Dublin

Saturday was a long day of driving, but we were finally getting to Dublin!  We left the hostel in Slane at around 9 am and headed towards Dublin.  Dublin was about an hour away, so not too bad!

When we arrived in Dublin, our first stop was Christ's Church Cathedral.  This church was massive!  Our professor pointed out the various styles of construction  there (Gothic and Roman), giving us some historical background on the Church of Ireland, specific dates, etc.  It was a very beautiful place, and the structure of it was particularly interesting.  This was the second building on the field trip we stopped at that was built in the shape of a cross.  It was so beautifully designed, and the flow of it was so normal, I would have never guessed!

Our next stop was the National Museum of Ireland.   This museum contains a number of ancient artifacts found in Ireland, many of which pertain to what we are learning in class.  It was a really great opportunity to apply what we have learned to some physical objects.  I thought it was a great way to better my understanding of our current class information!  In order to get to the museum, however, we had to walk across the city.  This was a perfect chance to gain a better feel of Dublin and see the various sections of the city.  Dublin reminds me a lot of New York City.  It was very busy with activity for an early Saturday morning!  It was a really cool place, and I am definitely going to go back again soon!

After the museum, we stopped for a quick lunch in the city and then headed back to Cork.  This was a little over a three hour drive back, so it was not too bad!  We got home around 6 pm, giving us enough time to get settled back into our apartments and make some dinner before meeting up with new friends!

Later in the evening, the HC girls and I went to Leeside.  These are the apartments of a number of American UCC students, including the USD people we have become friends with.  It was a lot of fun going to see where they live, as well as continue to get a better sense of the city.  After meeting up at Leeside, we all went to a pub called Holy Cow.  We have been dying to try this and it turned out to be a lot of fun!  This HC girls and I made a Cork/Ireland bucket list, and Holy Cow was on it.  One activity down, many more to go!

Be back later with more details of the weekend!

XO,

Caitlin

Christ's Church Cathedral