Free Day... for SHOPPING!

Today was our first real day in Dublin! We all met for breakfast and headed off to the National Museum. We saw some great sights on the way. I wish I knew a little bit of history so that I could decipher the meaning of each statue and buildings we pass. We were all snapping photos of the scenery and saying "I don't even know what we're taking pictures of but it looks cool." I did get great pictures of the cityscape. Today was perfect outside. The sunshine has followed us to Ireland and locals have been telling us we're not getting the real Ireland experience because they have never had this many consecutive days of sunshine. We navigated our way past the shopping district on Grafton street. Tons of street performers, a leprechaun (that I took a picture of for my Mum!)

and other peculiar people. Once we reached our destination we realized it was Sunday and that the museum didn't open until 2:00 so we went to a place called Brawley's. It was really cute, good sandwiches and delicious pastries/desserts. The servers were not very nice and here people think it is such a hassle to split a check and I know our waitresses were talking about us behind our back. Rude! We finally got to the museum which was mainly a lot of archaeology. Me, Steph and Isa decided we would go buy souvenirs and found my FAVORITE place to shop: Penney's. I read about it in Lily's book and it said it was cheap and trendy. I probably bought more than ten things for 53 euros! It was amazing. I filled my retail void finally. I got cute presents for my family and found a tile for Caitlin so she can add it to her collection! After shopping I was very tired, so I took a nap and met the girls to go eat at SuperMac's to fill our burger craving. We surprisingly can find our way around and remember where places are already. There is a long stainless steel needle like monument that is called the Spire of Dublin. We have been using that as our "North Star" to help us get back if we are lost. It is very diverse here. I have seen a lot of my people, aka Asians. Tomorrow we are going on a tour of Dublin and then I have a class that night at the Trinity College to hear Irish journalists give their take on the industry. We are all taking a "me" night and staying in, playing it low key. I hope everyone is having a great Mum's day!

Pip pip, Leah