Day 15: Drenched Dublin

The best kind of rain, of course, is a cozy rain. This is the kind the anonymous medieval poet makes me remember, the rain that falls on a day when you'd just as soon stay in bed a little longer, write letters or read a good book by the fire, take early tea with hot scones and jam and look out the streaked window with complacency.
~Susan Allen Toth, England For All Seasons


There's a new fashion trend in the Dub and I think I originated it when I got here a week ago on a drizzly day...

I call it the drowned rat.

It was pouring today, but that's Dublin for you! Thankfully I'm prepared, a gander mountain waterproof jacket from Dad, a stylin umbrella from Grandma and Papa Dolan and a waterproof bookbag from Grandma and Grandpa Dixon. My family has outfitted me well for the battle!

It's just a little water, that never hurt anyone...well, I can think of one exception but Dorothy didn't do it on purpose.

Last night we went out to Dicey's Garden again last night for the two euro drink specials, but this time I took more friends! Norah and Mae joined me and my new roommate Abby along with the Canadians (including the Canadians over the Liffey) and a whole slew of other international kids we've come across! I couldn't walk around the club without running into someone I know which was cool/strange.

Also Lady Gaga was in town last night...

It took a lot of practice to get that shot!

This is Mae, she lives in Norah's building and also goes to Trinity. She's a history and English major. The girl on the right is Abby my new roomie from Pittsburgh! She's doing an internship in the Dub and taking online classes at Pitt.

It was another fun night, but now I'm realizing how few pictures I have of actual Dublin!! Vanity has got the best of me!

However, this Saturday Norah, Mae, Katie (Mae's roomie), Abby and I are taking the "Wild Wicklow Tour" to the Wicklow mountains. I'm so jazzed to get out into the country, I want to explore as much of Ireland as possible so I have lots to show mom!

Day 4: Delicious Dublin

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti

I must say one of the best things about Dublin so far is the food! The first night I met up with Norah she made a fantastic soup using all fresh ingredients from the market (she is far more gifted in the culinary arts than I). One of my favorite parts of the meal was a loaf of honey rye bread and butter, the bread here is just fantastic! Even the cheapest loaves taste like they're from panera, and so fresh!

Here is my grocery loot from a couple days ago

Notice how tiny and cute and impractical the milk sizes are? Dairy products expire in like three days here, as Missy informed me before departure, because they don't use the same preservatives as American food.

I've been eating the porridge and soup the past few days for every meal I've eaten here, the soup is especially good if you add a little milk and cut up some fresh carrots!

Fruit and fibre is fantastic! It tastes like cobbler cereal! It's like raisin bran, but in addition to raisins there are also dried apples and bananas, quite excellent.

But here's my lifesaving favorite...Panda Butter!

It says "American Style" right on the label, and it is pretty convincing! I've tried to avoid just eating it straight out of the jar like I do with Skippy and Jiff!

Catching up with Norah has been fantastic, we've done a lot of bonding at this coffee shop by her apartment and my school called The Bald Barista. It's owned by a (bald) Australian who likes to call everyone "gorgeous." He's also a fantastic artist as evidenced by Norah's latte and my white mocha...

Last night I had my first taste of Indian food, in Ireland nonetheless, and today Norah and I tried a fish and chips place literally right around the corner from my apartment. They have a five euro fish and chips takeout special, I'm already looking forward to Lent Fridays.

All these fantastic ingredients and meals have got me inspired to whip up something creative in the kitchen, maybe I'll look up a soup recipe or go all-out crazy and get some walnuts for my porridge. We'll see.

Tonight I went to Whitefriar church. The 7pm mass isn't too popular, probably because there wasn't any music and the pews are extremely uncomfortable. They somehow designed them so you HAVE to sit up straight, its an engineering miracle probably patented by the Catholic church.