Dublin, Ireland: May 31 to June 2

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Trinity College

Anne Street Umbrellas

Carol :)

Saint Stephen’s Green Park

The Spire

Pretty street near Temple Bar

Grafton Street

Abigail's Hostel

My hostel room

Hostel common area

Helpful street instructions

Pretty flowers :)

The Dubh Linn Garden

My lack of sleep from the overnight flight along with the change in time zones made my first day in Dublin last for what felt like ten years. In a good way.

I can sum up my exploration in Ireland's capital with two verbs: walking and talking. Without an agenda, I would start heading in a random direction and keep going until I found myself recognizing an item from my "must do and see" list. Most of the time I would be accompanied by a friend I met in the hostel.

Although I am "solo" traveling, I have not felt alone. I met Carol from Brazil and Léa from France, who were both staying in the same room as me. The enriching conversations we had about lived experiences and cultural beliefs were therapeutic and incredibly insightful. My second day in the city, a UMN friend who lives in Dublin showed me around. He took me to three “old man pubs.” It was only fitting that I tried my first Guinness in the beer's birthplace. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I have never said that about beer. He informed me that the proper way to drink Guinness is to basically chug it, which was a challenging feat for a sipper like myself. Alas, I did what I had to do to acculturate.

Something my Irish friend mentioned he noticed after spending time in the US was that there is a constant pressure ingrained in the American lifestyle; to do more, to be more, fueled by dissatisfaction. That's when I realized why Dublin had felt so relieving -- that pressure wasn't there.

Overall, the city gave a calm, charismatic, uniform, and aesthetically pleasing essence. I am more present, curious, and inspired than I have been in a long time. I am so grateful for this experience and eager to continue exploring in my next location!

Places I visited while in Dublin:

• Trinity College

• St. Patrick's Cathedral

• Saint Stephen’s Green Park

• Dublin Castle

• The Dubh Linn Garden

• Christ Church Cathedral

• Anne Street Umbrellas

• A couple shopping centers

• National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology

• National Museum of Ireland - Natural History

• The Spire

• A few pubs