To take from Emma's own words.. This weekend was really an Irish celebration for our much anticipated reunion. As inseparable as we have been for the last few years we have actually both been having too much fun to think about missing anyone, even each other. Regardless, it's still nice to be able to introduce each other as that girl I met in 3rd grade Downers D.O.L.L.S fall ball. A story that I still cannot tell to this day without cracking me up. I was even happier to be in Dublin this particular weekend because I absolutely, positively could not miss the minor face disfiguration Emma had. Despite the fact that she not only got to witness my tooth get knocked out and see it in all of its aftermath, she was only willing to send a SnapChat of her lip. I mean if I didn't have flights scheduled already I would have scheduled them right then and there simply because I deserved to see that disfigured face!
So with that said, Kelly and I arrived in Dublin late Thursday and met Emma and two of her friends Lauren and Melanie and went out to 'Clublin' (I forget who gets credit for that pun) but it was such a fun night. Emma's friends are so hilarious, so hospitable, and so, so much fun. They literally kept us entertained the entire time. The kind of friends that greet you with a flask are always going to be friends of mine. The clubs there are so much bigger than the ones in Rome and so we actually got to dance and have our own space. More importantly though was that people there speak English. To finally be able to communicate with people who are not just study abroad students or kind of just laugh and work with the Italians' attempts to speak English was like coming home. One funny story from the night was that this guy told me that my "freckles are unbecoming of a woman." I must have looked utterly shocked because he thought that was hilarioussssss that I wouldn't just know that. Which I thought it was hilarious too, but mostly I was just glad that he never saw me in the summer because that would have been about 100x worse than how many I have now. For that comment though I did insist on a few rounds of tequila shots, which he happily gave to me and Emma and for that I'm not even sorry for these unbecoming freckles in the least.
So the next day we got up to go to Galway. Ireland was absolutely beautiful in such a natural way. We got to Galway City a little too late to do any of the big tours, so we ended up wandering around by ourselves, shopping, seeing the Spanish Arch and such and just generally wandering around. It was just fun to all be back together and trading off on all of our experiences. Galway was small so it wasn't even as though we were missing out on too much by doing things our own way that day. Plus the weather was dry so everything was going our way. Got so many pictures for our apartment next year it's actually going to be unreal to try to narrow these down at some point. Anyone who comes to visit will actually probably just walk in to see our walls plastered with pictures of us abroad. Just so everyone's ready for it.
We went to McDonaughs too that day and had fish and chips. They also advertised that they came with "mushy peas" ... As though I would want mushy peas more than regular peas. And even when they came they weren't one of those things that surprised you and were good. So that was mostly funny and we even saw mushy peas on several other menus so that must be a thing. So after we ate we went back to our hostel and got to meet our wonderful roommates.. and by wonderful I do mean one bizarre Brazilian man who ultimately ended up hating us, and one professional poker player who was very comfortable smoking weed in the room with us. To be fair we were deserving of the Brazilian man's dislike, I happened to leave my phone plugged in under his bed overnight on vibrate. Unfortunately for him, I received close to 57 text messages throughout the night from Kyle, Cosmo and David that were basically nonstop vibrating under his bed. I mean I don't blame him at all for that one.
We went on a pub crawl that night with a bunch of students from Emma's school that also happened to be there which was so much fun! We went to King's Head, Fibber McGees, and Carbon nightclub. Such a fun night! Irish people know how to drink. Given I already knew that but the atmosphere of all of these places was so much fun, boisterous and lively and just fun. Such a great time.
