First Day! Before I go into detail about the day’s many activities, it is important to note that my trip was different than most study abroad experiences. We did all of our primary learning in the classroom at ATU before we left. We didn’t go to classes in our destination, so we spent our entire week in Dublin sightseeing. Anyhow, I had to break the first day into two parts because we did SO much!
Our flight left from Little Rock Saturday around 11 am and after a few connecting flights, we arrived in Dublin at 7 am (their time) the next day. We had no time to waste, so we hit the ground running. We were traveling with two other schools, so we all met up outside the airport and got on a bus to head to our hotel. We only had a few minutes at the hotel to put our stuff up before we set out for our first Dublin destination: Grafton Street.
Grafton Street is a pedestrian street lined with shops of all sorts and tons of pubs. The tour guide told us that it isn’t uncommon to see celebrity sightings on this street, such as Ed Sheeran. Unfortunately we didn’t run into him, but we did run into this awesome donut shop, The Rolling Donut. They had the most colorful, off-the-wall flavors I had ever seen. I ordered a vanilla donut with raspberry topping and it was delicious. One thing I noticed was that there were sweet shops everywhere in Dublin. Everywhere you turned there was either a donut shop, ice cream shop or a chocolate shop. So, I really enjoyed that.We strolled around for about an hour looking in the shops then we all met up at this beautiful park near the end of the street called St. Stephen’s Green.
St. Stephen’s Green is located right in the center of Dublin and serves as an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. It began in 1663 as means to generate income for the city. Originally, 27 acres of the land was marked as a park and the surrounding area was divided into building lots. The tenants of the lots paid the city rent, which generated that income. It was a place for high society to spend their time and it is what led to the opening of Grafton Street. Today, it is a beautiful place for locals and tourists alike to spend time away from the crowds and traffic.
Me and my friend Morgan in St. Stephen’s Green Park
Bet you haven’t seen donuts like this before.
Looking up Grafton Street from St. Stephen’s Green Park.