By the time I went to bed last night, I had been awake for 38 hours straight, but it was totally worth it! I've had such an amazing time, and I've been here for a day and a half. After (finally) arriving in Dublin around noon on the 7th, my friends and I took the Aircoach from the airport to the top of O'Connell Street. Our hostel, Abigails, was at the other end, just on the south side of the O'Connell Street Bridge on Aston Quay. It was a pleasant ride, even after what felt like years on a plane.
The bus dropped us off and we had a reasonable walk, maybe half a mile, through Dublin. We had to keep reminding ourselves to Look Right!, but luckily, there were reminders spray-painted on the street. We made it to our hostel around 1:00 pm, and our room wouldn't be ready until 2:00, so we stored our luggage and headed out to find some lunch. Right around the corner (we're staying in the Temple Bar district) was Oliver St. John Gogarty Pub. It's also a hostel, apparently, but it was perfect for a quick bite. My appetite's been kind of off - I barely had anything since I left home until this morning - and I had some pureed vegetable soup with bread. It was good though, and the pub had live Irish music (although they clearly cater to the foreign crowd - Danny Boy, anyone?). By the time we finished, our room was ready. We headed back to the hostel, got our keys and beds in order, and then headed out.
Barbara was interested in going to Mercy House on Baggot Street, as she attended a high school run by the Sisters of Mercy. So off we went! On our way, we walked through Merrion Square, where we spotted some little Irish Madelines, complete with the Madeline hats. Super cute!
Outside and a couple more blocks and we made it to Mercy House!
On the way there, I snapped a pic of one of Dublin's famous doorways!
Mercy House, now known as Mercy International Centre, complete with a statute of Catherine McCauley herself.
After Mercy House, we walked along the canal back toward the river to see the Famine Statutes.
On the way, we stopped at St. Stephen's, aka The Pepper Canister.
I'm legitimate Potato Famine Irish - my family emigrated in 1845 - so of course I wanted to see that. I'd seen pictures, but the reality was so much sadder. The elongated figures with their exhausted, hopeless expressions really touched me.
After that, it started to get chilly (the sun was going down), so we stopped off at an ATM to get some Euros before dinner and headed back to the room to freshen up. We chose to have a nice dinner for our first night in Europe, so we headed to Fallon & Byrne. Like I said, my appetite has been off, so I had a Caesar salad for dinner with grilled chicken that was actually very good. For dessert, there were three options. Three options + three girls = we each ordered one and shared. I had a chocolate and orange mousse with orange ice cream. It was so delicious; I love the combination of chocolate and orange!
I ate it all! Yum!
Unfortunately, by the time I was finished, I was very nearly falling asleep at the table. I was exhausted, so while Barbara and Sidney went to the pub where we had lunch for a drink, I headed home and fell fast asleep, ready for a long relaxing night...
Until 4:00 am and a fight broke out on the sidewalk in front of our hostel! There was a lot of shouting in thick Irish accents. I lay there listening for a while, until I heard a soft "Are y'all awake?" from Barbara's side of the room. I answered yeah and crept over to the window to peek out. Barbara went first and was spotted by one of the guys! He called out drunkenly, offering to "shag" her. Barbara dropped the curtain immediately, and we both giggled. After that, I was too scared to poke my head out and take a good look.
Apparently one of them had been hit over the head with a bottle and was very put out about it. I can only assume it was the noise that caught the attention of the Garda, the Irish police, who told the group to move along, despite protests about "simple conversations on public sidewalks." After a quick observation that "The Irish are very passionate," I fell back asleep and woke up at 8:00 am, ready for another day!
