Ciao a Tutti,

Sorry it has been a while, I am home now, which is the weirdest thing you can imagine, but don’t worry I will get everyone all caught up. So, first things first, Dublin:

If I had to sum Dublin up in a single word it would be "fun," I might not want to live there for ever and ever, but I would go back in a heart beat. The only really bad part was the dreary weather, despite my travels, I am still a spoiled So Caler and require a certain amount of sun. Shannon (my roommate from San Diego who has been studying in Paris while I’ve been in Rome) and I both agreed the dreary rain was the only real draw back to Dublin. My flight in was not bad at all; I sat by this very helpful American guy named Chris who helped me find the right bus to take from the airport to the city after we landed. I met Shannon at our hotel, but before I got there I got lost (despite Chris' help) and ended up dragging my luggage all over down town before I found the place. At least I was able to ask directions and communicate with people. Lucky for me the Irish are very friendly and helpful, so it wasn’t so bad. Seeing Shannon was SO good! We hadn’t seen each other since March. It was funny because as I went up to the room in the elevator, she went down the stairs to meet me; when I got to the room, no one was there! We met in the hallway; I think our excited screams and girlish giggles echoed through the whole building. Va bene.

Our room was really close to the center of the city, we were right by Christ’s Church, which is the oldest church in Dublin built within the old city walls; thus it is considered the oldest cathedral of the government. We were just a few blocks from Temple Bar, which is the part of town filled with restaurants and the highest concentration of pubs in the city (still, there is at least one pub on each city block). This is the area where we spent most of our nights. We were able to walk everywhere, which was really nice. The first day we walked through Temple Bar, over the river Liffey on the Liffey (Ha’Penny) Bridge built in 1816. I think this was the first pedestrian footbridge built in the city; I also think that the same person who designed the Titanic built it, but I could be wrong. We had lunch, and slowly made our way to the old Jameson Whiskey factory. We took the tour and learned all about how to make Irish whisky, not as boring as you might think. Shannon forcibly volunteered me for the whiskey taste test at the end of the tour, five samples of whisky, one sample of scotch, and one sample of bourbon later, I was a certified (and tipsy) "official" whiskey taste tester. So if this whole "school" thing doesn’t work out, at least I have that to fall back on. After the tour, we walked to the Jameson Pub adjacent to the factory. We both got Irish coffees (warm coffee and whisk with cream on top – so good!). On the way home we picked up some groceries and then made dinner back at our room before going out.

That night we went to Temple Bar and hit the pubs. The Irish culture is more of a drinking culture than I think I had realized. The pubs were completely filled, young people, old people, grandmas, dads, young couples, everyone was out drinking. Then later, everyone was outside stumbling and singing in the streets. This was both fun and not, because all of those people who were so friendly by day, were just plastered and belligerent come 11:30pm. The first pub we went to had live reggae of all things, so random – two best friends from Califorina, one living in Rome and one living in Paris, sitting in a Pub in Dublin listening to live reggae. It was so fun. I loved how the Irish people danced, they don’t worry about looking silly, they just flop all over the place. It was great. We went to a few more places, before we ourselves stumbled home.

The next day we decided to take the "Viking Splash" Tour – so ridiculous. But first, we wandered through the city. We went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral (the oldest church built outside of the city walls, thus it is known as the church of the people) and sat in the park behind. Then we went to a pub called the Fuzzy Lemon, it was huge - a rambling two stories. It reminded me of the Abby Theater in Rome. Shannon got some cider and we shared some nuts. Then we walked to and down Grafton Street, the main shopping street. It was really pretty: leafy trees, brick buildings, and street performers. We got some crappy coffee (nothing will ever match the coffee in Italy) and met our tour at Stephen’s Green. The Viking Splash tour was so silly, but really fun anyway. We drove around in one of those vehicles which can drive on land and then be used as a boat as well, we found out later that the one we riding in had been used on D Day in World War II. That was kinda erie. The tour went all over the city, and down the river past the U2 recording studios (making some boys that Shannon and I know VERY jealous). The tour guide was funny, but in a slightly inappropriate way, the Irish humor was somewhat crass, but good-natured at the same time. The sort of humor I think my dad would appreciate.

I don’t know as much about Irish history as I should, but the bit that I do know I feel very connected to. Even though I am a European mutt, I am more Irish and Czech than anything else. The Irish past is a mix of struggling story lines, Celtic and Viking, Irish and English, Protestant and Catholic. It was interesting to visit a place outside the reach of the Roman Empire and to see how things developed differently outside of that influence. The architecture was very distinctive, lots of brickwork, and pointed roofs. Dublin is a short city, nothing really taller than four stories.

After the tour we went home, changed and then got dinner at this very nice place ironically called The Shack. I got vegetable soup and Shannon had corned beef. Then we wandered around Temple Bar again. The first pub we went to had a live band playing American country songs with an Irish twist. It was so fun, and the vibe was so positive, I was really happy. We went to a lot of pubs that night and ended up at one called the Capitol. It was very posh; it had the same vibe as the Art café in Rome, or a really classy LA bar. Shannon and I got Champagne cocktails and sat in the lounge sipping them. It was very surreal sitting in that bar in Dublin, I just thought about my life, and the twists it had taken which had gotten me to that point. In my short 21 years I have done and seen things I never expected, things I proud of, things I’m not, but everything has either been a gift or a blessing in disguise, and all I can be is grateful for all of it.

The next day Shannon and I had a flight to Budapest at 2 in the afternoon. We checked out of our room. We went to get fish and chips at this little take out place, which is the most famous in Dublin. There is a sign out side with all the celebrities who have eaten there, U2, Sandra Bullock, Ray Charles, etc. We got our food and ate sitting on the sidewalk of a street corner. We must have looked strange sitting there with all of our stuff around us eating our lunch. Then, a man came out of the building we were leaning against with two chairs for us to sit in, so nice! We were both really touched, even though we must have looked even more odd sitting on a street corner in chairs eating, but we didn’t care. After we returned the chairs, we went to pick up something Shannon had seen before but hadn’t gotten the chance to buy. Then we went in search of our airport shuttle. It was supposed to be by the Spire (or the stiffy on the Liffey as the locals nicknamed it), but we couldn’t find it, So we took a cab that wasn’t that much more expensive.

The air port was a fiasco, we thought we had time, but then the announced our final boarding call and we hadn’t even made it thorough security yet. We ran through the airport like mad women and then when we made it to our gate that hadn’t even started boarding. Sigh. Its funny now, but then we were so confused. Va Bene, what can you do? We made it, and we were on our way to Budapest as we affectionately said good bye to Dublin.