My Piece of Home

Hello all! I'm sitting in the lobby of the Avalon Hostel right now at one of their free computers. I wasn't planning on being online during my holiday with Katie, but she wanted to take advantage of the free computer use. So I figured that it might be a good idea for me to get a head start on the blogging about the trip.

I went to pick up Katie at the airport at 10am Monday morning. It was so good to see her! It honestly took about two minutes for the shock to disappear and then it felt like no time had passed since we last saw each other. It's so strange... Anyways, we made our way out of the crowded airport and got to our bus to take us back to Malahide. No one was home, so I didn't get to introduce her to any of my volunteer housemates. Sr. Mary was home though, so she was able to meet her. We had some cereal and coffee and chatted for a bit to let her relax after the long journey. When she was ready we hopped on another bus and went into city center. It made sense to stop by the hostel first to check in and drop off our bags. But as soon as we settled in here, we were starving and ready to get something to eat! Katie was in charge of picking this hostel and she was great! It is really close to my favorite area of Dublin, Temple Bar! We made our way over there and slipped into a quiet pub named Farrington's. After a much needed meal, we came back to the hostel so that Katie could rest. I knew that she would need a nap, and I was right! She slept for an hour or so (after a series of giggling fits that came from no where!) :) I was happy to read my book and chill. We spent some time freshening up after she woke up. When we were ready, we ventured out to the Dublin Castle. Unfortunately, there were no tours all day, but we walked around and took a few pictures. We kept moving along and made out way to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The view from outside was gorgeous and it was very interesting to go inside. It is an Anglican church, and I was disappointed that there weren't any relics of St. Patrick. But there were some interesting statues and the church itself was beautiful.

We came back to the hostel for a third time to change to go out. I took her to Temple Bar to see some of my favorite pubs. The Porterhouse was fairly crowded, but we managed to find a cozy table in the corner. We had a few beers and a snack. The band was setting up the entire time we were there and began playing just as we were ready to leave! But we got to listen to a few songs, which was plenty. I was very excited to leave there because we were headed to my favorite, Oliver St. John Gogarty's!! I was anticipating a crazy good time like always, as we got closer to the pub. When we walked in and saw a quarter of the usual amount of people, I was instantly disappointed! Granted it was a Monday night unlike the normal weekend nights that I go there. But it is tourist season and the most touristy area of Dublin! It should have been packed! Anyways, I was determined to show Katie a good time so we left and headed to The Temple Bar. I don't usually go there because it is very overpriced, but it was packed so we pushed our way in. After a walk around the place to scope out the people, we found a good spot to settle. We ended up meeting a guy named Terry. And by met, I mean that he pushed into me in a way that only a really drunk person could think was "accidental." Even though he was obviously intoxicated, we had a lot of fun chatting with him. He ended up having a friend there who was off talking to someone else and then eventually joined in. His name is Joe and he's from London. Terry is from "three hours that way." After the entire night I still have no idea where he is actually from! I liked talking to them, but the real entertainment was watching them talk and interact with each other. We were getting pretty tired so we walked back through Temple Bar to head home. On the way we passed Oliver St. John Gogarty's and I was sad because it was alive and crazy as ever! We just went there too early I guess...Anyways, I have a whole year to go there, I just wanted Katie to see how much fun it was. I think she got almost as good of an experience in The Temple Bar. We got home and went straight to bed. It was 1am and we were so tired!

We woke up around 10 this morning and began our day at Trinity College. We were anticipating a long line for the Book of Kells, and we were right. However, the line went by very quickly. The museum for the Book of Kells wasn't anything special, but the information it gave helped me to truly appreciate what I was about to see. The Book itself was in the last room, so the museum was just enlarged picture copies of pages. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Book of Kells, it is a manuscript dated back over 1000 years that was made by monks here in Ireland. It is the four Gospels of the Bible and it is all written intricately onto calf skins (it took 160 calves!) in Latin. When we were taken into the room where the books were held, it was only open to a few pages, one from John and one from Matthew. There were also two other old manuscripts but I can't remember the names at the moment. After we left that room I expected to go to the exit, but was surprised by an entrance into the Long Room of the Trinity College Library. I had wanted to go for a while now, but I didn't think the price was worth it. But since it was part of the cost of the entry into the Book of Kells, I was thrilled! The Long Room is so beautiful! It holds over 200,000 of the library's oldest books and manuscripts. When it was built it had a flat plaster ceiling which they removed to raise it to make another level of shelving for more books. It is also home to the Brian Boru Harp which is the oldest harp in Ireland dating back to the 15th century.

After the trip to Trinity College we ventured out for some food. We found a little cafe and had a light lunch of sandwiches. As we walked out, the waitress came back and told us that we forgot to pay! We were so embarrassed! We walked back in with our heads down and sheepishly paid for our meals and got out of their quick! We walked off our embarrassment as we headed to the Guinness Brewery. This was by far my favorite thing so far! The building itself has been turned into a very cool museum that still has a lot of the original steel rafters and brick walls, but there was just the right amount of new things added in. The exhibits were very interesting as well. At the end of the tour we enjoyed a complimentary pint of Guinness at the top of the building in the Gravity Bar. It has a 360 degree view of the city that you can enjoy while sipping the incredibly satisfying pint. Katie even loved the Guinness! We stopped for a quick meal on our way back to the hostel. Now Katie is upstairs and I think I'm going to go join her. We have an early start tomorrow because we need to pick up our rental car and then we are headed to the west side, and stopping at Knock on the way. Knock is the place that Katie and I are the most excited about! I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Love,
Claire