Megan and Ana's Visit!

So for the second part of my spring break, my two friends from BU, Megan and Ana came to visit. It was spectacular! I'm going to try to be as concise as possible but we all know I am horrible at summarizing. Megan got here on Saturday after 14 hours of flying around the world! We went into the city for some pub grub but called it an early night so Meg could catch up on sleep. The next day we went to Trinity College and then moseyed around city center, stopping for lunch in St. Stephen's Green. We stopped by the National Museum of Ireland: Archaeology and then continued on to Dun Laoghaire to walk the pier. Then we headed back home for the night to make dinner and watch a movie.

 Left: with the leprechaun in city center, Right: in Dun Laoghaire

Monday, Ana flew in and then we took a bus to Nenagh, where Megan's aunt lives. We got there kind of late but her aunt Julie and Eddy welcomed us with open arms and a ton of food. It was fabulous! We took a frightening walk down to the lake in the pitch black (clouds covered any hope of light from the moon and stars). After pleading with Megan and Ana, we headed back to the house and Eddy took us to one of the docks on the lake (that was well-lit) and then to a local pub for a couple of drinks. The next morning we awoke to Julie making us a full Irish breakfast with eggs, sausage, and rashers (bacon but better) that came straight from their farm! It was delicious! She also introduced me to brown bread. aka the best thing ever! I need to find a recipe!

 Left: Nenagh, Right: at Eddy and Julie's house

Then Megan, Ana, and I headed down to Cork so we could kiss the Blarney Stone. I am 100% confident I kissed the actual Blarney Stone this time. The guy let me kiss it again so I could have this picture to prove it.

 

 Left: in the Poisonous Garden, Right: the Blarney House

Unfortunately we didn't get to have a long stay in Cork as we had to get back on the last bus to Nenagh. Once we arrived back in town we hit up some of the local pubs and made fast friends with some 80-year-old men. At least they played us some great songs on the flute? And the other could sing? At least we had some entertainment.

Good ol' Milo on the flute!

The next day we were awoken to Eddy making us a full Irish breakfast (trying to compete with Julie) which was equally fabulous! Then we went on an excursion throughout their 65 acres. They have 2 horses (Cider and Dino), 1 pony(Alfie), 3 sheep, 5 piglets, and 10(?) chickens! Oh and Kenough, their adorable dog! We went down to the wells- they get their drinking water from the one and the other is a healing well. There is a tree that is said to grant you a wish if you tie something onto it. It was fascinating! Then we headed down to the lake on the back of Eddy's quad! So much fun!

 From left to right: Alfie, Cider, Dino

 The well and my wishing hair tie!

The lake.

Next stop was in town to walk around. Nenagh is such a cute town! Then we headed back to the house for another wonderful meal before we caught the bus back to Dublin. Once in town, we met up with two of Megan's cousins! It was a great night! The next morning we headed out to the Old Jameson Distillery where we discovered a taste for whiskey and cranberry juice.Then we headed to the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland for lunch.

After we filled our stomachs, we headed over to the Guinness Storehouse where I rediscovered my hatred of Guinness. Oh well.

Then we came home for TACO NIGHT! I had been looking forward to taco night for quite awhile and it definitely lived up to my expectations! The next day we went to Kilmainham Gaol, an Irish jail turned into a museum. It was really interesting and I found that a lot of the history they were talking about, I knew from my Irish history course!

Next stop was Malahide to visit Megan's other aunt Mary and her family. They were lovely! They took us out to Malahide Castle and then cooked us a wonderful meal of hamburgers and chips followed by dessert!

 With Megan's cousin in front of Malahide Castle.

Then we headed back into the city to meet up with a bunch of my friends from UCD that had returned from their spring breaks.

The next morning we got up and got ready for SAINT PATRICKS DAY in Dublin! We headed out to the parade and it was absolute madness! So many people and so much green! Unfortunately we weren't able to see much of the parade but from what we could catch a glimpse of, it seemed very odd. You'd expect Irish dancers, bagpipes, green on green, etc but no. This was all very trippy, weird stuff. Apparently it was the year of science so everything was very sci-fi.

 Yes we sprayed our hair green!

 Left: Kermit the frog? Right: chaos!

After we had seen everything we felt we needed to see of the parade, we headed to Croke Park to see the GAA Club Finals. The Gaelic Games consist of Hurling and Gaelic Football. I am officially obsessed! I was surprised how easy it was to follow and it was so intense! Especially cause they ended in a tie in the football match. So great! Definitely worth the time and euros!

Then we went back into town for a quick bite to eat before going back to campus to get ready to go out for a proper St. Patrick's Day pint! We ended up going to a bar in town and though it was overflowing (like every other bar in Dublin), it was a great time! Unfortunately, Megan had to leave in the wee hours of the morning and Ana was close behind. Overall, it was a wonderful week and it was so good to see them! It was the perfect piece of home for the middle of my time here. Miss them already- my room feels so quite and spacious!

