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.

America's Pasttime

Yesterday for Grace's birthday we went to the Brewer's game with Grace's godfather, our Uncle Potter, and his fiancee, which was the perfect reintroduction to the United States. What says USA like a night at the baseball field (except maybe watching fireworks next to the Statue of Liberty while eating apple pie in an American flag shirt)? It was all the great things about America rolled into one, like hotdogs, the national anthem and comraderie. Of course, the things that I was most excited about was the large fountain drinks (in Europe you usually just get a small bottle of Coke for the same price). Once I go somewhere with free refills I will be in heaven.

Many times when I was about to talk at Miller Park I thought "Now they are going to know I'm American because of my dialect," but then I remembered that in the US most people talk like I do! No more feeling like a foreigner. Another thing that is going to take some getting used to in my American cell phone. The other day I couldn't figure out how to charge after more time not using my new phone than using it.

And the Brewer's beat the Mets. It was a good day at the ol' ballpark.

Wicklow National Park

Beautiful Ireland

 

On Grace's second day in Ireland I didn't have a final and Grace wanted to see more of the beautiful country so I booked us a tour a the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough (I had actually already gone to Glendalough once before but didn't ge a tour of the Wicklow Mountains). The one downside is that we had to wake up earlier in the morning than jetlagged Grace would have preferred. We started our day by making our way down to the city centre to catch the tour outside the toursit office. Our vehicle for the day was a mini-bus so that it could navigate the turns and small roads of the Wicklow Mountains.

 

Mannis was our guide for the day and he was a cute old Irishman who made us tea at our first stop. It was a good tour and here were the highlights:

• Blessington Lake
• Guinness Lake
• Waterfall
• Sally Gap (filming site for PS I Love You) and Wicklow Gap
• Grace seeing sheep

Grace at Guinness Lake which looks like a giant pint of Guinness

 

And after lunch at a classic Irish carvery we went to Glendalough monastic settlement.

 

Round Tower at Glendalough

 

Grace at the Upper Lake of Glendalough (meaning "valley of the two lakes")

 

Walking down a path at Glendalough

 

We also met the cutest French girl on the tour. She must have been about four and didn't speak English and we did not speak any French but that didn't stop her from talking to us. She just kept chatting away, despite our attempts to tell her we didn't understand. It was tremendously cute.

 

After arriving back in Dublin we invited the Wolf Pack over for a pasta dinner. I had a final the next day so after Grace went to bed to try and recover from jetlag I studied late into the night.

Home

After 4.5 months of living the dream in Europe I have finally arrived back in the great city of Chicago and am writing this entry from my very own chair in my very own family room in my very own house.

Grace and I got on the plane at Charles de Galle after almost failing to get a taxi and checking in our bags that were thankfully underweight, but more on that in later entries. After the eight hour flight we arrived at O'Hare Int'l Airport at 2:30 local time. We went through passport check, as well as customs, and they saw nothing suspicious and let us in the country. We then went out to the waiting area only to be greeted by our parents and Aunt Pat (from Maui) waving American flags, and I was happy to see the good old red, white, and blue waving in the air of the land of the free and the home of the brave.

We arrived at home and as soon as we got in the door we turned around to realize that Freddy, the small child from next door, was also inside. Apparently my family has adopted other children since I've been gone (or at least let them play with the pets), but Freddy was cute enough and likes hanging out with my dad so I was glad to have another scapegoat to blame things on in the house ("Freddy must left those red stilettos in the middle of the floor"). For dinner we had a lot of Grace and my favorites and for dessert my aunt brought some pastries from Maui.

Naturally I had to show my family all the great souvenirs that I had accumulated throughout the past four months and did not wait long to do so. I also got a surprise when I went into my room and found that my mother had cleaned it while I was gone. What a wonderful (and somewhat needed) surprise!

While at home I also had the pleasure of bathing in a bathtub, and opening my dresser which reminded me that I have more clothing than the two suitcases full I brought with me to Europe (it's almost like I have amnesia).

I'm glad to be back and will be working on updating the blog with all my adventures. I know you're all panting with anticipation.

Grace and Claire: EuroTrip Warriors

Grace and me at the cliffs on Inishmor in the dense fog

So far we've...

traveled by plane, train, taxi, bus, ferry, and bike,
stayed at four hostels and one bed and breakfast,
seen about half a dozen castles,
been to four airports,
eaten Italian, Thai, Irish, Chinese, and French food,
attended two West End shows,
used two different currencies,
and we got checked our bags and got through security at the airport today in under 25 minutes...

...and we still have two days in Paris.

Short Update

I am currently attempting to pack up all my belongings in Dublin and right now, at 12:30 am, it seems almost impossible. Grace has been in the past week and we have conquered Ireland and are leaving for London tomorrow then off to Paris. I will be sure to update everyone on the adventures we have had and are sure to encounter in the UK and France.

I will be home on May 27th so get excited! And once I am home my life will be a lot less exciting and I will have plenty of time to put together the final entries on my blog.

Karaoke Update: The Swan Song

The day we never thought would come has come at last.

Alastair and Brock in the centre

Thursday we had to say goodbye to our favorite local hangout and primary singing venue (secondary venues include the streets and Supermacs). Grace had gotten in that day and after a short nap we headed into Blackrock with Brittany and Stacy to get some food before the main event. We went to a cute little pub across the street from The Wicked Wolf and got some traditional Irish food, including cottage pie and beef and Guinness pie.

After eating the four of us headed over to The Wicked Wolf in our finest dresses (we all had gotten a little more dressed up for our lasts night), which looked so different in the daylight and it seems like it is a nice bar to go and have a drink in even when you are not being serenaded by the one and only Brock Jones.

And it was a good night. Brock must have dedicated five songs to us, not to mention everyone else just went with the flow and dedicated their songs to us. Brock even changed some of the lyrics to give shout-outs to Chicago and Melbourne. Grace and I decided to sing "Don't Stop Believin'" and the entire Wolf Pack sang "Save Tonight," which had lyrics that described what we felt with painful accuracy (we also attempted to sing "American Pie" with less success). We got "Home" and "I've Had the Time of My Life" dedicated to us by another patron and Alastair, who is in fact auditioning for the X Factor today, was having a lot of fun serenading us with "You Are Not Alone," "You Raise Me Up," and of course "End of the Road." Laura busted out a solo of "Love Song" which was exceptional. The usual girls also sang their standard "Don't Stop Believin'" (even after Grace and I sang it) and "Don't Stop Me Now." There was also an extreme amount of dancing involved.

Laura and me belting

The one downside to our night was the fact that Mark, the raspy voice Canadian, and Stefan, the usual barkeep, were not there. I had Alastair text Mark to tell him that he had to come and say goodbye but he claimed that he was sick. I think Grace was a little surprised to see that most the friends we had made at the Wicked Wolf were old Irish men.

The X Factor

The End of the Road

And then the music stopped and it was time to bid farewell to the Wicked Wolf. We took a couple group pictures with Alastair and Brock and then said goodbye. We wished Alastair good luck on the X Factor and Brock said he was bad at goodbyes so he just said "until next time." We went up to the bar and talked with Eugene, who told us to be good girls and go home. We're going to miss them all.

And on to Supermacs and our usual worker. We all ordered the chicken tenders and laughed at the three Diet Cokes that Laura bought so that she could pull an all-nighter for her exam the next morning at 9 am.