Our journey started off in Dublin, a place where I’ve never been but where Tim has been studying for the last 4 months. I got to Dublin on Sunday May 9th after a very long day of traveling. I flew from Beijing to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to Dublin. It was pretty tiring, but I enjoyed chatting to the people sitting next to me on my two flights (I met a cool guy from Barcelona and a girl from Korea).
I arrived in Dublin Sunday night and was greeted by Tim at the airport. It was very nice to see him! We took the bus back to his apartment and walked through the city a bit…it was exciting to breathe fresh air and see clean streets and real (non-Chinese) food again! It was also exciting to hear Irish accents. We went to bed early because, unfortunately, Tim had an exam early the next morning.
I slept in a bit Monday morning, and luckily I wasn’t too jet lagged. I woke up when Tim got back from his exam and we ventured into the city together. Tim took me to Bewley’s, a two story café. We sat there for two hours sipping our cappuccino and tea and filling each other in on stories from our semesters. We were ready to pay after an hour, but it took the waitress another hour to give us the bill – Tim explained this is the norm there…as Europeans are less-rushed and slower paced than Americans. They seem to live more in the moment, which I think is nice. Tim then brought me to two parks - St. Stephen’s Green and Merrion Square. They were both really beautiful with tons of colorful flower arrangements and green grass. Tim and I sat on a bench in one of the parks and ate our apple/brie/onion/mustard sandwiches we made for lunch.
That same night, I had my first Irish-pub experience. I went with Tim and his three roommates (who were all very nice and laid-back) to this pub called Whelan’s. I really enjoyed it. I had my first Guinness there, which (to Tim’s surprise) I was a huge fan of. l am not a big fan of carbonation/ fizz (and foam is my favorite part of beer hehe– don’t make fun of me) so I really enjoyed the smoothness and creaminess of Guinness. Also, fun fact: Whelan’s was in one of the pubs in the chick flick “P.S. I Love You”…that may have been a contributing factor to why I liked Whelan’s J
On Tuesday (May 11th) Tim spent the morning studying for his exam on Wednesday and we then walked into the city center and grabbed lunch at this restaurant/café called Gruel (I swear, we did a lot more than just eat, although it may seem like that’s all we did thus far) …Tim and I learned that Gruel had absolutely delicious “roasts on a roll”, so we had no choice but to go back there for lunch once more later in the week. We got two ‘roasts’ and shared them, one had turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce and the other had brie, rocket, tomato and a tasty walnut pesto. We splurged a bit food-wise in Dublin (only because Tim needed to show me some good places he has gone/ foods he has tried during his semester…Since leaving Dublin, we have basically been eating peanut butter and bananas for every meal). So anyways…after Gruel, we went to Mota’s (another coffee shop) and shared an amazing slice of Banoffee pie haha. Banoffee pie, which supposedly is an Irish dessert, is banana/toffee pie with chocolate and lots of whipped cream – as you might imagine, it was absolutely delicious. Tim and I will learn how to make it for you guys J We just spent the rest of Tuesday walking around and enjoying the city before Tim went back to his studying…
After Tim’s exam Wednesday morning, he gave me a very impressive historical walking tour of Dublin. He and his parents went on a historical tour when they visited him, so he tried to remember most of the facts that he learned on his previous tour. He did a great job! He brought me to the Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, the Temple Bar area, the Four Courts, and Trinity College. I learned a lot from his history lesson. After my historical tour, we went to the Queen of Tarts for yet another treat J We shared a chocolate scone with cream as well as a chocolate-pecan tart (both were amazing). But we had to do an ab-workout later that day. That evening, we relaxed a bit and then made our way to O’Connell’s, a pub down the street from Tim’s apartment. O’Connell’s was a bit quieter than Whelan’s and had a more cozy/homey feel. I really liked the atmosphere there and felt like we were surrounded mostly by locals rather than tourists.
Thursday (May 13th) was a pretty eventful day. We started our day off by going to Phoenix Park. The park was awesome – with lots of huge grassy hills, mountain views, and wild deer. We found a bench facing the mountains and had another apple/brie sandwich picnic. We then continued our walk to the famous Kilmainham Gaol (Gaol is the Irish way of saying jail). We went on a tour of the jail and learned about the jail’s construction, prisoners, and general history. We both enjoyed the tour very much. After the jail, we walked back to Tim’s apartment and got ready for dinner. For dinner that night, Tim had a farewell dinner paid for by BC at a Japanese restaurant in the city center. The BC coordinator at UCD (Tim’s school) was very sweet and allowed me to come to the dinner with Tim. Tim and his roommate went to town and both ordered irons pots of beef with fried eggs on top…whatever it was, it was pretty delicious. I got an iron pot of seafood soup. It was pretty good, but not as good as Tim’s…so when he wasn’t looking I snuck some bites. Of course, we both got a slice of Banoffee pie for dessert.
