Dublin

This weekend was very busy! 7 of us took a bus and train (about a 5 hour trip) down to Dublin and stayed in a hostel for 2 nights. The hostel was nice but in order to save money we decided to stay in a 16 person bedroom. It was HUGE and way too many people, I didn't like it. The first day we got there (Friday) my friend Siri came to my room and said she had a surprise for me. Then one of my friends from high school peeked her head around the doorway!! My friend Becky was staying in the same hostel on the same weekend, how random is that?? So that was nice to see her for a while. She is studying in London so I will eventually go visit her as well.

The first day we walked into town and grabbed some take-away fish and chips, then headed towards the pub crawl meeting spot. There were about 70 people on the pub crawl! We went to 3 different bars and ended at a dancing club. I didn't really enjoy any of the bars or clubs except one who had a live band that played Bob Marley songs :) The next morning we pulled ourselves out of bed and went to enjoy our free breakfast downtairs in the hostel. It was a lovely plate of 2 peices of bread, butter, jam, tea, coffee, and orange juice. I could have probably had 8 peices of toast but I held myself back. Then we all went on a free walking tour of downtown Dublin. We saw the GPO, General Post Office, which was the big meeting place of the Catholic Rebellions. It was attacked by the British and you can still see bullet holes in the columns. We walked through the courtyard of the castle that housed all the British Parliament, saw the museum of the 'Bogside People' (bodies dated from the 1800's that were preserved in the bogs throughout Ireland), and walked through the St. Stephen's Green Park. It is so peaceful and magical inside the park, that was my favorite part of the trip. One night we also went to the famous Temple Bar, super crowded but the live music was fun.

Other than that nothing is new. I wish I had more classes though! I only have 9 hours of schduled class a week, which is a lot less that at home. Some days I don't know what to do with myself (besides read, I know Dad). This week one of my classes got cancelled so now I only have 6 hours of class, and 2 of them I won't be able to attend because I am leaving to go to Spain on Thursday!!! Hooray! I am so excited to see Spain and be in the warm weather and sun. My 'host family' emailed me today and asked to meet sometime soon. That should be fun! I don't know anything about them yet, but when I do I will let everyone know. I am trying to get over a chest cold I had this weekend. Last night I slept for 16 hours straight. I woke up at 4:15 pm and was shocked!

I also want to say HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to Carsten!! I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you cuz :) Hope the Connolly's are doing well, and everyone else too. Love you guys!

Pictures:

1. The view of St. Stephen's Green park. There is a lake in the middle with ducks and seagulls and swans all swimming in it. Kids were feeding the pidgeons and it was very peaceful.

2. I thought this was ironic :) I saw it on our way to the park.

3. The fresh pint of Guiness at the end of the tour. I was in the very top, glass room that overlooked the whole city!

4. Infront of the castle on our walking tour. There are 3 kinds of architecture here built at different times. I wish I could remember the names of them. The middle is medieval, I know that :)

5. This is the GPO that has the bullet holes in it.