Dublin

Dublin.  I really don’t know how to adequately describe what an amazing time I had, suffice it to say there is nothing quite like having four days to just hang out and explore with a friend from home.  I could not be happier that Michaela chose this year to pop over to Europe for a bit!  (Though I did genuinely tear up when we were saying goodbye.)

The trip did NOT, however start off well…the night before I left, I was still feeling decently sick, and when I woke up after napping, Friedemann informed me that the security people were going on strike at the Düsseldorf airport the next day.  I changed my flight, got up at four the next morning to go to Berlin instead, suffered through a nice delay, and finally made it to Dublin.

Once there, the weekend just got better and better.  We hit the Guinness factory Thursday night, spent Saturday at the Irish National Stud where racehorses are bred, saw the Book of Kells, an old manuscript, at Trinity College, and of course spent a good deal of time enjoying the local food and beer.  Our tour guide from the Guinness factory even recommended us a brewery in town; it was beyond exciting to drink some porters and IPAs and red ales. 

A lot of the differences between Ireland and Germany were really doing my head in the whole time I was there – the Brits do always tell me that they and Ireland aren’t really part of Europe in some ways.  I had my first surprise at the airport, when I was actually questioned about why I was coming into the country.  Two questions, “why are you here” and “how long are you staying” constituted the most intense security I’ve experienced outside of the US.  Then, I had a real shock on my way from the airport into town, when, like an idiot, I realized they drive on the opposite side of the road.  This had me very very confused the entire four days and every street crossing was a bit dangerous.  I was also unpleasantly surprised to discover they use different plugs than in Germany…luckily Michaela had an adaptor!

Our funniest moment of the trip, however, came when a nice older man at one of the bars told Michaela and I we had “very American teeth.” What a thing to be identified by!