We started off our Thursday night at the Brazen Head- the oldest pub in Dublin (supposedly it has been around for 800 years). It was pretty cool and had live Irish music in the back room. I enjoyed a pint of Bulmer’s cider and Tim had a Guinness . Brazen Head was a little crowded though, so we went across the street to O’Shea’s, which could easily have been my favorite pub I went to in Dublin. O’Shea’s, like O’Connell’s, had a cozy feel, and I enjoyed the music at O’Shea’s more than at the Brazen Head. The accordion player at O’Shea’s also looked a lot like Tim’s grandpa Dave and was from County Kerry (where Tim’s family is supposedly from). The two guys were playing a few Johnny Cash songs, so I requested the song “A Boy Named Sue” but they forgot how it went. O’Shea’s was quiet enough to have a conversation and also had a lot of locals. You could tell it was a pub that many older people went to, as Tim and I were entered into a breast cancer raffle…Unfortunately, we didn’t win anything. We spent a while at O’Shea’s and a few pints later made our way home.
On Friday (May 14th) Tim took me to UCD (the school he studied at this semester). I must admit, it wasn’t the prettiest school…the buildings looked like they were all built in the last 40 years or so and were pretty ugly. I think Tim will appreciate going back to the beautiful BC campus. Tim then convinced me to run back to his apartment from his school. It was only a 2 or 3 mile run, but I was huffing and puffing (probably from all the banoffee pies I ate). When we got back from UCD, Tim studied for his LAST final on Saturday night…I know, how could they give him a final Saturday night?! After a decent amount of studying, Tim and I went with his roommate to Jo Burger and got DECLIIOUS burgers. Tim got a Thai green curry burger and I got a bacon brie burger – we split them in half and shared because they were both so good.
Friday night, we met my friend Lauren from Hamilton at a bar in the Temple Bar area. The bar was not as enjoyable as the cozy local pubs I went to, but it was really nice to see my friend. After Fitzsimons’s (the bar we met Lauren at), Tim and I went to a pub called O’Neil’s because they had a certain kind of beer (O’Hara’s) that Tim had been wanting to try. O’Neil’s was similar to O’Shea’s and the Brazen Head in that it attracted an older crowd and was mostly filled with locals. We were planning on going straight home after O’Neil’s; however, when we were a few blocks from Tim’s apartment, we heard an Irish boy call Tim’s name. It was one of the Irish guys that was in one of Tim’s classes this semester. He was with a bunch of his friends and they begged Tim and I to come out with them…although it was late and we were pretty tired, we couldn’t refuse a night out with a bunch of locals. They brought us to a nearby club that had a bar upstairs (the club was called D2), and we hung out with them for a while and had a good time. It was a memorable experience.
Saturday morning, my last morning in Dublin, Tim and I cooked an “Irish Breakfast” together. It consisted of rashers, baked beans, blood pudding, sausage, toast, and eggs. Although I probably gained five pounds from the breakfast alone, it was worth it. After our feast, we walked around the city for a while and then Tim came back to cram for his last exam.
YAYY! Tim finished his exams Saturday evening. Tim took his exams in this huge/intimidating warehouse with over 2,000 other students in one room at this convention center called RDS (Royal Dublin Society). The convention center happened to be right next to the rugby field where a big game was happening that night. It was a Munster versus Leinster game (two provinces in Ireland). They are professional teams and very well-known in Ireland. (Watching a Munster-Leinster game in Ireland would be like watching a Yankees-Red Sox game for us. Well guess what? Tim and I were lucky enough to scalp some cheap tickets after his exam. We got awesome seats and sat next to a bunch of very big Leinster fans. It was a great experience and I learned more about the sport of Rugby. Every one there was very into the game and had a lot of spirit. A lady at the game also gave me a big Leinster Rugby flag, which Tim and I are going to share as a souvenir and alternate hanging in our dorm room next year.
The bars across the street were filled with “rugger-buggers” (or die hard rugby fans, according to a guy Tim and I talked to in the city). Tim and I joined his roommates (who also made it to the game) for some pints across the street and got to experience the rugger-bugger crowd. It was lots of fun and we also managed to get some free pints with our entrance ticket from the game which was a nice bonus. The rugby game was a great way to celebrate Tim finishing his finals and was a nice way to finish off my week in Dublin. I missed Dubbin when we left and hope to make it back there one day.
Here are some pictures of the week our week in Dublin together. Unfortunately, the blog doesn't allow me to label the pictures, so you will have to do your best to guess what the pictures are of according to my descriptions. Tim and I will put our pictures up on Flikr and Snapfish soon though! We will send you the link once they are up :)
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