Livin’ it up in Dublin: A student perspective on Ireland’s capital city

Day 5:

My second day at ACD was more eventful, I really got the swing of the way things run. I did not get lost, which was fantastic! After we were done for the day, we went to Grafton Street where we had a fantastic lunch! The place was similar to chipotle and the food was just as good. Since it was Tuesday night everyone went to Dicey’s, but I was not feeling to well so I stayed back and just walked around the local area. Tuesday’s in Dublin I student night, so the drinks are at a discounted price, which is fantastic with budgets. Even if you don’t want to go out and drink walk around Dublin because it is beautiful at night, just walking around listening to the music is a wonderful experience. But if you are interested in going to the pubs try going to the pubs where the music can be heard on the streets- they are always the best.

Day 6:

Yesterday was a lot of fun! After work with ACD everyone decided to relax for a bit. Then we attended Howl at the Moon. Which was a really fun bar! It is free before 9, and all of the drinks are 2.50! You cannot beat that! It wasn’t that far, actually its pretty much right across the school. After we left the bar we had a late night snack at McDonalds, which was good. If you get a chance do check out restaurants that we have in the US, the ONLY reason I am saying that is because it is fun to compare the differences between countries. But, Howl at the Moon is defiantly a bar worth checking out.

 

Day 7:

Sometimes having a relaxing evening is the best thing to do. After work I went back to the house and hung out for a bit, then we left to go to Color Works (which is a tattoo pallor) on Lower Ormond Quay Street.   My friend decided that she wanted to get a tattoo when she was in Ireland, so we found a very nice tattoo place and they did an excellent job. They were really nice and it was a very clean place. You even had to buzz in to get inside! Amy did her tattoo and I highly recommend her, if anyone was thinking of getting a tattoo while here. She is very sweet and she knows what she is doing. Later on, we got Gino’s again, on Grafton Street. Gino’s is so good, and their gelato is directly imported from Italy!

 

Day 8:

It is Friday! We reached the end of our first week in Ireland! Colum let me got off early in order to go to the Jameson Factory with everyone else, which was a great tour by the way! I suggest anyone to go one it, we even got a free mix drink at the end! It is not boring and the tour guy was really funny. The only thing about this tour is that it’s a bit of a wait, you are going to have to set aside ample time, just for waiting to get on the actual tour BUT, there is a bar and gift store while you wait so you wont be bored.

 

Livin’ it up in Dublin: A student perspective on Ireland’s capital city

Summer 2014

This year I have an amazing opportunity to study in Dublin, Ireland at the American College Dublin. For the next four weeks I will be living and experiencing Dublin like it is my home.  Ireland so far has not been what I expected; it has been so much more.  These are just summaries of my day-to-day adventures, so that you can see an inside look at what Ireland is like from an outside perspective.

Day 1: Getting to Ireland

Flying can be difficult sometimes, there is no getting past it- delays and cancelations are bound to happen.  I suggest you plan an extra day of travel time just in you’re your flight gets canceled or delayed.  My flight to Ireland was canceled so I had to wait till the next day to fly out.  Most flights are at night because of the time difference.  Just make sure the receptionist helps you because it is their responsibility to find you a new flight with the least hassle to you. But, when I finally landed in Dublin airport it was defiantly worth the wait.

Day 2: We made it, now lets go hiking!

Since my original flight was canceled, I got to Ireland a day later then I planed, but it was a beautiful day.  So, instead of sleeping away jet lag, I decided to go on a hike with the rest of the ACD crew.   It was a great decision.  We first took a train to Dalkey, which is probably the most beautiful village I have ever seen (and also my future home J).  We walked through Dalkey, taking lots of pictures of course, in order to get to Killiney Hill.  Killiney Hill is defiantly a climb, but it is completely worth it!  The view is outstanding! And apparently if you climb to the top of “Killiney wishing stone” your wish comes true, so of course I had too!

