I'm Shipping Up to Dublin

At 6:20 am we set out to find the Galway bus station for our journey to Dublin. Despite having to get up so early, I was still pretty excited about the trip and the purpose of the trip - Dropkick Murphys. As our fellow travelers emerged from their apartments, Pip (a local cat that roams Corrib) made an appearance to say bon voyage. I slept the entire bus ride from Galway to Dublin, which was mostly good except for the uncomfortable position I was in. Then, just as I opened my eyes, we were in Dublin. The next task was to find our hostel. On the way to the hostel I snapped some initial pictures of O'Connell Street and the surrounding statues:

James Joyce and me

We got to the hostel but realized we were a bit early for check-in so we proceeded on with the rest of our plans. First, we went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Old Library. Unfortunately, they do not allow pictures to be taken of the actual Book of Kells. The illustrations and markings were so intricate and detailed. It was astonishing to see how much work had gone into creating this masterpiece. Here are some pictures of the Old Library and Trinity:

After we saw the Book of Kells we walked through one of Dublin's biggest shopping streets, Grafton Street, to St. Stephen's Green. 

The next stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral:

Followed by Christ Church:

 Obviously, we wanted to see Dublin Castle!

Which, of course, was closed :(

At this point our feet were getting pretty tired so we decided to go back to the hostel and check-in. Meghan, Molly, Elisabeth, Deirdre, and I were in a twelve person room, which was decent. We sat for a minute or two and decided that we wanted to do some shopping around Dublin. This time we headed over to Dublin's other famous shopping district, Henry Street. We walked into Penney's which is a great store that has some nice things for a fairly good price. We also stopped for a cup of coffee and some chocolate - yummy!! It was definitely a shop till you drop scenario as almost everyone in the group started to fade fast. At this point it was time to feast on some dinner, so we met up with Sarah from SLU and some other friends at a place called O'Neill's. I had a very good turkey and cheese sandwich on brown bread. It was especially fun due to the fact that all eyes were glued to the TV screens throughout the place as a rugby game was being played. 

That night we went out to the famous Temple Bar area. Of course, we started the night at the actual Temple Bar. It was very crowded but the conversations were lively and the music was grand. Next, we hit up The Auld Dubliner for a short while and then ended the night at Fitzgerald's. All had a different yet stimulating atmosphere. 

The next morning, Sunday, we woke up for a semi-late Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. St. Patrick's is actually the Church of Ireland but we thought it was close enough (plus, that way we got to see the inside of the Cathedral for free!). It was a beautiful service with a lovely choir. After Mass, we saw fit that the Guinness Storehouse should be our next destination. Now, this was my second time visiting the Guinness Storehouse, but the first time I was able to drink! I learned how to pour the perfect pint and even earned a certificate that I will proudly frame upon my arrival back in the States. Here are some pictures from that experience:

CONAN O'BRIEN!!!

 Pouring my perfect pint!

Topped it off

 My perfect pint and a cameo appearance by Deirdre 

 The group and our pint certificates

Certified!

My pint!

After the Storehouse, we walked back to the hostel to rest up and then headed off to the concert! Dropkick Murphys was incredible! At first, Meghan and I were directly behind these two muscular and extremely long-haired men. The one in front of me kept swishing his hair back and forth and hitting my face - it was pretty unnerving. Luckily just as Dropkick came on, we got shifted in front of them and the concert continued without a mouthful of hair every 3 seconds. Meghan and I got close to the front almost immediately and it was amazing. In fact, at the very end Meghan was able to get on stage. I was not able to but it worked out really well because we both got some fabulous pictures:

 Meghan on stage

Although I left the concert with some bruises, physically touching the singer of the Dropkick Murphys as he sung was not a bad way to spend a Sunday night in Dublin. And yes, they did play I'm Shipping Up to Boston (hence the title of my post).    :)

Once again, I slept the entire bus ride from Dublin to Galway, so that was nice. We conquered Dublin in two days and my legs are definitely feeling it. However, it was well worth it and I would do it all again! 

Till next time! 

Life on the Emerald Isle

Hello again! First of all, thanks for continuing to read about my travels and adventures! It is much appreciated folks! Sorry for the delayed and unfortunately long post.

I would like to take this time to dedicate this post to my late godfather and uncle, Martin Sullivan. You were such a wonderful person, always bringing laughter to our family gatherings. Sending prayers to the family from Ireland. Love you always, Uncle Marty.


Where to begin... It has been some time since I last posted so I have quite a bit to share. I left you all with the story of how we got here and our minor trip to the Galway Shopping Centre -- that pretty much sums up our first day in Ireland. The next day, Wednesday, Molly, Meghan, and I decided to go out again and explore more of the city centre. The day went off without a hitch. We got to William Street and Shop Street where Molly and I decided to buy our international phones. Satisfied with that purchase, we set out to wander down more of Shop Street. Here are some pictures of sites along the walk to and down Shop Street.

 It was great to see some Christmas decorations still up!

 Shop Street, Galway

More of Shop Street!

