So I'm a little late to the game...I never really considered keeping a blog for my time in Ireland, but in the past seven weeks I have realized how truly difficult it is to keep friends and family updated on my life abroad. So here we are!
I am in absolute shock that I have been living in Dublin for 47 days--its terrifying how fast time is moving--and I have been having an amazing time. I will do my best to catch you all up! This post is going to be crazy long (you're welcome mom and dad) so feel free to jump ship at any time.
Week 1
New year, new country, new adventures. I left Chicago on January 1st...talk about an exciting start to 2015. Having never been out of the US before, I didn't know what to expect. But by 6:30 am January 2nd, I had made it to the Emerald Isle.
After stating I was arriving as a student at Trinity College, I pretty much just waltzed into the country with passport in hand. To be honest, I 100% thought I had somehow snuck in. I met up with three other students from the states who arrived around the same time, and all seemed really nice. I was then pretty much sent on my merry way with a print out of the address of my new home for the next four and a half months.
Being only 7:30 am when I arrived, it was still pitch black out. I was the first of my roommates--Sarah, Nicole, and Payton--to move into our apartment, which is in an extremely nice complex in Donnybrook, Dublin. We have two double rooms with bathrooms, and I share mine with Nicole, who is great. We all share a tiny but functional kitchen and a big living room with huge windows.
Nicole was second to arrive, almost two hours after me. Unfortunately our wifi hadn't been set up yet, so I started to get overwhelmed by the whole "new place-know no one-have nothing to do-running on 24 hours with no sleep" thing. I am happy to say that those two hours are the only ones that homesickness has hit me--not that I don't miss you all of course!
After a power nap, my roommates and I set out to explore Dublin a little bit and find some food. The rest of the week was filled with Trinity orientation, which meant three hours of lecture every morning. One each on the history of Trinity, Dublin, and Ireland. It was all really interesting! Each afternoon we had some sort of activity, including a tour of campus, visiting Croke Park (home of the Gaelic games), seeing a play at Abbey Theatre, and a day trip out to Wicklow and Glendalough.
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| Glendalough |
The day trip was hands down the highlight of the week. Wicklow is an adorable little town, and we got to explore the old Wicklow Gaol (Jail). Next we took a bus over to Glendalough National Park, which is one of the most beautiful areas of Ireland I have seen so far. Its name translates to "a valley between two lakes," and it is home to the remnants of an old monastery. We hiked down a path to one of the lakes, and were buffeted by rain and wind so strong you could lean back into it and be literally be held up for a handful of seconds.
Weeks 2-4
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| St Stephen's Green |
Outside of not unpacking for at least a week, settling in was actually pretty easy. As expected, I have experienced almost no culture shock. The most difficult part to be honest is getting used to the whole driving on the other side of the street thing. No close calls yet so fingers crossed! Also, people are not exaggerating the kindness of the Irish. A few times when I didn't know where I was going, people actually approached me to offer directions instead of waiting to be asked! It is also pretty common to say good morning to anyone you pass on the street.
At night, I started exploring pubs and clubs with other kids from my program. I am not exaggerating when I say there is a pub every ten feet here. Or that the street names seem to change every block, so people actually give directions by referencing pubs. Right across from Beggar's Bush, one block past Porterhouse, take a right after Doyle's, etc. After my hardest semester yet back at WashU, having very little school work and going out every night has been a fantastic change.
One thing that I did not expect was that it is actually pretty difficult to become friends with Irish students. My classes are relatively large, and a majority of the students actually commute to Trinity. They leave friday afternoons and don't come back into Dublin until Sunday or Monday, so not many chances to see them on the weekends. However I have made friends with two Irish guys, and they have been great at telling me the insider tips.
With my roommates and a friend named Kristina, I took a small trip down to Cork, the southernmost city in Ireland. We took a bus down early one Saturday morning, and spent the day exploring the city by foot. It is much smaller than Dublin (and remember Dublin is pretty small) but it had a more quaint and seaside feel to it. We stayed in a really nice bed and breakfast for the same price as a hostel, and got to enjoy a delicious Irish breakfast Sunday morning. My favorite part was porridge with bailey's cream in it--I highly recommend it next time you're in Ireland!