Day 3: Orientation and ComedyCrunch

Orientation was today; it was very interesting and fun.  We walked to the school (it wasn’t far at all).  Colum (Dean of Students) showed us around, he told us a little bit about the school and showed where everything was.  After our tour he took us around the city, we walked for a bit, but of course, we ended up on Grafton Street.  For those who do not know Grafton has tons of shops and restaurants, it is such a fun street that should defiantly be visited.  After some much needed shopping we went to Nando’s for lunch.  It was excellent the chicken was so great! I defiantly suggest going there, if you have a chance.  Later that night we attended the ComedyCrunch, which was an amazing experience that I suggest anyone to go to! But make sure you get there early the seats fill up quick.

Day 4: First day of ACD and visiting Trinity library

The first day actually attending ACD, I got lost.  Make sure you know where a place is especially in another country before you leave the house.  DO NOT try to go off memory double check, because I was about thirty minutes late because I took a wrong turn.  Other then that mishaps in the morning, the first day went great.  We stopped early because we had a meeting about safety.  Some police officers came in to talk to us about what is okay and what is not okay in Ireland. The things that they said are really logical and need to be kept in mind especially when in another country.  Other countries have different rules, so abiding by those rules is vital or you could get in a lot of trouble.  The thing that surprised me the most is how strict Ireland is with weapons, pepper spray, which is common in the United States for girls to carry, is completely illegal here. Also, the common misconception about being able to drink on the streets is wrong; it is not legal to do that here like people usually believe.  After this meeting we stopped by trinity library on the way back to our house. The Trinity library is so beautiful and huge, if you love books as much as I do, you defiantly need to stop by, it is also super affordable!

American College Dublin. An Intern’s Perspective: Dave Shirer

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Sunny Dublin

My first weekend in Dublin was amazing! I arrived Saturday morning, got to my apartment, met my roommates, and got settled in. That afternoon, the rest of my group (5 girls) and I met up with Sandra, the internship program director, and toured part of the city, mainly Henry Street and The Temple Bar area. Walking with Sandra is quite the experience; she zooms around, pointing at so many things, it truly is sensory overload: too much to take in at once. After walking around for a few hours, we stopped for dinner at Fade Street Social, a tapas bar near Temple Bar. I had a few different plates, but the best, by far, was the mini goat logs: goat cheese wrapped in ham, then lightly battered and fried, and drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. They were amazing! Following dinner, most of the girls headed back to the apartments, but Kelly and I stayed out with Sandra and went to Grogan’s Pub. With the heat wave that was running through Dublin at the time, the streets were bustling and the pubs as lively as could be. Kelly and I stayed out for a few hours and got to see a great cross-section of Irish culture and people. It was a great first day!

Sunday, we all met up with Sandra around noon, toured more of the city: O’Connell Street, the Financial District, Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green, and the area around Trinity College. She took us each to where we would be interning for the summer so we knew where we were going. After this walking tour the six of us went on a Viking Splash Tour, which really helped us all better understand to layout of the city after Sandra’s whirlwind tour. The tour vehicle is a WWII DUKW amphibious vehicle, so we drove around the city, then floated through part of the canal, all while wearing Viking helmets and taunting pedestrians and other tour buses. After the Viking tour, we returned to the apartments and relaxed for the evening.

Monday was my first day on the job. I am interning this summer at American College Dublin in the Student Affairs Office with Colum Cronin. I am a graduate student getting my Master’s Degree in Higher Education: Student Affairs, to ideally work at a college or university in Student Activities. I am very excited to be working with Colum and the staff here at ACD to plan an anniversary and reunion for this fall and everything else I may end up working on. I enjoyed a half day in the office on Monday, then was tasked to explore the city some more, take photos, and enjoy the weather. All of which I did, because Tuesday saw the return of dreary Dublin weather with rain off and on for most of the day.

