Dublin & Enniskerry, Ireland

Last week Courtney Calkins, Emmy Jenson, and I traveled to Ireland all by ourselves. We were the first to take an excursion from the center with out the faculty. We flew into Dublin on Ryan Air, found our hostel and spent the day exploring the city. We were not too enamored with Dublin. If you do not drink, there is not much to do. It is a very small city and could definitely be explored in half a day. First we walked down Grafton Street towards Trinity College. Grafton Street was a pedestrian street that had all the popular UK clothing stores and live musicians. It was fun to wander down but it was nothing different than what we could experience in London. Trinity College, home of Bram Stoker and Jonathan Swift, was a great experience because all the students were back for the start of the term. While there, we took time to see the Book of Kells and the accompanying exhibition. We also toured through the grand library which I thought was more fascinating than the illuminated manuscript. I have never seen so many old texts in a quaint library and it immediately reminded me of Harry Potter.

After the college visit we walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which compared to other cathedrals I have seen lately, was not very awe inspiring. But, we felt obligated to enter and learn a little about the structure for our world religion class. After this we walked to the Temple Bar region. While on the way there we walked past Christ Church Cathedral and Dublin Castle. Temple Bar was supposed to be the trendy area of town but at 5pm at night it was boring and lifeless. We wanted to eat dinner at a pub and enjoy live music but after looking at the prices we opted for McDonalds instead. Dublin is VERY expensive. After buying 4 euro happy meals we sat in McDonalds for two hours feeling bad for ourselves. We were tired, still hungry, and lamenting the cost of everything. So to perk up our spirits we had dessert at the Hard Rock Cafe and then went back to the hostel and chatted the night away, which was so fun. Did you know that the first Hard Rock restaurant was in London? Two guys started it because London lacked a place where a true American burger and fries could be found. I am definitely going to have to check out the London location before returning to the states.

The next morning we caught a bus headed towards Enniskerry, Ireland where the Powerscourt estate is located. We had not originally planned on this outing but we happened across it in a guidebook and we were so ready to get out of Dublin and into the green countryside. The bus ride was an hour long but we did not mind because we were able to see so much more of the greed landscape. Powerscourt was well worth the 8 euros. We spent hours wandering the gardens and admiring the beauty. If you look closely at the picture, you will recognize the estate is the same one in the film Count of Monte Cristo when he enters on his hot air balloon. After Powerscourt we wandered through the small town of Enniskerry and then boarded the bus bound for the airport. We were so ready to be back in 27 Palace Court, we ran home from the tube station. Ireland was a good experience. We were proud of our bravery and efforts and now we know what to do and what not to do on our next excursion.