Sunday

St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre






Europe's largest indoor clock!



Everyone always makes fun of me because I take too many pictures of the flowers!



We went into Dublinia, a museum. There was a ton of information about the history of Ireland and vikings. It was very interesting and we learned a lot!








We climbed a million stairs to get to the top of this place and it was well worth it! This is the gorgeous view of Dublin!











You can find these horse carriages everywhere



We also went to St. Stephen's Green on Sunday, which is a park, but that deserves its own separate post because I took way too many pictures and it is the most beautiful park I have ever seen!

Friday

Went to the city centre and explored!!



There are a lot of American flags everywhere








Gaelic signs... thank goodness for the English on there too!

My first Friday night!

I decided to throw a party Friday night before we went out at my apartment here on campus. After that, we went to the Ceili (pronounced caley) - which is a traditional Irish dance along with music. We actually got to dance, which was very entertaining when attempting it buzzed... as it is a hard dance anyways. It was a lot of fun! Then we went out to Temple bar in the city... and it was AMAZING! We ended up getting home at 3 am after we were sitting in the last bar with the doors locked. I was insisting that we find a traditional Irish band at whatever pub we went to. We didn't have too hard of a time finding one, but by the time we got there they were on their last song. A while later the band was just drinking with everyone else and I approached them and they decided since I missed the show they would play for me! It was awesome! They played the Irish pipes... which is an instrument that sounds very Irishy (if that is a word). They pump air underneath their armpit and then use their fingers like a flute.

All the buses are have two stories



the first of many guinnesses! - look at all the whiskey in the bar, I believe there were over 100 kinds!








temple bar was packed!!

Double Decker Bus Tour of Dublin

I went on a bus tour of Dublin and took quite a few of pictures. I'm sure that I will have better, more detailed pictures when I visit all these places very soon.

Today is the 250th anniversary of Guinness = lots of drinking. I'm going to be going out tonight for my SIXTH night in a row. Guinness is a lot better than in America, although I still prefer the light beers. The beer has a lot more alcohol in it, which means I get to buy less beer thankfully! There is multiple pubs and one night club (The Helix) here on campus. It's a pretty amazing atmosphere!!

I am constantly amazed when I meet Irish people and the first thing they say is, "I love your accent!" Who would have guessed the American accent is a good one?! It's much different than all of the other international students because they are mostly from Europe. Dublin is an extremely diverse city and I love it!



A Hurling/Guinness Billboard... I have talked to some Irish lads about joining the hurling club and I'm very excited about it!








The doors are all different colors. The story is that the Irish (Dubliners - people in Dublin) will get so drunk at night they get lost, so the doors are painted different colors to make it easier.







Only part of the Guinness Brewery... it is HUGE!






My friend Caroline from Paris :)






I absolutely love the flowers that are all over the buildings!






My friends from France and Spain



More gorgeous flowers that are all over the buildings and my friend Diego from Spain!



Phoenix Park - it is twice the size of Central Park in NY! We are going to spend an entire day here... rent bikes & pack a picnic! The pictures suck, but the place is actually beautiful. I was just very far in the bus.



more of the park & proof of the good weather we've been lucky to have :)



Where the President, Mary McAleese lives (in Phoenix Park)

Some pictures for my anxious family :)

These are some pictures I took my first day wandering around Dublin - they are all oversized and I don't feel like changing them, so if you click on the picture you can see the whole thing, which way better of course :)

the first four are pictures of Dublin Castle















I was trying to show "castle street." I had a hard time finding my way around at first because I was looking for street signs, but they are posted on the buildings.





Christchurch Cathedral:








St. Patrick's Park:



St. Patrick's Cathedral:






Showing that Charly should go wedding dress shopping with me here in Dublin! :)




Grafton Street:



Old City Hall:





Ha'penny bridge & the Liffey River:










Hampstead Apartments (view from my bedroom):