dublin & st. paddy's

it's time i wrote something about my weekend in ireland, which is hard to describe but in a couple of words was great!

first of all i should say i scheduled this trip 5 months ago, in hope that i would find smn to go with on the way. it appears the only thing i did since then was book the tickets and nothing else, so last minute i was left alone, and with no accommodation. a couple of e-mails later, i had a place for friday (kritika's) and saturday (irish mc), whom i thank both for hosting!

st paddy's was lots of fun, as were all the new people i met while being there. combined with the rugby 6 nations, there was admittedly lots of alcohol around, lots of drunk people (i think i've never seen so many in my entire life - but a friend at work today said it's because i haven't been to australia), lots of laughing, lots of people staying in the same flat (18 i think?), some dancing and lots of good conversations - aiesec related and not. leprechauns, guiness, people dressed up in green etc all inclusive. and of course, re-discovering how small the world is through the common people we know.


it's not surprising to say that - although i regret not staying longer (i definitely have to go back when the weather is better) - i enjoyed myself so much and got a bit of the vibes of that country, ireland, on which i set foot for the first time. irish people are very friendly, and that's not because of drinking (only :-). i literally started meeting people from the moment i landed at the airport. the first impression dublin gave me was similar to the uk, but that's superficial and only on the surface, probably related with things that i have associated with the uk (architecture and driving on the left etc). but it's definitely more easy going, as are the people, and more fun than london (or so it seemed to me). it's also a smaller city, and with much more open spaces it occurred to me.

on sunday, believe it or not, aine, bruna and i went to the irish history museum, after walking around the city and having our bagels for brunch. after that it was time for visiting the jameson distillery and have some irish coffee at the brazen head (oldest pub in dublin). before i knew it i was on my way to the airport and back to london. it appears that although i returned back home exhausted, my batteries were fully charged, just from the excitement of meeting all these new people and having a different weekend in a new country.

i guess i ought to do this kind of thing more often :-)

[awaiting more photos]