Ireland: The Dublin Docklands

The Dublin Docklands are a gentrified area of Dublin that now house new apartment buildings and the home of Google. And they call the area near the Google headquarters Google docks. Which is funny because of Google Docs...for those of you who know what Google Docs is. This new and modern area is home to a lot of art and interesting architecture. These red sculptures look like someone got really mad while eating sushi and smashed their chopsticks in the ground.

 Alice and Alex sit overlooking the docklands.

 Big chopsticks and new apartment buildings.

 I'm pretty sure the chopsticks are placed so perfectly that each picture you take always features them.

 heART! Oh...the puns get worse don't worry. The Docklands is home to the U2 recording studios and pictures from their album covers. The reason this is relevant is because across this cool piece of art, someone rudely wrote "Bono has a small dick". But it does show the true feelings of the Irish, they really don't like Bono.

 The docklands turn into a really cool art space and sporting area during the summer. They do water sports here, hence the ramps, but look closely and you'll see the two swans on the ramp.

 In the background is the O2, a big arena for concerts and such!

 Tessa, always finding beauty in the ungentrified areas of Dublin.

 Lens flare! The key to all hipster photos.

 The Aviva Stadium for rugby.

 I don't think I've posted a picture of this yet, but the signs in Ireland are always in Irish and English. And the Irish comes first and more bold, it confused me for a while.

 A bottle family.

 Ran into some Victoria's Secret models.

Ireland: Meet Olive, more Bray, and Art!

The day I came back from Bray, I met a cat. Now, I'm not a cat person, but this little kitten was basically a dog in disguise. Apparently a medley of cats were living on our campus and Sofia and I took this one in to feed and give a temporary home to. We named her Olive. Not sure if it's a girl but in my search for identification I only found fur, so I'm guessing that since nothing stuck out, Olive must be a girl. We fed her and she was so hungry. Then she took a cat nap (pun intended) and then almost got stuck under the window while trying to escape. So we had Olive for a solid two hours. She was great.

Here she's saying, "Why did you wake me up to take a picture of me."

 "Fine, I guess I'll pose like an Egyptian princess."

 "I hate humans."

 "Did...did she just say she's a 'dog' person?!"

 This super random and miscellaneous post has now jumped to the next day, when I went back to Bray because I loved it so much. It also happened to be Mother's Day in Ireland! Which meant tons of kids and lots of places with soft serve ice cream, which definitely made my day so much better. I just hung out on the beach and boardwalk and watched the world go by. There were so many cute dogs and little kids on scooters and happy families, it was magical and I loved every second. Plus, Bray was so sunny and not a drop of rain was to be found! So, I was able to see what it actually looked like in the sunlight!

 Just this past weekend, I walked outside to take a stroll and the sky looked like a painting. This was one of the few super sunny days in Dublin and I soaked it all up! The weather has progressively been getting more clear and a lot warmer, I'm loving the springtime change!

 I have a thing for buckets, and not just because cool words rhyme with bucket.

 My journey accidentally (not) led me to the best burrito place in Dublin. Now, when I say best, I mean mediocre. There aren't any good Mexican places here in Ireland but this place is the closest to being authentic. It's pretty good. Outside is this Before I Die wall. I like the "become supreme empress" answer. I'm pretty sure Olive wrote that.

 

 The tile on the inside is awesome!

 The classic, "I can take a picture of my feet to show I was actually here, in case the picture itself didn't convince you that I was here taking it."

 And...drum roll please...that means you, Brendan...the name of this awesome burrito place is called...kids, do not read any further...The Little Ass Burrito Bar! With a little donkey as a mascot! And you thought this place couldn't get any better.

 Stephen's green was even more beautiful than usual and the colors of flowers and plants are so much more vibrant than ever before.

 Tulip season! Woop woop, tulip!

 Kids, close your eyes, this is a picture of a lot of butts.

 Gah, my trash from the weekend was overflowing. But seriously, Ireland drinks to much Coke. I'm surprised they haven't caught onto the fact that soda is not healthy for you. You see people walking around with Coke cans everywhere. And that is all the young and old people drink when we see them in restaurants.

 This is at the Tamarama Cafe across from my classes. I walked in this morning and the guy looked at me and said, "Chai?". Yup, I guess I'm officially a regular. But I love this place for it's awesome vibe, wonderful people, and cool black and white prints on the wall.

Ireland: Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk

So two weekends ago I headed on the DART and went to Bray to do a cliff walk down to Greystones. The journey took only half an hour and the walk took me an hour and a half. It is 7km long and really pretty. I went on a day that was super rainy and gray but it turned out to be a good thing because not a lot of people were on the path. I was able to run around and take pictures and just be my crazy self. Then I ran into a group of little kids who must have been on a school trip and no one noticed that I was amongst them because I'm so small...it was awesome and Irish kids are great. They were also very respectful when they realized that I was not one of them. This link is to the Google maps that shows where Bray and Greystones is compared to Dublin. If you follow the coast down south you'll see Bray and then Greystones a little further down.

