenmare

The last few days have been incredibly busy and without Internet!

Thursday, my mom, Ryan and I decided to see the lakes of Killarney (home of the old family). The drive was just spectacular. More views of the mountains, lakes, and sheep. We had to stop every fifteen minutes to get out of the car and take in the view.

We also visited the Muckross house, an old Victorian home owned by the Muckross family years ago. It’s located on the foot of the hills and at the base of these stunning lakes. We walked 2 kilometers to the house, through these amazing gardens, with even more views of the mountains and lakes. There was an old boat house, complete with small row boats and striking views of connecting waters full of floating swans.

Another side note: to get into the house we had to pass a picket line. For over one hundred years, jockeys have led horse drawn carriages through the property. However, the government is now requiring the “jaunting carriages”   to put plastic bags on their horses. When the jockeys did not comply, they were banned from the park. It was interesting to see the political side of the nation as we enjoy our vacation. We decided to bide by the picket line and not spend money at the house, so ultimately we never did the tour.

Killarney Horse Races were going on while we were in the city, so the traffic was just ridiculous. And, it was pouring down rain. It was our first really nasty downpour since we’d been in the country (shocking as that is) But it was coming down hard, so tooling around the city of Killarney was difficult. But it was such an amazing area. It’s definitely more tourist-y then Kenmare or Cobh, but the shopping is pretty ideal and the little cobblestone roads are pretty adorable.

We made our way home from Killarney back to Kenmare, went straight into town, and enjoyed some early shopping, happy hour drinks, and appetizers. Ryan got a woolen hat (freshly made the sheep we had passed all week.) We had dinner at the Horseshoe, a little restaurant right on Main Street. Ryan had the lamb, which the waiter insisted was as fresh as can be.

We then proceeded to get in touch with our Irish roots and do our own little version of a pub-crawl. We started at the bar we had visited the night before, this time enjoying knowing a few of the songs. My new favorite is the Fields of Athan Rei. Great song, download it. We enjoyed some good music, good company, and good Guinness.

 

more views, sorry

Kenmare, Stone Circle, and another view of Ring of Beara.

all views from the passage!