In Dublin's fair city
Hope all is well and that you've withstood all the storms that have passed through lately. We've been keeping an eye on the news here and are very sad to see all the troubles in New Orleans. Though it's interesting to get the British perspective on the situation... Several of my co-workers have commented about how the images they're seeing on the news are ones you would associate with a third-world country, not America. Most people here are already not big fans of President Bush, and I get the feeling that they attribute the slowness to action in New Orleans as his fault and so they like him even less.
The roomates and I have had a very busy past few weeks. Last Saturday, Brian and I participated in a race for charity in south Co. Armagh (pronounced Ar-mah). I couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather, or scenery, as you'll see from the pictures. I did the 'Fun Route' that was 10k, and it was a blast! This race is apparently a big annual event for the whole community. People who lived in the houses we walked by would sit outside and wave to us as we passed. Some of them even had tables set up in the road with cups of water for us. There were even a few who volunteered the services of their toilet! After the race, I caught the bus down to Dublin to meet up with Mary Ann, Samiyah, and Sara--who was visiting us from France. We had a great weekend in Dublin, and were in such a rush to cram all the sites in that I didn't even get to call my friend Chris who lives there! Sorry Chris! I'll be back down sometime before I leave though.. There's still more of Dublin to see!
We got tickets for a performance of "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde at the Abbey Theatre and afterward enjoyed a beautiful night-time walk along the river and through the Temple Bar area. The next day we walked by St. Patrick's Cathedral but couldn't go in because of the mass that was starting. We had a nice lunch and said goodbye to Sara who had to catch her flight back to France. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Trinity College Library viewing the Book of Kells and sitting in Stephens Green eating ice cream and watching an impromptu performance of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors.
None of us really wanted to stay in the hostel another night, but since we had missed the last bus back to Derry, we decided to make the best of it. Things looked a lot brighter after a nice dinner at The Bank on College Green.
Begrudgingly, we went back to our less-than-clean hostel and found that someone had used Mary Ann's towel and all my belongings had been put on the floor to make way for someone else. We got a new room and all went to bed very irritated, wanting to leave as soon as possible the next morning. I had to get back to Derry the roundabout way through Belfast since that's how I had bought my ticket, so I was the last to leave. While waiting for my bus, I discovered how truly expensive Dublin is. We had already noticed that the restaurants and shops were quite pricey, but to have to pay to use the bus station bathroom?! Is that really necessary? It wasn't even a nice bathroom. But I got my money's worth. Other than traditional bathroom activities, I washed my face and brushed my teeth and redid my hair just out of spite.
Here are the pictures (not of the bathroom, but of Dublin in general ;-)
Pictures 149-167
This week is the last week of our internships and all of us are going our separate ways for two weeks. Samiyah's trip is a surprise so I can't say where she's going, but Mary Ann's heading to Greece, Brian's touring Scotland and Ireland, and I'm taking the train from Norway through Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France. Some of you worriers (*ahem* Mom) have asked for a copy of my itinerary so you can track me down if you need to. I've attached the calendar for you. It has the cities I'll be in, the times of my trains, as well as the name of the hostel I'll be staying at. You can always call my cell (011 44 78 1317 9667) if you need to reach me, but I can't promise that I will answer. Please DON'T leave any voicemails. They're way too expensive to check. Sending a text message will be your best bet.
It's easy to tell that winter is coming. It rains just about every day, even several times a day, and sometimes in the morning I can see my breath as I'm walking to work! When we first arrived, we were amazed that it didn't get fully dark until around 10:30-11:00. Now it's completely dark around 8:30. Soon it'll be time to break out the sweaters!
The roomates and I have had a very busy past few weeks. Last Saturday, Brian and I participated in a race for charity in south Co. Armagh (pronounced Ar-mah). I couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather, or scenery, as you'll see from the pictures. I did the 'Fun Route' that was 10k, and it was a blast! This race is apparently a big annual event for the whole community. People who lived in the houses we walked by would sit outside and wave to us as we passed. Some of them even had tables set up in the road with cups of water for us. There were even a few who volunteered the services of their toilet! After the race, I caught the bus down to Dublin to meet up with Mary Ann, Samiyah, and Sara--who was visiting us from France. We had a great weekend in Dublin, and were in such a rush to cram all the sites in that I didn't even get to call my friend Chris who lives there! Sorry Chris! I'll be back down sometime before I leave though.. There's still more of Dublin to see!
We got tickets for a performance of "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde at the Abbey Theatre and afterward enjoyed a beautiful night-time walk along the river and through the Temple Bar area. The next day we walked by St. Patrick's Cathedral but couldn't go in because of the mass that was starting. We had a nice lunch and said goodbye to Sara who had to catch her flight back to France. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Trinity College Library viewing the Book of Kells and sitting in Stephens Green eating ice cream and watching an impromptu performance of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors.
None of us really wanted to stay in the hostel another night, but since we had missed the last bus back to Derry, we decided to make the best of it. Things looked a lot brighter after a nice dinner at The Bank on College Green.
Begrudgingly, we went back to our less-than-clean hostel and found that someone had used Mary Ann's towel and all my belongings had been put on the floor to make way for someone else. We got a new room and all went to bed very irritated, wanting to leave as soon as possible the next morning. I had to get back to Derry the roundabout way through Belfast since that's how I had bought my ticket, so I was the last to leave. While waiting for my bus, I discovered how truly expensive Dublin is. We had already noticed that the restaurants and shops were quite pricey, but to have to pay to use the bus station bathroom?! Is that really necessary? It wasn't even a nice bathroom. But I got my money's worth. Other than traditional bathroom activities, I washed my face and brushed my teeth and redid my hair just out of spite.
Here are the pictures (not of the bathroom, but of Dublin in general ;-)
Pictures 149-167
This week is the last week of our internships and all of us are going our separate ways for two weeks. Samiyah's trip is a surprise so I can't say where she's going, but Mary Ann's heading to Greece, Brian's touring Scotland and Ireland, and I'm taking the train from Norway through Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France. Some of you worriers (*ahem* Mom) have asked for a copy of my itinerary so you can track me down if you need to. I've attached the calendar for you. It has the cities I'll be in, the times of my trains, as well as the name of the hostel I'll be staying at. You can always call my cell (011 44 78 1317 9667) if you need to reach me, but I can't promise that I will answer. Please DON'T leave any voicemails. They're way too expensive to check. Sending a text message will be your best bet.
It's easy to tell that winter is coming. It rains just about every day, even several times a day, and sometimes in the morning I can see my breath as I'm walking to work! When we first arrived, we were amazed that it didn't get fully dark until around 10:30-11:00. Now it's completely dark around 8:30. Soon it'll be time to break out the sweaters!
posted by Kell | 4:08 AM
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