Well, the craziness of our first weekend in Dublin is behind us! By far one of the most exhausting but exciting weekends in my life. Early Friday morning the Mercyhurst gang headed to Dublin by bus, getting into our hostel, Jacob's Inn, mid-morning. We walked around the city a bit to get our bearings, and took a tour of the Irish Parliament buildings. We also explored the Grafton Street shopping area a bit, and to be honest the day was a bit of a blur.
Saturday was kicked off with a rainy cold walking tour of some of Dublin's more historic areas, like Trinity College and Dublin Castle. Unfortunately the tour was a bit rough because it was difficult to hear our guide at times, but I think overall we learned a lot. After getting in some quality shopping time at Penney's (we are girls, after all), we grabbed dinner and headed to the closest pub to watch the Irish/French rugby game. I must admit that I didn't know much of anything about rugby before this trip, but I'm doing my best to learn. Apparently its normal for a game to end in a tie, without any overtime- news to me! Saturday night most of us got dressed up in our finest and took part in a joint hostel pub crawl. It was exciting to meet people from all over the world, but wasn't exactly the best way to get a feel of what Dublin is like for the locals. Over all we got some great stories out of the night though, and catching up with everyone this morning was certainly fun.
This morning we went to mass in a church we found nearby which was absolutely gorgeous. The people were really welcoming, and it was nice to feel something similar to home. We also walked over to Baggot Street, and saw the original House of Mercy! It was so exciting to be in the place where the Sisters of Mercy were founded, and to consider how different my life would be if they hadn't founded our dear Mercyhurst. Afterwards, a group of seven of us adventured to the Guinness Storehouse and learned how to pour the perfect pint. The Storehouse is fantastic, a really well-planned place where you can learn a lot and have a good time doing so. Although getting back to the hostel was a bit tricky, we made it in time to get on the bus back to Dungarvan with the rest of the Lakers!
I'm really glad that this weekend happened so early on in our trip. It was really the perfect way to get closer with different people in the group; I think we really bonded a lot. I'm looking forward to heading back to Dublin next weekend as well for the craziness of Paddy's Day! Now I'm off to try to unpack and maybe upload some pictures, that is if my legs can manage to carry my upstairs to my room....
Megan,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the first of two consecutive Dublin weekends with us. It sounds like you had fun even if it was a bit rushed. i do hope you get to see some more of Dublin during your stay. it is an amazing city, great art, buildings, people, "the lot", as they might say themselves. It sounds like you are doing a good combination of fun and responsibilities, tell us more about the Dungarvan council and your service project when you have a chance.
Love,
Dad