In the hostel in killarney

Now going to killarney national park

Its been a long day of riding a bus but the views of the country have made it totally worth it! I'm looking forward to either horseback or bike riding when we get there.

On the bus to limerick

Ok...lots to tell

So. Lets see. I started looking for apartments on Wednesday. Between Wednesday and Friday I looked at about 10 places walking all over the city. It was nuts. Each place kept getting better and better as I learned what to look for and what I wanted. Taylor and I were staying in a hostel and on Friday night they had no more rooms. I had met a girl who was going to rent us her apartment starting Friday night until I found a place but she lived way out of the city and it was going to mean taking all of my stuff on a bus about an hour away. I had scheduled to see one last place before catching the bus on Friday afternoon. As it turns out, it was just across the street from the hostel. The girl who lives there is also 25, from Dublin, works at the Dublin Fire Brigade. She said that she is still in school but I am not sure what for yet. We didn't have too much time to talk as she was going out of town in about an hour and a half and had to go back to work before leaving. After about 15 minutes talking about the apartment I knew this was what I was looking for. It is about 1/2 a mile from my school and right at the center of the city. It is huge (for Dublin standards) and I would have my own room which is about twice as big as all the other rooms I saw and the kitchen and living room are also about twice as big as the other places too. I'm really excited. Its on the top floor of the building, which makes me feel right at home and its completely furnished and nice but not too nice making it really comfortable and cozy. She actually thought that Taylor and I were both going to be living there and she was really cool with that so that was also a plus as she seems really easy going and cool, someone I could very much get a long with. Oh, and she goes home most weekends so she said I would have the place to myself a lot. Also, there is definitely room on the couch for anyone who wants to come visit and my room, as I said, is totally big enough for sleepovers as well. Yay!

So of course, it can't be all perfect right? yes, you're right. Here are the negatives: there is quite a bit of street noise since its so close to the city center and its also on a street where most of the buses in the city stop (which could also be good for getting around eh?) Its more expensive (but still within my budget) and there were other places that were cheaper where I would have my own bathroom or were newer but were also farther away. So that's pretty much it. So very happy to have that out of the way. There's no lease either so if anything does come up then I can get out of it. And with all the people I met I think I made at least one potential friend who likes theater too and we are making plans to go to to a play together in September before school starts! He's a lawyer, knows the city, and had a very nice apartment too so he's offered his place as a backup. All-in-all, it was a good experience and definitely jump-started my ability to get around the city.

Saturday I will call a recovery day. Slept in super late and then went shopping for bed linens. Then what else do you do Saturday night in Dublin...go out and drink Guinness!!! Four pubs later I was back at home in my new apartment and super happy. Today, went saw Christ Church, went to the Guinness Storehouse, and then to catch up on a little 1916 Irish Revolutionary History at the National Museum before heading out again. :) Its been a great week. Next week, we will be heading out of the city. First to see a family friend of Taylor's in Kildare and then over to the west coast for a little bit of surfing and horseback riding I hope!

I hope you are all doing well and leave me a comment so I know you're thinking of me. ;)
Miss you!

St audeon

Crocs have even penetrated ireland

Wonderous

Black letters on glass in the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse. You can see the rainless sky in the background.

Enjoying a guinness

At the gravity bar on the 5th floor of the guinness storehouse

Sunday at christ church cathedral

The bells are singing at this huge church founded in 1030!

Bedroom

Landlord is getting a double bed. Our stuff is all over the place cuz we were looking for something.

New apartment on d'olier st

Apartment search complete!

My kitchen

Elevator

The view from one of the apartments

what jet lag?

Its 2:41 in the morning and to tell you the absolute truth I'm not jet lagged. After walking to 5 different apartments and covering about 10 miles all over the city I'm still apartmentless, in the hostel and exhausted. I like the hostel, as you probably think from the photos, but that is just because we spend a fair amount of time here researching on the free internet from taylor's laptop and calling people. In order for this to end as quickly as possible, we decided to stay up and email a ton more places so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. The good news is that I have a phone, found a place that I like a lot (but wont hear back about until Saturday morning), and feel like I know the city ridiculously well for being here for less than 48 hours! I will try and take some touristy photos and upload then from my phone soon but some things must come first. Best part so far...I'm pretty stoked about how cool my new phone is!!!

Facts about the Irish: most have been to the US or will go at some point. Example: A lady told me today that her son and his friends went to the Indy 500 this year. crazy. Oh and she is going to Chicago soon.

And, no rain yet.

On the street

Breakfast time

Getting coffee

The first meal

We made pasta at the hostel.

At the stove

Making dinner

In the hostel

Making dinner