The last trip I had planned during my semester abroad was to visit my best friend, and Boston roommate Emma at University College Dublin where she was studying abroad for the semester. I thought that I may make another quick foreign excursion while I was still in Europe, but it turns out fate had another plan.
I got into Dublin on Thursday night and Emma came to meet me at the airport. Since Ryan Air is the main airline of Ireland besides Aer Lingus, I was taken right into the major Dublin airport and didn't have to take the usual crazy shuttle. I got in late and since Emma had class in the morning we crashed for the night in her dorm.
UCD was so much different than AUR. For lack of a better way to describe it I'll just say it felt like a "real" school. I often described AUR as a building that someone just decided one day could be a school, put a bunch of desks in and called it a day. UCD was very similar to Northeastern and it was interesting seeing how different my educational experience would have been if I had chosen to study there.
I'll quickly some up the weekend as a best of Dublin tour. We walked around the center city in the beautiful weather and saw the great pubs and shops that make the city so unique. The Guinness and Jameson factories were must sees for any (college age) tourist, and were actually really put together experiences that had more to do with the culture than the alcohol. A bus trip up the North Coast stopping at the amazing powerscourt gardens topped of the trip Sunday The last day was great because I got to see some of more rural Ireland where my Great-Grandparents were originally from.
Ireland's economy is currently struggling and this was apparent during my visit. Along with much of the rest of the world there was unfinished construction and for sale signs littering the country. I hope to come back again someday, and that the natural beauty of the country will allow it to flourish again.
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