That night when we got back to our hostel though I started running a fever and got a sore throat which was so weird for me in general because I'm never sick but also because I'm up in this bunk bed in some hostel with a Brazilian man and a professional poker player near me and it's just not home, and it's not Marquette and it's not Rome. So the next day we were off to the Cliffs of Moher and I sucked it up and actually took medicine just so that it wouldn't ruin my time. On the way we saw this AllWee cave which ultimately was not that cool but we laughed pretty hard about just being in there and Kelly searching for WiFi in a cave and Emma asking if it was man-made seconds after the woman literally said it was a natural cave. There was some beautiful waterfalls in the cave too and even this place where the calcium had fixated itself just so that it looked like praying hands which was not just one of those 'it kind of looks like that if you squint a bit' but no it was actually right when they turned on the lights in that area you picked it out as praying hands. They also turned off the lights and so we were in complete darkness, the kind your eyes never adjust to. So that itself was cool and worth it for me especially since it was on the way. So very cool.
So we did get to the Cliffs and they were awe inspiring. So massive and the water crashing against them was so powerful. The waves were so huge and it would have been my literal dream to be swimming in that water if it were safe even in the least. But it was so cool. We even managed to avoid the mist and fog for the few hours we were there, but definitely not the wind. At times we would just be being comically blown from side to side. Naturally it was Emma who got her scarf caught in the wind and attached to some barbed wire. Twice.
We also stopped off at the Burren Coast which is that last picture. Rocks as far as you could see, especially because the fog had set in by that time so as far as you could see was about 50 yards. That night the pills weren't doing so much so I was feeling sick again and we came back to our hostel to the pro poker player literally telling us how things would be easier if he weren't so stoned .. Emma's awkward laugh at that was about all I needed to finally put out a call of desperation to my parents and I know now that if I ever want to stay somewhere other than a hostel all I have to do is tell my parents that I'm sick. So that strategy is in the playbook now. We ended up going out to dinner and moving over to a hotel because I was just not up for anything else which was a huge bummer but we all also really needed the sleep.
The next day we headed back to Dublin and got to see UCD and some more of Dublin and went out that night to Temple Bar. The atmosphere in Dublin is incomparable- the people are friendly, loud, fun and just happy. So many times where there are random groups just singing or chanting and everybody joins in, there is live music everywhere and people are just so lively. Can't wait to go back for St. Patrick's Day because if it was that great on a random Sunday in February I can't even imagine what it'll be like then. We had dinner at Porterhouse Brewery and also a sample of beers there- Oyster Stout, Temple Brau and the Red Ale. None of us particularly loved the Oyster Stout, so much so that it became a rule in Cheers Gov'nah. But we really liked the other two and then Emma's friends came to meet us so that when it closed (where in which they sang the national anthem, something none of us recognized at the time but my Grandma informed me about later). We all came out to the club and that was so fun too- already miss Bulmers.
When we left we ended up at this fast food falafel and fries place called Toni's .. Where in which the friendliness of the Irish was made most evident. This extremely drunk man came in and was dancing and singing to us and spilled his drink on one of Emma's girlfriends and altogether after much crying of laughter both from us and from the owners of this place, we ended up all getting free falafels. I think we were there like two hours just waiting for this guy to say "no I'm sober this was all a prank." So. So. Funny. Perfect way to end the weekend.
We were not happy to leave Dublin to say the least- the ability to ask for directions and actually read and understand advertisements is so underrated. And being in the same country with your best friend isn't the worst thing.
Other random things from Rome- had another Marquette dinner last Wednesday and will be celebrating Fat Tuesday again with them tonight- lots of impressive cooking and we all have so much fun together! Also had a hugely successful roommate dinner.. I kid you not my roommates can really cook. Hopefully I'm absorbing their creative talent in some way while I'm here. Meghan made stuffed onions. I mean c'mon. Showing everyone up. Bri made an awesome pasta salad too, and Sydney revealed that she can make mint brownies. So basically God did right by me and my roommates. Also- news came Monday that there will be a papal election taking place in Rome! While I'm living here. There is nobody quite as blessed as me, I swear. If it isn't me who is this lucky it's somebody else who is doing all the same things as me and making me appear very lucky.
Still loving all my time in Rome- glad to be home for this coming weekend before heading off to London the next weekend with Kelly! Time is going by so fast.. Too scared to even look at my countdown at this point.
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