Kristina and Carolyn's Visit: Friday

The grand finale of Kristina and Carolyn's trip!

Friday the plan was to go to Howth, about forty minutes outside Dublin by train, if the weather was decent. Turns out the weather was decent enough so after mailing Kristina's many postcards at the UCD post office we hopped on a bus and headed into Dublin. After getting into the city we made our way over to the Famine Memorial on the banks of the river. On our way we ran into many people selling daffodils as a fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society and Carolyn bought a bunch, which she later tossed into the ocean.

We looked at the Famine Memorial and then, to Kristina's delight, headed over to Connolly Station to catch a train to Howth. Kristina was very excited about being in a station that shared her last name and we took many pictures of her next to various signs. Then we hopped on the DART and were on our way to Howth.

Unfortunately the weather was not looking good when we got there. It was getting rather windy and by the end of our hike it had started raining. It didn't stop us as we made our way up the trail to get the gorgeous views of cliffs and the ocean. Here is a sample:

The magic of the self-timer.

It was getting a little damp in Howth so we decided to hop back on the train and get into Dublin for some lunch, going to a place called Kate's Cottage for some hardy Irish food. After lunch we headed over to The Temple Bar for some music, stopping at the James Connolly memorial on the way. Temple Bar didn't have very good traditional music that day but we enjoyed sitting down and relaxing never the less.

Kristina had been taking pictures of the various colourful doors in Dublin so we made our way down to the Georgian area of town, stopping for pictures along the way. The doors here really are fun and I never get tired of watching them fly by me as I ride the Dublin Bus. We also stopped in Merrion Square, which is the park with the Oscar Wilde statue (although there are probably about four hundred in Ireland). I showed them how it was done, climbing onto the rock where the statue sits. I did it fairly easily, but I had already had practice. Then Carolyn tried. Carolyn is a lot shorter than me and her shorter legs may have done her a disservice. For the life of her she couldn't get up. The funniest part came when she finally got both her feet on the rock only to fall backwards into the garden. Poor Carolyn. On her last attempt, as she made the hop over I held her to keep her from falling. I would have done this before but she wouldn't let me.

We walked around looking at doors a little more, then it was time to hop on a bus back to UCD. It just so happened that Brittany and Laura were on the same bus so we chatted with them on the way back. Laura had just gotten her hair cut and needed it dyed so Brittany was going to come up to our apartment and help her. We all gathered in the kitchen as Brittany dyed Laura's hair and then the Dsigs played a little cards.

Kristina, Carolyn, and I went back to my room after Britt left because they needed to get all their belongings in their suitcases and ready for bed. Laura came in to show us how her hair turned out and ended up chatting with us for a couple of hours. It was a good session of girl talk and made me realize how much I missed my slumber parties with Kristina.

The girls left the next morning at about 6 am. It was so nice to have them here and although I miss they could stay longer my room wasn't spacious with three girls sleeping/living there.