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Published: November 4th 2008
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Wicklow Moutains
Lauren and I freezing near the summit of the Wicklow Mountains. I am supposed to be writing a paper on the “overseas expansion and modes of foreign market entry” for EuroDisney but my attention span is getting very short. Plus I would rather talk about my trip to Dublin!
Last Monday started with one of my best friends coming to visit me in London. Lauren is studying in Barcelona and was on fall break. In the two days she was here, we managed to see a lot of London. The Tower of London, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Trafalgar Square, Convent Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey…the only thing we didn’t have time for was a trip to the British Museum or National Gallery. We went to see “Wicked” on Wednesday night because we both agreed that we were quite possibly the only girls in the Midwest who had never seen it. And now I know why everyone loves it! I laughed and cried and it was wonderful!
We woke up very early Thursday morning to catch a flight to Dublin, Ireland. We mainly just bummed around that afternoon to get an idea of where we were in the city and went to the travel agency to book our
The Lower Lake
This is the Lower Lake (as opposed to the Upper Lake) of Wicklow. tickets for our “Over the Top” tour through the Irish countryside. We tried to spend as little time in the hostel as we possibly could. Over the next three days, we had several different roommates, none of whom spoke English very well and the room reeked of body odor and wet dog. Blah. Nobody snored though so that was a plus!
Friday morning we hopped on the van for our tour. It took us through the Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough and through every possible muddy and bumpy road. Dublin was a little disappointing in terms of beauty but the countryside was (I guess still is) amazing! Wicklow is known as the “Garden of Ireland” and even in November the grass was still green, the sheep were out doing whatever it is that they do, the lakes and waterfalls were gorgeous and there was even a little bit of snow up on the summit of the mountains. We stopped about an hour into the trip to get our first view of Dublin from above and were given coffee and cookies. After a few more stops we pulled into a little town for lunch. I know that it is pronounced “Laura” but
Valley
Classic Ireland I can’t remember the correct spelling except that it probably has an “ough” somewhere in there.
After lunch we reached Glendalough, which was founded in the 6th century by St. Kevin. St. Kevin came to live as a hermit and founded his monastery, which became a center of prayer and learning for almost a thousand years. It was one of the most significant monastic sites in Ireland. If you are still a member of St. Kevin’s Parish (and probably very wealthy) you can be buried at the site of the original church. On the way back we got to passed the lakes of Blessington during sunset!
Lauren and I decided to get out of the city again and on Saturday morning, we took a train to Bray, Ireland. It’s a small, coastal with really nothing to do but admire the scenery. We found a couple trails that we thought led to the top of this beautiful hill with a cross at the summit, but the first trail became too muddy and wet and the second one just randomly ended.
That afternoon we went to the Guinness Storehouse. Yeah! It was probably the most educational activity we did
on the entire trip. There are 7 floors of the building! On the first floor we followed a video of the current “master-brewer” who took us through the history of the beer and the ingredients needed to brew it (water, barley, hops and yeast). We also got to go to the Tasting Laboratory and learn how to properly taste-test beer. The second floor was about the history of Guinness advertizing. The third (and perhaps the most important floor) is described on the website as the floor that “challenges visitors to look at their own drinking habits and recognize the fine line between enjoying yourself and drinking to excess.” The forth floor tells the history of the building which was constructed in 1904 as a fermentation plant and re-opened in 2000 as the Guinness Storehouse visitor center. On the fifth floor you can pour your own pint of Guinness (which we didn’t do) and there is a small restaurant to “socialize in” (which we didn’t do.) The sixth floor is lots and lots of stairs which lead to the best floor. The seventh floor is the circular Gravity Bar, where you get a complimentary beer and a great view of the
Cemetery
A small part of the cemetery at St. Kevin's monastery city
.
Before our flight on Sunday night, we went to St. Patrick’s Park and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. After two months in Europe, all churches begin to look the same, but I will admit that so far, St. Patrick’s has the most beautiful stain glass that I have seen.
There is so much more to tell but I think I will let some of my pictures do the talking. Oh but I am going to an Election Party tonight that an American group is hosting for students who wanted to watch the coverage of the election. So this means I will definitely be pulling an all-nighter - with the time difference we won't find out the results until very early morning London time! Thanks for reading!
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emylie
non-member comment
yes! soo glad you loved wicked!! Thats so cool that you guys got to see each other in Europe!