Tomorrow I leave for ROME!!!! I cannot wait!

Ciao!!!

London calling!

This weekend marked the beginning of my two week spring break. First stop: London. My roommate from last semester, Brooke is studying abroad there so I planned a quick trip out to visit! It was quite the adventure from the moment I stepped off the plane. Apparently, Thursday nights are very popular days to travel to London because I had to run all over the airport, between terminals, and different coach kiosks to find a ticket into the city. I guess that's that problem with Ryan Air's cheap flights- they always land at the most inconvenient airports. Oh well, I made it into London and to Brooke's front step four our momentous reunion haha. We caught up over gourmet cheese her mom sent her (yummm) before calling it a night!

Unfortunately she still had her internship on Friday so I made my way around London on my own. It was absolutely perfect. I walked around the area she lives in, picked up a cup of tea and a croissant and headed over to Hyde Park to eat my breakfast. Hyde Park is probably my new favorite place on earth. It was so peaceful and serene. I probably walked around for two hours. It was perfect.

Street Brooke lives on.

 

Gate into Hyde Park.

 Hyde Park

 After making my way through the park, I met up with Brooke for lunch. She took me to a cute little place close to her work. Good, reasonably priced food. Then she was back to work and I continued on my way to shop! Of course Brooke's internship is only a couple blocks away from one of the major shopping streets in London so I couldn't resist. I managed to escape with only one purchase though! Go me! Then I met back up with Brooke and we headed home to make dinner.

Saturday was a busy busy busy day. We went to Borough Market- which is basically a gourmet food market. It was heaven on earth. So much delicious food (and free samples!). We ate our way through the market- from beef and spinach empinadas, wild boar sausage sandwiches, carrot cake, maple praline goat ice cream. It was perfection.

 Left: Borough Market, Right: Olivesssss

  Left: cheese man, Right: empinadas (it was fate: B for Brooke/beef, S for Sheynn/spinach)

 Left: wild boar sausage sandwich, Right: grilled cheese man

 Left: carrot cake yummm, Right: guy making duck sandwiches

 Left: Brooke and Allie with their mulled wine, Right: bread

 Left: Greedy Goat Ice Cream, Right: Brooke and me with our ice cream

 After we were properly stuffed, we got walking! First stop: London Bridge! London Bridge is actually quite disappointing, nothing like London Tower Bridge but very historical and good views none-the-less.

We continued walking along the Thames. We walked for a very very long time, stopping to take pictures along the way- of landmarks such as the Globe Theatre, St. Peter's Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge, etc. Also, to take a picture in a phone booth. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out too well. Apparently Londoners like to use phone booths as urinals. Nasty.

We quickly walked away from that incident and took more pleasant pictures until we finally made it to our destination: Big Ben!

 Brooke and I on the Sphinx with the London Eye in the background.

 Left: the London Eye, Right: Big Ben!

 

 Left: Westminster Abbey, Right: Underground sign

After a long, tiresome day, we headed to the Tube to go home. Except the tube station was closed. Womp. Luckily there was a bus stop near by that got us home quick! Surprisingly, we still had room for dinner and made some fabulous grilled cheese! After dinner, we got ready for Brooke to show me the London nightlife- had to see how it compares to Dublin. I got to experience the club scene in Shortage (a borough in London) and the night bus! It was a fun night!

Sunday we got up to go to brunch at one of Brooke's favorites, Muriel's. We were hoping for breakfast but they had stopped serving by the time we made it there. However, my salmon cakes and mashed potatoes were delish. Then we headed over to Harrod's. There's not much to do in Harrod's but gawk and feel sorry for yourself. It is ridiculously amazing. There are four floors and it just goes on forever. There's a pet shop (with dogs costing 5000 pounds- roughly $7500), toy kingdom, shoe heaven, fine china and home decor, meet and produce market, tea room, ice cream parlor, anything anyone could ever wish for all in one place. Its actually overwhelming. Luckily, we cheered ourselves up by doing some real shopping at h&m :)

 Harrod's (unfortunately it was raining and the umbrella got in the way)

Me with the Harrod's bears!

After our shopping excursion, we were ravenous. We went to a pub close-by called the Queen's Arms. It was a cute and quaint little place. I got some authentic fish and chips and I was not disappointed. They were delicious. Then we decided to indulge ourselves once more and went to the creperie for some delectable crepes. Yummm!

We called it an early night and the next morning I was packing my things and off to the airport to head back to Dublin. It was a fantastic trip and it was so great to see Brooke! Now I have a couple of days to myself that I will hopefully be using productively to get ahead on some school work. Saturday Megan lands in Dublin and then Ana comes in on Monday! It is going to be amazing- I cannot wait! I will update you on all our adventures once we go on them!

Slainte!!!