Next we took a bus out to Blarney Castle, which was the trip's highlight. Yes I kissed the Blarney Stone. Yes I did think about how gross that really is. But it was definitely a must do while at the castle. We were lucky enough to have blue skies, and exploring the castle and its grounds was a fantastic experience. Getting out of Dublin and seeing more of Ireland was great, and something I want to do a lot more of.
Week 5
After a few days at home in Dublin--a continuous stream of exploring the city, going to pubs, and a few hours of class mixed in--I took my first weekend trip outside of Ireland!
With my roommate Sarah and our good friends Julia, I flew to London early Friday morning. How crazy is it that we got round trip tickets for under 50 euro? Ryanair is an amazing thing.
Funny story...we were carrying on bags, so we simply went through security without stopping at the Ryanair bag check desk. What we did not know yet is that in tiny print on the tickets, there are instructions to stop at the desk to have our travel documents checked or boarding onto the flight will be denied. We had arrived early, so leisurely ate breakfast and wandered over to the gate. Julia then noticed this little note as we waited in line to board, so I was sent in a panic up to the Ryanair gate desk to plead with puppy dog eyes (benefit of being a young American girl I suppose). They were really nice about it and allowed us to board after entering our names into the system, so that we can't sneak out of Ireland again.
After landing in London and dropping our stuff off at a little Holiday Inn Express in the Oxford-Circus area, we grabbed lunch at a small cafe and took the tube (so English!) over to the Tower of London. It was so cool to see the castle and hear about all of its history,
After heading home, we walked around to choose a place for dinner. On a small pedestrian street called St Christopher's Place, you could say that the right restaurant chose us. As we walked by, a man stopped us and handed us free glasses of hot mulled wine. It was DELICIOUS, and we were sold. It ended up being a really yummy greek restaurant that has been my favorite dining experience so far.
We stayed for almost an hour and a half before heading home and going to bed early. Late that night, three of our friends--Josh, Lucas, and Brian--arrived at the hotel to spend the rest of the weekend with us.
Saturday morning we woke up at 6 a.m. to catch a bus, because we were off to the Harry Potter Studios Tour! Let's just say I fangirled pretty hard, but luckily Sarah and Julia were right there with me. Definitely a HP fan's heaven.
Later that day, we explored Westminster and took a tour of the House of Parliament which was really cool. The mix of history, extravagance, and politics made for a very interesting afternoon. That night, we all did a pub crawl down Camden Street, which was a lot of fun. We left pretty early and were in bed just after 1 after such an early morning.
Sunday morning we tried a full english breakfast--not my thing--and went to mass at Westminster Abbey. This was actually one of my highlights. The church is breathtaking, and the choir was beautiful. Plus I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that I was sitting in the place where the king and queens of England usually have their weddings!
Afterwards we explored Harrods, which is a crazy department store that you can't really understand until you visit. I could spend probably a whole week in there, so while I only saw a fraction of it my favorite wing was called Shoe Heaven. We stayed for afternoon tea, which was so much fun and a must-do.
Then I peeled off from the group and met two of my best friends from school studying in London, Glenna and Rachel, to catch up for the afternoon. It was so refreshing and amazing to see them!
The six of us left early Monday morning, and I got home just in time to hop in the shower and make a mad dash to class. The best part? I got to campus to find out class had been canceled.
Overall this first trip outside of Ireland was an absolute blast, and definitely a successful trip. Something that I think is really cool is that as much as I loved London, coming back to Dublin felt like coming home.
Week 6
Another typical Monday through Thursday. I was really happy to be in Dublin for the weekend, as a break after London was much needed. Friday was February 13--Galentine's day as Markie called it. Markie, Maggie, Kelsey, and I celebrated by dressing up, eating chocolate, and drinking definitely too much red wine before going out, but it was a lot of fun.
Saturday was Julia's birthday! We woke up early and took a train out to a seaside town called Bray, to do a three hour hike from Bray to Greystones. It was the most beautiful experience I have had in Ireland so far.
We hiked up one side of a bluff, off roading it by using what we think might have been an animal path. (I still have some battle scars on my legs.) But the view from the top was well worth the work. We could see all of Bray laid out below us, with rolling green hills to one side, and the gorgeous blue waters of the coast to the other. It was breathtaking.