American College Dublin. Student Blog: Lindsay Doran

Monday, 28 May 2012

Since the students arrival two weeks ago, Colum and I had planned a few field trips and activities to do with the group of students. The first field trip we planned was the first weekend the arrived, which was taking the DART to Dun Laoghaire for a walking adventure. For those of you who don’t know the DART stands for Dublin Area Rapid Transit, it is a light rail network operating in Dublin and is one of the most common uses of transportation in the city. For someone who did not grow up in a city like me, this was a very exciting first time city transportation experience for me last year. Being more familiar with it now, it was interesting to see what the other students thought. Most students who lived near a city were able to relate this type of transportation, while for others it was another first time experience for them. The day was a fairly mild day, with some sun shining through highlighting the beauty of the numerous seaside town and villages dotted along the way. Once we got off our walking journey began. Colum toured us through pointing our various landmarks. As we continued to walk we passed what is known as the “40 foot” which is where Irish people going swimming. Myself and the other students were shocked when we saw a good amount of people going in for a dip on a slightly overcast, and to us chilly day in Dublin, but for Colum this was nothing out of the ordinary.  Colum had also pointed out to us a magpie, which is a bird that is found all over the country. What’s unique and comical to us (Americans) is that when you see one you are supposed to salute it, in efforts to avoid off bad luck. After a few hours of walking we made it into this next town over and hopped back onto the DART to head home. In my opinion DART trips are always a lot of fun because you can make a day out of it, and once you have used the DART once it’s easy and convenient to use on your own when you want to explore other areas outside Dublin City Centre.

Over the last week the weather in Dublin, Ireland has been magnificent, and if you ask any Irish person they would typically respond by saying “enjoy it because it’s the best it is going to get!” In order to fully take advantage of the great weather we planned a trip to a nearby park, where Colum and his colleague Damien taught the students how to play Gaelic Football. Gaelic football is very different from American Football, it consists of a mixture between soccer, rugby, and basketball. Prior to going to the park we went over the rules and guidelines, as well as provided them with a some brief YouTube clips on how the game is actually played. I was happy to see that most of the students had a competitive edge to them and were eager to get out on to the field. Kudos to Colum and Damien for coaching the students and running them through a few drills before starting the actual game. The group of students split in half and it was game on! For next 40 minutes the students competitively played against one another by throwing, kicking, catching, and running with the ball. While there is always a winner and loser when it comes to competitive sports, it was clear by the end of the match that everyone had a really good time playing, and some students even asked when they were going to learn another one of Irelands other sports.

As the week continued the sun shined on and got warmer and warmer. Colum and I spent our Sunday in Bray hiking to the top of the hill to look over the water. In efforts to be adventurous we decided to take a different route down the mountain. Little did we know our exploratory mind set led us down a path of uncertainty. We ended up getting lost and hiking up and down the mountain for 3 and a half hours. Despite the sore feet and exhaustion we enjoyed the hike in its entirety. By the time we made our way down the mountain we had missed lunch and couldn’t be more ready for a big dinner. Our first attempted to eat at a local restaurant in Bray failed when the waitress informed us that they were not taking anymore order temporarily because the kitchen was very busy and overloaded with food orders. Confused and starved at this point, Colum said we have 5 minutes to take the next DART into Dubin, we had to make a run for it. It was at this point that I decided I would never go sprinting in moccasins shoes again. Just a few feet away from the station, running as fast as I could, and dodging the people in front of me, I lost my balance and fell flat on my face. As I laid there on the ground for a minute Colum looked back to make sure I was okay, shaking it off as quickly as I could we made it to the dart station before it departed back to Dublin. If my body wasn’t going to be sore enough the next morning from the 3 hours of hiking, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be waking up feeling achy and sore after a fall like that. I am excited to see what the next week brings! Thank you for reading and keep following along to find out! If you have any questions or comments regarding my blog please do not hesitate to contact me at ldoran@amcd.ie