Dystina Wheeler

Day 2:

            On Day 2, we arrived at Dublin Airport where we met our tour guide, Joe. Since we were meeting another group from St. Vincent University, we decided to get a traditional Irish breakfast at the airport. When the St. Vincent group arrived, we headed to the Guinness factory (at 11:00 am). While we were at the factory, we were able to sample different Guinness beers and learn how to pour the “perfect cup”. We listened to some live music while we had lunch, where I had the greatest beef burger for only 5 euros! After spending most of our day at the factory, we got on the bus and headed for the Belvedere hotel. When we arrived, we settled into our rooms, relaxed and got ready for dinner, which was at the hotel. The dinner menu for the night was magnificent. We were served bread rolls, traditional Irish stew, and dessert. After dinner, the group decided to walk around the city of Dublin. We visited various pubs that were in close vicinity, walked by the Liffey River, and found the famous Temple Bar. By this time, it was close to 11:45pm and our group was exhausted. We all agreed to call it a night and we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Day 3:

            After Courtney, Michelle, and I hit snooze several times, we finally woke up around 7:30am for breakfast, which the Hotel provided. I had eggs, bacon, beans, and croissant with coffee and once again, it was magnificent. We finished our breakfast and met the group on the bus for our official Dublin tour. We drove around and saw different pubs, shopping centers, and doors of Dublin. We stopped at St. Patrick’s cathedral where we met another tour guide, James. He talked about the battle between the British and Irish, saw different statues of historic figures and were able to shop the gift store. When the gift store closed, we headed for the bus again, and prepared our journey to Phoenix Park (so beautiful), where we saw the historic site that Barack Obama got his car stuck, the Presidents house, and the Popes cross. At the Popes cross, we were able to get out and take many selfies and pictures of the beautiful landscape. Once we were finished, we got on the bus and visited Trinity College. We visited the Book of Kells, shopped at the gift store and later shopped at the sweater stores that were across the street, and ate lunch at KC Peaches. For lunch, I had different things from the Buffet and ordered a cheesecake brownie for desert, all of which were AMAZING. When we were finished, we walked back to the hotel to drop our bags off and charge our phones for a bit. After 15 minutes or so, we went around the corner to the Joyce Centre where we met Professor Anne Fogarty, whom gave us a lecture of Joyce and visited the exhibit. After the lecture, we were all exhausted, so we went to the hotel to relax, but before we knew it, it was time for dinner. Dr. Carpentier and the group first went to do some shopping at the greatest Irish gift shop, Carroll’s. When our hunger seemed to get the best of us, and went to the closest pub we could find, O’Connell’s and spent the rest of the night there. I ordered Fish and Chips, and had a few Margaritas. Dr. Carpentier left early, and so the group decided to stay at the pub since we had a comfortable corner downstairs that was right next to the bar. When we got tired of sitting around, the group walked around Dublin for a little while and went back to the hotel for some sleep since the next day we had to be up early.

Day 4:

            Starting the day with another traditional Irish breakfast at 7 am started my morning off great, even though it was a rainy and cold day. We met everyone on the bus around 8:30 and made our way to the Causey Farm, which was about an hour away. As soon as we got off the bus, the cutest and friendliest sheep dog greeted us and led us into the warm home on the farm. Without wasting any time, we grabbed our aprons, watched a demo of how to make brown bread, got eggs thrown at us (literally), and began making our own bread, which took about 30 min. while we waited for the bread to bake, we went across to see the animals. There were reindeers and so many sheep, and newborn lambs. We were lucky enough to hold one of the baby lambs. I wanted to take it home and hold it forever, even though it stunk. I was even lucky to receive a kiss on the cheek from one of the reindeers (weirdest thing ever). After playing with the animals, we got on a tractor for a fun, wet, and cold hayride to the bogs. Since it was such a rainy day, the bogs were drenched, so we just looked at the area and went the barn to learn a little Irish dance, which was a lot of fun and definitely warmed us all up from the cold weather. After we finished dancing, we went into the house for lunch, where we had delicious soup and ate our warm, soft, homemade brown bread and scones. After this long day at the farm, the group gathered onto the bus and headed for the hotel. The group agreed to go out for dinner later in the evening, so we relaxed and caught up with social media in the spare time. When it was time for dinner, we met in the lobby and went a nearby pub called Murray’s. The service and food was unbeatable! I wish we could have ate there more than once during our stay in Dublin. I ordered the chicken burger and the girls and I ordered a bottle of Pinot Gorgio; the wine was horrible, so we returned it and ordered a couple Orchard Thieves. After dinner, Dr. Carpentier left to go back to the hotel and the rest of us decided to do some shopping. After about an hour into shopping, the guys were ready to go, so we made our next stop at JC Sweet Man bar where we grabbed a few drinks and sang along with the musician who was performing. It was starting to get late and we needed to be up early the next day, so we packed it up and walked back to the hotel and went straight to sleep.

