Final Day in Dublin

Molly Malone- the Tart with the Cart

Posing with Molly Malone + Carroll's Bag = Tourist

Unfortunately, on my last full day in Dublin I had a final exam in The EU and the Business Environment, so I sent my sister into the city with Brittany and Stacy while Stevie and I took the essay test. Grace was going to go to the restaurant Queen of Tarts with them and then head to the Jameson Distillery while I wrote all I knew about Copenhagen Treaty.

After Stevie and I finished with the exam we too decided to get lunch at Queen of Tarts, while Grace and the other girls finished up at the distillery. The food was very good but the service was slow. After we finished (and Stevie was kind enough to treat me), Brittany, Stacy, and Grace arrived and we divided and conquered Dublin, but only after we did some shopping.

Stevie, Grace, and I opted to go to what most Irish considered "Ireland's greatest treasure," the Book of Kells. It is an illuminated manuscript made by Irish monks and housed in Trinity College in the centre of Dublin. The three of us arrived in the gates of Trinity kind of late in the day and I was worried (shocker) that we were too late to see it and I threatened to use tears (another shocker) to make sure that they let us in. Things turn out better than expected, though, when we were waiting in line and a women walking by with some poster board asked if we were American. We replied yes in our obvious American dialects and she said "Don't worry, we'll get you in." I thought that this meant that she would make sure we got in before it closed but it turns out that she works for Trinity and used her employee powers to get us in for free. Let me say it one more time, I love the Irish!

The manuscript itself was amazing (through not 8 euro amazing so I'm glad that we didn't have to pay)! It was so intricate and amazing that someone could do that with their own hands. I am really glad that I went and got to show it to Grace.

After that (and a stop at Supermac's) the three of us did some more shopping before the farewell dinner planned for that Wolf Pack that night. I had to go to Carroll's, the Irish souvenir shop that is on every corner of Dublin (not an exaggeration) to stock up on everthing Irish I could. The thing I found when I was shopping, though, was that none of the souvenirs really captured my time in Ireland. At least I have all the pictures, memories, and jewelry.

And then it was time for the final dinner at our favorite Irish restaurant O'Neill's. Grace was very excited to be back at an Irish carvery and both of us got corned beef. I also had cabbage for the full Irish effect. After dinner the complete Wolf Pack headed out in the streets of Temple Bar in search of live traditional Irish music and found some in Gogarty's so we stayed there a while singing along to all the songs that we learned by heart after four months in Dublin. After "Wild Rover" we decided to try a find another place to go, but were unsuccessful and we were faced with something that we knew was coming since Day 1- goodbye.

Little JMatch

Flash forward to all six of us (and Grace) standing in the cobblestone streets on Temple Bar crying and hugging. It was rough to say the least. Those five other girls were the only ones that knew what it was like to live at UCD for the Spring 2010 semester and I will always have a special connection with them (and an excuse to visit Melbourne and White Horse).

We all headed back to UCD and I started the impossible task of packing my life away before Laura, Grace, and I left to tour Ireland the next morning. Luckily, I was coming back to the apartment before leaving for good so it all didn't have to be packed away, although I wanted to make a good start.