Monday, April 29, 2013

Monday, April 29th: Exploring Dublin!

When walking about Dublin, the feeling you are walking in a massive contraditction is hard to shake. The buildings that make up the great city look as if they are hundreds of years old, yet they house fixtures of modern day society like McDonalds and clothing shops. The brick ground faces the constant beating of shoes but it is clear that it once guided horses instead of cars. Dublin is a city that lays perfectally between the new and old world.


After putting our bags down in our Hotel, the group set off in search of lunch. As Dublin is filled with cafe's, it didn't take long to find the perfect place. The Brewley's Cafe was a massive two story story coffee shoppe and restaurant, but sitting down for our meal, the cafe still felt homey. After stuffing ourselves with Irish baked goods, we walked back to the hotel room and took a relaxing break in anticipation of the busy day that was to come.


After napping, showering and writing, it was time to meet up for dinner. For our evening meal, Professor Wolfe had originally intended us to eat at another restaurant,  but due to seating arangements we had to go else where. We ended up dinning at O'Neill's Pub. This pub is recongonized around the world and as the group was lead down to the buffet, we could tell why. Although it was only 5 on a Monday evening, the pub was half full with patrons. The dinner itself was served buffet style, and we were given a traditional Irish experience. People dinned on hams, roasts, potato's, greens and stuffing. The dining experience was quite different from what we have in the states. The tables were smaller, and the dining atmosphere was generally dimmer then we were use too. But still, the sound of booming laughter is the same in any country, and the meal was a great  success. 



When our meal was over, we went to see Trinity College one of the oldest universities in Ireland. Although we could only stay a few minutes today, the feeling of academia was impressive. One of the most exciting aspects of the trip will be getting the chance to see Trinity college and getting a sneak preview of days to come.


On our way back to from the College, our group walked through the magnificently gorgeous St. Stephen's Green. This park, which boasts a playground, a pound and a lovely flower garden is housed right in the middle of Dublin- a paradise within the city roads. The park was absolutely lovely, and so far one of the best parts of the trip.

For the last leg of today's journey, we roamed the streets looking for a place to buy necessities that we may have forgotten. while walking, we got to see a great deal of the culture surrounding the city. We saw a plethora of street performers ( all of whom were excellent) and then went to saint Stephens shopping center. Although most of the shops were closed, it was still neat to see the similarities between the way the united states and Ireland shop.



Top sites of the day (click for more info!):




Sunday, April 28th: Flight to Dublin!

After a long day of travel (or a VERY long day for some of us), we have finally arrived in Dublin!

JFK was extremely busy, as we all expected, but some of found ways to be comfy, as you can see.
Lounging in JFK 





 We finally got to board the plane at around 8:45 PM, and took off sometime after that. All of us were extremely excited, and most of us were exhausted after our long day of travelling and were hoping to sleep on the plane.







The Dublin Airport

We arrived in Dublin at around 8:45 AM this morning, (that's 3:40 AM back home on the East Coast), so you can all imagine how tired we all felt.










However, once we got out of the airport, it was nice and cool out, which helped wake us all up. We then boarded the bus to our hotel, which took us through some gorgeous streets of Dublin, where we saw various fun things, such as this boat.








Us exploring the streets of Dublin



We finally arrived at our hotel, which is extremely posh, to use a British slang word. We all enjoyed waiting in their lobby, as we waited for our rooms and luggage to be taken care of, as it took a little while. After our luggage and rooms were situated, we decided to go explore Dublin and all it had to offer.