Day 6:

            Today was our last day in Dublin and we were able to sleep in a little more than usual (Bittersweet). We had breakfast around 8:30 and met at the bus around 9:15 where we traveled to the National library and Yeats exhibit. We looked at different artifacts and listened to different poems by Yeats that were projected in the exhibit. After going through the library, we went across the street to the National Museum. The museum had so many different artifacts, human skeletons, and Irish facts it was amazing. By 11:00, we left the area and walked towards the International Bar where we met Larcan, the tour guide of the Easter Rising. While we waited at the bar, Dr. Carpentier treated us to tea and during this time, we spoke about potential research topics for our final paper I decided to focus on the Easter Rising in correlation to Yeats poem. After everyone arrived, Larcan took us to the basement of the bar where he gave us a brief overview of the battle that took place in Dublin. He was a very knowledgeable man and it was fun to hear him speak, as he was so enthusiastic. Larcan took us to different monuments in the center city of Dublin where he showed us real bullet holes from the battle. He also took us into the post office and spoke on more of the history of Dublin. After the tour, we walked back to the hotel to refresh and unbelievably, we headed straight back out into the city for some more shopping! After a few hours of well-spent shopping, we had to find our way to the oldest pub in Ireland to meet with our group for a farewell dinner. Thanks to google maps, we found our way to the pub and made it just in time for dinner. The preselected menu had so many good options, but I ended up getting the pea soup, chicken and mashed potatoes, and apple pie. The apple pie was to die for – I definitely urge you to try it! Dinner went by pretty quick, and we swallowed our dessert, as we had to leave for the theatre to catch Juno and Paycock. The play was about an hour and a half and it was amazing. Reading the play and then seeing it really changes your perspective on the characters and their role in the play. Once the play was over, we walked down the street, back to our hotel where we finished packing and went straight to sleep.

Day 7:

            Of course, the second to last day, I would catch a cold and suffer with congestion and a sore throat. Today, I stayed away from the big breakfast, and settled for porridge, a croissant, and hot tea. Not only was I sick, but Courtney also was sick. In the morning, she went out to the pharmacy and got me some cough drops (she is great!). By the time we finished eating; we got on the bus and headed for Galway where I slept the whole time. On the way, we stopped at Clomnacnoise, which is a beautiful monastery along the Shannon River. We watched a short video on the history of the monastery and of course did a little shopping in the gift shop. After this, we started our drive to Galway and finally made it after a few hours of driving. Luckily, we were dropped off in the center of different shops and pubs. The girls and I went to Elle’s café to get lunch and I ended up ordering the Cuban sandwich with chips, which once again was so good. After lunch, we did some more shopping and met up with the group to head to our second hotel, the Maldaron. When we got to the hotel, we settled in and got ready for dinner, which the hotel provided. We were served soup, turkey, ham and mashed potatoes, and a blueberry dessert, which wasn’t the greatest meal. Since Courtney and I were disgustingly sick, we went back to the room and called it a night.

Day 8:

            Still sick… but it was our last day in Ireland and it was time to go out with a bang. Everyone met for breakfast, and Dr. Carpentier gave me some medicine, which made me feel so much better. We got onto the bus and headed for the Cliffs of Moher, but along the way, we stopped at the Burrens, which is a field of stones. The Cliffs of Moher was beautiful and the weather was amazing. It was the perfect day. We had lunch at the cliffs in a small café. I had a chicken wrap with chips and I was ready to explore the cliffs. After taking a million pictures, the girls and I headed for the gift stores where we met a friendly little dog who we played fetch with. Since time was flying, we had to run to the bus only to find no one was there. So after waiting for about an hour, everyone started to come to the bus and we headed back to Galway where we had dinner and did some last minute shopping. When everything began to close, Dr. Carpentier and the group searched for a taxi to take us back to the hotel. After we found one that could accommodate seven people, we hopped in, and went the most hilarious ride ever. 30 euros later, we were at the hotel and the girls and I went to our rooms, packed up our things, and went to bed.