The rest of the hike kept us along the coast, and we ended up in Greystones for a lovely birthday lunch. After getting home and taking a much needed shower, Sarah and I celebrated Valentine's day by having more red wine and chocolate while watching Step Up. A good life decision. Later that night, we met everyone at a fun pub/club to continue Julia's 21st birthday celebration. Sunday after sleeping in, Julia, Sarah and I explored the Dublin zoo! It was a really fun afternoon.
Week 7
Finally caught up to this week! It's going to be filled with homework (wait what I actually have work this week?) and sleep, in preparation for reading week! Trinity is nice enough to give us all of next week off to catch up on our studies. So naturally my friends and I are traveling! We are taking a whirlwind trip to Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Paris in 11 days.
If you actually managed to stay with me to all the way down here, I am extremely impressed! I plan to post every other week, so I promise the rest will be shorter. I'm having an absolutely amazing time, but miss you all!
Thanks for reading!
PS: If any of you happen to feel like writing a letter:
Julie Knowles
27-29 Lower Rathmines Road
Dublin 6, Ireland
:)
We stayed for almost an hour and a half before heading home and going to bed early. Late that night, three of our friends--Josh, Lucas, and Brian--arrived at the hotel to spend the rest of the weekend with us.
Saturday morning we woke up at 6 a.m. to catch a bus, because we were off to the Harry Potter Studios Tour! Let's just say I fangirled pretty hard, but luckily Sarah and Julia were right there with me. Definitely a HP fan's heaven.
Later that day, we explored Westminster and took a tour of the House of Parliament which was really cool. The mix of history, extravagance, and politics made for a very interesting afternoon. That night, we all did a pub crawl down Camden Street, which was a lot of fun. We left pretty early and were in bed just after 1 after such an early morning.
Sunday morning we tried a full english breakfast--not my thing--and went to mass at Westminster Abbey. This was actually one of my highlights. The church is breathtaking, and the choir was beautiful. Plus I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that I was sitting in the place where the king and queens of England usually have their weddings!
Afterwards we explored Harrods, which is a crazy department store that you can't really understand until you visit. I could spend probably a whole week in there, so while I only saw a fraction of it my favorite wing was called Shoe Heaven. We stayed for afternoon tea, which was so much fun and a must-do.
The six of us left early Monday morning, and I got home just in time to hop in the shower and make a mad dash to class. The best part? I got to campus to find out class had been canceled.
Overall this first trip outside of Ireland was an absolute blast, and definitely a successful trip. Something that I think is really cool is that as much as I loved London, coming back to Dublin felt like coming home.
Week 6
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| Beach ~2 miles away I usually run to |
Saturday was Julia's birthday! We woke up early and took a train out to a seaside town called Bray, to do a three hour hike from Bray to Greystones. It was the most beautiful experience I have had in Ireland so far.
We hiked up one side of a bluff, off roading it by using what we think might have been an animal path. (I still have some battle scars on my legs.) But the view from the top was well worth the work. We could see all of Bray laid out below us, with rolling green hills to one side, and the gorgeous blue waters of the coast to the other. It was breathtaking.
The rest of the hike kept us along the coast, and we ended up in Greystones for a lovely birthday lunch. After getting home and taking a much needed shower, Sarah and I celebrated Valentine's day by having more red wine and chocolate while watching Step Up. A good life decision. Later that night, we met everyone at a fun pub/club to continue Julia's 21st birthday celebration. Sunday after sleeping in, Julia, Sarah and I explored the Dublin zoo! It was a really fun afternoon.
Week 7
Finally caught up to this week! It's going to be filled with homework (wait what I actually have work this week?) and sleep, in preparation for reading week! Trinity is nice enough to give us all of next week off to catch up on our studies. So naturally my friends and I are traveling! We are taking a whirlwind trip to Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Paris in 11 days.
If you actually managed to stay with me to all the way down here, I am extremely impressed! I plan to post every other week, so I promise the rest will be shorter. I'm having an absolutely amazing time, but miss you all!
Thanks for reading!
PS: If any of you happen to feel like writing a letter:
Julie Knowles
27-29 Lower Rathmines Road
Dublin 6, Ireland
:)
