"As the light declines, I remember Dublin City, in the rare old times..."

I arrived in Dublin around 8am on May 14th.   A majority of the girls on the trip were from NCSU and their flight arrived a few hours before mine (Philadelphia to Dublin via American Airlines) so I was traveling with one other girl from Rutgers in a foreign country.   Fortunately, it didn't take long for us to experience how kind and helpful the Irish are! We were instructed to get on a bus from the airport and get off at a certain stop and then take a 20 minute walk to our hostel (http://www.generatorhostels.com/en/dublin/). We got off at our stop, no problem, but as soon as I opened up a map, the lovely bus driver asked if we knew where we going and then told us that we could stay on the bus for a few more stops and end up just across the Liffey from our hostel. Taking his advice, we got back on the bus and had about a five minute walk (on a much safer route) to the hostel.

After meeting up with the rest of the group (all girls, most from NCSU, 2 from Rutgers, 1 from UConn, and 1 from University of Wyoming!) and getting settled in our rooms, we set out to take a tour of Dublin City!  Our tour guide's name was Donal and he was everything you would think a young Irish man would be: smart, charming, and wearing a green sweater and wool hat.   He told us all about the history of Ireland, why Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Church were so close together, that the seemingly random shapes on the cobblestone outside Christ Church were actually outlines of former villages, and how George Salmon (Provost of Trinity College) fought to keep women from receiving degrees from Trinity College and shortly after his death, the first woman was admitted.   This day turned out to be mostly a day to take in the scenery.   I wish I could have recorded everything that Donal had to say, but like most of the girls, I was beyond tired from my journey and still could not believe that I was actually in Ireland!   Below are some pictures from my first day in Ireland during our tour.

Donal the Tour Guide

Christ Church Cathedral

The Four Courts on the River Liffey

At the end of our tour, everyone was thoroughly exhausted and STARVING! Donal recommended a few pubs where we could get good food.   A few girls and myself decided on the Brazen Head:

Now, as a vegetarian I knew my options were going to be slim and at the Brazen Head the only thing on the menu that was not a salad that fit my dietary restrictions was the deep fried brie. I was pretty nervous about getting a deep fried food, typically not my favorite, but I quickly found out that there is a monumental difference between American deep fried and Irish deep fried. Granted, fried cheese is in no way a healthy meal, but hey, with summer classes less than two weeks away, this was as close to a vacation as I was going to get this summer. So, the waiter brings out this wedge of deep fried deliciousness, a small salad and a side of cranberry chutney and this immediately became my favorite meal that I would indulge in three or four more times during my stay in Dublin. Also, a drink that was highly recommended by the locals is Bulmer's Irish Cider. In the U.S. (and anywhere outside of Ireland, I believe) it is called Magner's Irish Cider and I have found is rather difficult to find on tap in the States, so I was told to savor every sip.   After this meal, I felt like I was falling into the Irish lifestyle pretty well! Except for the fact that I, along with several others, went to sleep around 6pm to get a good night's rest before our education on agriculture started!

Sláinte!