It was at about this time that our stomachs told us we needed food. We walked into a nice looking place called Taaffe's, which turned out to be a great find.

It was there that we had our first pints of Guinness with a delicious Irish meal of turkey on brown bread and vegetable soup. This was conveniently a special for students and therefore cost effective! Luckily, we had a great waiter who was aware of it being our first Guinness and kindly snapped a photo of us.

Photo credit to Meghan

We got the vibe that he had to do that a time or two before. Playing on the speaker throughout the pub was The Saw Doctors, so I felt properly at home. Better yet, at 5:30 the live traditional band started to play, and we had front row seats. For a while, after they would end a song, a new member would walk in and sit along side them with his/her respective instrument. There was even a solo performance by a talented harmonica player.

After some time we met up with Joe and Amy who are also from SLU and Joe's two roommates, Tobi (from Germany) and Boyd (from the Netherlands). We all went out with our other roommate Kevin (from France) and his friend to a pub called The Quays, which was a fun time and a great way to get to know each other.

The next two days (Thursday and Friday) consisted of orientation with NUIG and preparing for classes. We heard speakers from each department and it made the beginning of school seem less ominous. Friday night Molly, Meghan, Deirdre, Elisabeth and I went to dinner in city centre and then ventured over to The King's Head, which is a popular spot. We had a blast chatting and listening to a cover band play some of my favorites, from U2 to Kings of Leon to Mumford and Sons. The music scene over here is fabulous. In fact, this coming weekend we are going to Dublin to see Dropkick Murphys!

Saturday night, our friend Tobi made us a pasta dinner and we all played catchphrase. The food was delicious! Although the game did get competitive at some points, it was mostly hilarious. On Sunday, we went to Mass at Galway Cathedral, a very beautiful and interesting experience.

Monday we started classes. Registration is a bit difficult over here as I keep having to check and make sure that my classes are approved back home. So far, I will be taking Drama and Theatre Studies, Contemporary Irish Literature, a Philosophy class, and The Development of the Castle in Medieval Europe. And yes, the last one does include field trips! On Monday night we stayed up late to stream the Notre Dame game live, which as you all know, did not go in our favor. Tuesday there was an information session and a meet and greet with the RAs at Corrib Village. They were all super nice and we even got to meet some of the Guards. The two Guards gave us a talk about how Galway is the safest city in Ireland (that's for you, Mom!) but that "if you're going in twos and threes, come back in twos and threes". One of the best parts of the meeting was the pizza they provided. Definitely not the same as Lou Malnati's back home but still pretty good! 

Wednesday was full of classes and also included the clubs and societies fair at NUIG. I signed up for the Film, Mountaineering, Surfing, and International Student Societies. Not so sure I will do the Mountaineering and Surfing ones but I am very excited about the Film Society. This day was jam packed with events, so when night came around I was ready to relax. That night we went to Townhouse Bar to meet the members of the Mountaineering Society. This is where I was able to drink a Guinness the proper way. We met some very cool people from Galway, Australia, and France. Thursday night we went out to Kelly's Bar for a welcoming party with the International Students Society. There, we also met some interesting people from all over. That same night, we moved on to another pub called Roisin Dubh, which had a dance floor and played some upbeat music. 

Today, Friday (the last part of this blog!!), I got up early to register for an English seminar (Contemporary Irish Literature). I must have had the luck of the Irish with me because I was able to get the last spot for the seminar after waiting in line for almost two hours. After that, the group (Meghan, Molly, Elisabeth, Deirdre, Tobi, Joe, Amy, and I) walked down to McDonagh's to get fish 'n chips... and boy was that good! Fully fed, we walked up to see Galway Bay as well. The sights were absolutely majestic! Here are some pictures:

The girls by the bay

Whaddup fam!

Chicago on a building in the Latin Quarter!

Fish 'n Chips! Nomz!

Well, that's all for now! But there will be more after the weekend in Dublin so stay tuned and I will try to write more often instead of cramming it all in the same post :) 

Have a great day!

Greetings from Galway!

The purpose of this blog is to make my experiences abroad last forever; to tell a story. So thanks for reading my story!

Though the journey was long and tiresome, I have finally reached my destination of Galway, Ireland! I left Chicago, Illinois on New Years Eve for Dublin accompanied by two fellow SLU students and travelers -- Molly and Meghan. We had a basic idea of how we were supposed to get to Galway from Dublin. However, we figured that we would probably catch a later bus. By some miracle, we reached the pick-up spot for the Galway express bus just as one was about to leave and so the trek across Ireland continued without falter.

Dublin

When we got to Galway we took two cabs to our student apartments while the cab drivers gave us a rundown of our new campus at the National University of Ireland, Galway. We each settled into our own rooms and the unpacking commenced. After a few hours, we decided to check out the city centre and get a bite to eat. The walk to the city centre crosses over the River Corrib which runs through Galway. Just after we crossed the river, we spotted this interesting building:

So far, so good! The sights have been incredible; the landscape is breathtaking. I cannot wait to explore more of Ireland!