Ireland

So, last week I was in Ireland, enjoying the intensely green landscapes, the adorable accents, and the plentiful pints. I stayed at Trinity College Dublin with Rahul, which was a lovely home base, being both beautiful and a tourist attraction in itself, as well as being very centrally located to many of the wonders Dublin has to offer. I took a number of day trips, including to Dalkey and Howth, ocean-side villages just outside Dublin. I was extremely lucky to have spent a week there and only had one day of drizzle.

In Dalkey, we were lucky enough to enjoy a brisk walking tour from a woman from Rahul's creative writing program who has lived there all her life. The views were beautiful, the walk was lovely, we saw Bono's house (or gate...) and the pub at the end was full of very vocal rugby supporters.
In Dublin, my favorite sites included St. Stephen's park, the national gallery, and the national photographic archives. In the last, I sweet-talked my way in to the appointment-only research room and got to wear gloves and look at the collection of a man named Roger Casement, who traveled to Congo as a member of the British Foreign Service and took some interesting photographs of the colonies. I pretended that this was even more relevant to my theoretical master's thesis, and enjoyed myself greatly.

I also traveled to Cork and Blarney, where I toured the extensive gardens and castle and kissed the stone (notice the gift of gab and my newfound eloquence kicking in? yeah, me neither.) In Cork, I befriended some French tourists (what can I say, I missed making language mistakes) and an Irish couple, who took us around to their favorite pubs. It was great fun, and there was live music at one of them, which is always fun.

Lastly, I went to Howth, where I experienced a freakishly glorious day for February, hiked a lot, saw seals, and had a crazy small world experience, when I ran into Dan and Scott Miley, who are from Lexington.

All in all, I highly recommend the Emerald Isle!
I attach some photos for your viewing pleasure.

Cliffs by Howth
Blarney Castle
Dalkey
Seal friend in Howth