Dublin!

Hello hello from the emerald isle!

Weather has treated us very well so far. Ireland is an awesome place! The way there was quite an undertaking, as Beauvais airport (where the cheap airlines fly out), is located pretty far outside of Paris. Also, on the way in to Dublin, my ears nearly didn't pop on the plane and thus hurt a lot! It turned out alright in the end, though, and we made our slow way by bus to the hostel. Our hostel is pretty nice. Dublin is pretty small, so we're within walking distance of most of the things you would want to see. (Minus the horse races, unfortunately.) The only drawback is Midori and I's roommate Nathan (booking coed rooms was much cheaper, so we took a chance) who is a die-hard Man United fan and smokes and drinks alone all day in our room. Other than that, the front desk is very friendly/helpful, and we get breakfast in the 'morn.

Our first day flew by pretty quickly. We ended up getting a cheap dinner at a kebab place, and went to a local pub called the Bleeding Horse for drinks after. I started ticking boxes off of my irish checklist by ordering a pint of Guiness (for you, dad!). Pubs here are PACKED. There is barely any room to move around, let alone sit. Most are multi-level, and have live entertainment that is AWESOME. (That and St. Stephen's Green are my favourite parts of Dublin.) There is a video of that to follow. After watching a bit of football and having a couple of pints at the Bleeding Horse, we headed towards the downtown core and ended up at a place called the Stag's Head. Thankfully, we were able to squeeze into a corner on the lowest of the three floors, and parked it there for most of the night, listening to the amazing traditional music.

Yesterday we took a free 3 1/2-hour walking tour of the city that included mostly all of the highlights. Our tour guide was very funny. Things here are GREEN. As in, the greenest grass and bushes, etc., that you've ever seen in your life. It's like being in Oz or something. (Pictures to follow, I don't have my cable to upload them with me.) Among the things we visited were Trinity College, Dublin Castle, and St. Stephen's Green. Dinner was at a restaurant recommended by the front desk (that we didn't get in to the night before because we had no reservation), and it was GREAT. It was ten euro for entrees, and we shared starters and desserts. I ticked a couple more boxes off the checklist with Bailey's, Smithwicks, and a couple of irish whiskeys (e.g. Paddy), by the end of the night. After dinner, we went to a pub called Temple Bar, which is "the" famous pub in Dublin. Drinks were expensive, it was literally packed with people (especially "stag" and "hen" parties), so we left pretty quickly and ended up in a smaller joint with, once again, superb live music. This time, the musicians were doing irish takes of hit songs. After that, we hit up da club on the way home. It was packed with girls, and awkward eurodancers. Thus, we left.

Today we wanted to go on a tour of a distillery. We chose Jameson. The tour was basically filled with propaganda about why Jameson is the best, but Midori and I were selected as part of a group of volunteers to be taste-testers at the end. We sat at a table with eight others (in front of the group), and went through the process of comparing 12 year-old premium scotch whiskey, Jack Daniels, and Jameson. Jameson was agreed to be the best (surprisingly). For participating, Midori and I got certificates with our names on them that "certify" us as "official whiskey tasters". Tonight we are planning on eating/hanging out at/in a pub. My flight leaves at 6:35 tomorrow AM. (= yikes!)

Tomorrow I am planning on going to Pere Lachaise cemetery for Applebaum's class to visit Jim Morrison, among others. Also have my painting class, and am somewhat dreading our new unit: portraiture! Stay tuned for new pictures and videos when I get back!

Jlu