When in Dublin...

Usually, I don't like to place every detail of my times in Europe into a blog--I'd rather keep them private, if possible. But for this past weekend's trip to Dublin, I think the details are necessary for comedy reasons and to actually see my adventures in print because otherwise, I wouldn't believe that they happened.

Last week was the reading week for Edge Hill students to complete some catch-up work and get ahead for the remaining weeks in the term. Most of the study abroad students took that free week as a traveling opportunity to see more of the UK and continental Europe. This is how it began for me:

On Wednesday evening, at about ten o'clock, I left Edge Hill for the airport in Liverpool--my flight was for half six the next morning, which means a half four check-in at the earliest. Instead of getting a taxi in the middle of the night, I decided to take the last train to Liverpool, which is much cheaper, and spend the night in the airport. Insanity. Nonetheless, by midnight I arrived at the John Lennon Airport and asked myself, "What the heck am I doing?" I was alone, save for the thirteen others in the airport, and had no access to food that late at night. Seeing no suitable place to sleep, I got my journal out and started jotting down my thoughts and events from the previous days. Then, I dove into Bronte's ever-exciting "Tenant of Wildfell Hall." Surprisingly, midnight soon slipped into three A.M. and I was awake, but carrying myself through the corridors like a zombie. Tiredness hit like a ton of bricks and I decided that the troupe sleeping on a restaurant's carpeted floor looked rather comfortable. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em...so I did. After an hour of sleeping, I awoke to, "For security reasons, do not leave bags unattended at any time."

And I didn't. My bag was my pillow and a beanbag at times. By 7:45, I was in Dublin and had to function on two hours of sleep within thirty-six hours of being awake. My friend who I was staying with in Dublin was at work and wouldn't be off until six in the evening; therefore, I had to find ways of busying myself for ten hours in a city I knew nothing about, except there was a Guinness museum. First, I ate a gigantic, proper Irish breakfast--including black pudding. Black pudding is made with blood! I didn't know that when I devoured it along with my beans, toast, sausages, "soft egg" (fried egg), hash browns, and milk. It was delicious. All of it. Even the black pudding.

After the Irish breakfast, I went to a corner shoppe and bought a map that outlined all of the hot spots in Dublin. I conquered three museums, two churches, two parks, two monuments, and about three coffee shoppes, a Burger King, and a bagel snack stop. The tourist stops kept my camera and I entertained and the coffee, ice cream, and sandwich kept me awake. During my tour of Dublin, I also meandered through a China Town? Seriously. I think every town in the world has a part that has Chinese restaurants and clothing stores.

When I finally saw my friend Jack at seven, I was so relieved and happy that I could finally rest my head and change out of my clothes I had been wearing for two days...and take a shower. The next two days, I explored the city and saw the sights. Dublin's got great energy and the architecture is quite beautiful--including one of the largest post offices I have ever seen in my life. St. Patrick's cathedral and Trinity College were my favorite sights because the grandeur of the buildings and the intricate landscape gave my OCD a dose of much needed order. Also, the Pheonix Park was quite lovely and held the most green I had seen in Ireland.

On Saturday, the last full day I spent in Dublin, I finally reached my friends who were also in the city. My phone had unfortunately run out of credit and out of battery whilst in Dublin, so I was without friends and it ate me alive. I thought I was much more independent than I actually am. When I did reach them on the phone, and saw them in person, I was so excited that I could barely contain my emotions. In fact, I don't think I did. But, they said that they were happy to see that I was alive; so, the joy went both ways and we spent the rest of the night together watching Celtic dancing, eating a traditional Irish meal, and enjoying one another's company. It's amazing how after only two days, I realized how much I am going to miss my new friends and how hard it's going to be to leave them in just over a month.

Saturday evening was much like Wednesday in the manner that I left--a long night with not much sleep and airport announcements awaking me from my slumber on the McDonald's leather, lime green, germ-infested chairs. On Sunday, when I arrived back in Ormskirk at half ten and plopped my things down on my bed in my beloved Eleanore Rathbone dorm, I couldn't have been happier to be in a familiar place with my family of friends there. The Dublin adventure was an eye-opening experience and led me to find more about myself than I ever think I could have learnt if I had not been on my own. The city was quite nice, however, and when I return to Ireland someday, I have decided that I want to visit either Belfast or Cork to see the countryside--like Hilary Swank in P.S. I Love You.

Peace.