On Being Daft in Dublin...

So let me first tell you what the title of this post is about.  When we went to Dublin last weekend we stayed with Ashleen's friend from home, Joe.  Joe has been working on his Irish accent since he arrived in Dublin at the end of August.  Now, for some reason, his favorite word the Irish say seems to be 'daft.'  He has this phrase he likes to say that brings out his best Irish accent.  The phrase:  "Don't be so daft with your bold ways!"  Really it is quite good, and it's catchy... so naturally we have been saying it ever since.
Ashleen, Melon, and I took CityLink bus to Dublin last Friday to visit Joe and some other friends of Ashleen's who go to Georgetown and are studying in Dublin for the semester.  We stayed with Joe at his on-campus apartment at Trinity College.  He got us an air mattress, pillows, and blankets so we were all set for the weekend!  It was awesome!

(Entrance to Trinity College)

That night we went over to Kevin's apartment where a bunch of people were visiting.  Friends from Edinburgh and Spain were there in his apartment for the weekend.  We ate dinner with them and then went out to O'Donoghue's which is a famous pub in Dublin.  It was such a fun night and everyone had a great time hanging out together.  The only bad decision of the night:  eating steak-flavored chips and cheese and onion chips before bed.  Word to the wise... never, EVER do this.  Steak/cheese/onion breath is not something you want to wake up to.

(Part of the group from O'Donoghue's)

By the time we got our act together and walked down to Grafton Street, the breakfast place we wanted to go to had stopped serving breakfast... so we did what any normal person would do... we went to Eddie Rocket's (yes... it is essentially Johnny Rocket's).  After a much needed breakfast Joe took us over to St. Stephen's Green.  We hung out in the park for awhile and people watched.  I also almost fell into the pond... but I guess that's not surprising.

(Grafton Street) 

(This guy sculpts different animals out of sand each day) 

(Entrance to St. Stephen's Green) 

(Melon, Ashleen, and Joe) 

(Pond that I almost fell in) 

(Awesome swan)

That day, we also went and saw the Garden of Remembrance as well as The Hugh Street Museum.  It was really interesting to go see these places because we won't be going back to them when we visit Dublin again with Mary and the rest of our group.

(Garden of Remembrance) 

(Outside Hard Rock Dublin) 

(Trinity College) 

(Temple Bar)

I couldn't skip Carroll's while I was in Dublin!!!  Carroll's is essentially the biggest Irish gift store ever.  Their shops are allllll over Dublin and I went into three of them!  I got Irish flag boxers, a t-shirt that says "Ireland:  Where the craic is mighty!," and a giant Irish flag.  All purchases that I feel were completely necessary and will definitely come in handy (once back in the States of course).
That night was the eve of Kevin's 21st birthday, so after the four of us had dinner at O'Neil's (and I snagged myself a souvenir Guinness glass) we headed over to Kevin's apartment again to begin the celebrations.  This time we brought with us a posse of Holy Cross girls as well as Joe's Irish friend Craig.  After the clock struck midnight we decided to head over to the Porterhouse for some celebrating.  The Porterhouse is an amazing bar!  Probably my favorite one so far.  It has three floors and they only sell their own craft beers (along with other types of alcohol... just no other beers).  Don't try the Porterhouse Red... it's not their best.

(Melon, Joe, and me at Kevin's birthday)

On Sunday, Joe took us to The Pepper Pot in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.  It was a cute little restaurant that had wonderful eggs and bacon!

(Inside the Powercourt Townhouse)

Afterwards, we wandered around the streets and found a market where I bought a few gifts for people as well as a drawing for myself.  I definitely need to find that market when I go back in November because I want to see what new clothing items one of the vendors has by then!
Our last stop while in Dublin was to see the Book of Kells; a must see if you are ever in the area.  The Book of Kells, for those who don't know, is the compilation of the gospels intricately written and decorated by the Celtic monks around 800 AD.  The Book is housed within the old library at Trinity College along with a few other ancient books as well as the oldest harp of Ireland.  Unfortunately, we could not take pictures, but I'll put a picture on here of the library so you can see how amazingly beautiful it is.  If Villanova had a library half as beautiful as this one, you would not be able to get me out of it.  It was absolutely breath-taking.

(How gorgeous is this?!)

I guess that concludes my trip to Dublin.  It was a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad I got to go before we have our trip there with Mary.  It allowed me to see some things that I know we won't get a chance to see while we are with her.

"May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you."