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.2528374,-6.1405653,11z?hl=en

Bray is this tiny coastal town that has a beach that reminds me of Moonstone Beach San Luis Obispo. There is a boardwalk and small little cafes and shops which all lead up to the infamous cliff walk! I stayed on the beach for a while and took pictures while it rained on me. It didn't stop until the moment I got on the DART to go back to Dublin...of course.

 So fogging foggy.

 I was on the rocks. That sounds like a cool blog name...

 The boardwalk with restaurants in the background.

 I found an awesome cove and got really close to sacrificing myself to the ocean. Worth it!

 The super cool and secret cove.

 Gorgeous landscapes and ruins of tiny castle things. Classic Ireland.

 The ruins of this old building were cool...but not as cool as running up the hillside behind it to explore!

 Lines and vines. And rhymes.

Yay! Bray! (Stay tuned for what Bray looks like in the daytime...)

Ireland: St. Patrick's Weekend

Saint Patrick's Weekend was awesome! It was also my birthday weekend so a couple of my friends came to visit me and we had a blast! My best friend Gabby who is studying in Spain came to Dublin with a lot of friends from her trip and the first thing we did after having a traditional Irish breakfast was head to the Guinness factory.

So all of the big buildings in Dublin were lit up green for St. Patrick's Weekend, and so was the inside of the Guinness storehouse! The storehouse is shaped like a pint glass, and all 7 levels were lit up green. It was so crowded but still super cool.

 Looking up the massive pint glass.

 All the old Guinness bottles, some are still filled so we took care of that.

 Pictures of pictures of Guinness. Picception.

 We were able to pour our own pint! They even gave us a certificate so I am officially a professional pourer.

 Gabby and I with our brown glasses, we still have to wait for it to get black. Black is beautiful, and so is the Guinness.

 My friend Madison, who is studying in Scotland, came to Dublin with her friend Dana to celebrate the weekend as well!

 More swans!

 The whole weekend was filled with all kinds of events, and near Stephen's Green there was music almost every afternoon.

 This picture isn't the best, but to be fair I was creepily taking pics behind the mom. But the two girls had these adorable green wigs on and I couldn't resist!

 The Temple Bar District, which is the most popular for tourists, was packed the whole weekend, and at nights it was packed to the point where it wasn't fun any more. Luckily I know all the local places which were fun, safe, and not full of drunk tourists.

 The rugby game going on attracted everyone to the pubs and it wasn't even worth going in any of them because people were too distracted to move.

 The Auld Dubliner! For you, dad.

 Sunset over the River Liffey.

This is Temple Bar at night. CRAZY. This isn't even on Saint Patrick's Day.

 Shamrock shakes and a shamrock toothpick in my burger? I'd say I was in the spirit. Also, Madison.

 Maddie and I decided to run a 5k on the 16th...let's just say the Guinness from the night before weren't doing me any favors. But it was fun regardless! We dressed up hardcore, or just me, and like Nike would say, Just Feck It!

 There were a ton of people, the race was so fun! And we finished in 26 minutes which actually isn't that bad!

 On March 16th we spent the night hitting up local pubs until we ended up at my favorite place, the Bleeding Horse! We arrived at around 11pm and were just having drinks and talking amongst all the dressed up locals. Then when it hit midnight, my friends Tessa and Alex surprised me and silly stringed me while I was pulled on the table to chug my Guinness, initiating me into my 21st birthday. It was by far the coolest birthday experience. Turning 21 with great people, in my favorite pub, on Saint Patrick's day, was just the best!

 On Saint Patrick's Day, we made our way to watch the parade, Saint Patrick's Cathedral is seen on the left in this picture.

 I made sure everyone was wearing massive amounts of green, and thanks to my mom, we were even more decked out with our green mustaches.

 And then my camera was taken away from me and the crazy pictures of the crew commenced.

 Tessa went all out and painted her eyebrows and had tattoos all over.

 Saint Patrick himself was thawed out from being frozen all these years. Or was that Walt Disney...

 Later that day, I saw a hurling match and a Gaelic football match. The GAA Championships for both of these sports happens each year on Saint Patrick's Day. It was so fun! I sat next to this really nice old lady who told me about the McNeff's who live in the north of Ireland. The crowd was so fun at the game, too!

 This is Croke Park, it is huge!

 

Overall, Saint Patrick's Weekend/my birthday was such a success! Ireland, you proved to be a wonderful host for a wonderful weekend!