There once was a house, covered in ivy…where thirty three American college students spent two months living the Irish life.  I never imagined that I could become so attached to a place and group of people the way I fell in love with Dublin and made life long friends. I’ve been home for about a week and move back to Chapel Hill in a few days.  I’m excited to start my second half of college and see all my friends, but at the same time a small part of me is still yearning for Dublin.  The two months I spent there were long enough to make the city feel like…

I am, no doubt, very predictably, that 20 year old girl who takes a picture of every meal she orders or cooks, so you (my devoted readers) had to know this post was coming.  Here we are: food from Ireland.  Ireland isn’t exactly a country of traditionally and famously good food the way Italy or France or Spain are known for amazing dishes.  That being said, the European city cafe and restaurant scenes are alive and well in Dublin and we found a few gem locations to satisfy our cravings. Let’s start with dessert because why not.  Within a few days we found our favorite gelato shop, Gelato di Natura, conveniently…

Welcome to my nine to five blog update! So first off, it’s more like a ten-ish to four-ish routine…depending on the day…except the one night shoot which lasted from nine at night until two am.  Then there’s some days we might not come in until eleven.  Interning at a production and creative agency is not exactly your conventional desk job.  My first impression from bigO came from their website.  Go ahead and read this “about” blurb and try to tell me this isn’t the coolest company.  I might be a little biased, but working at bigO has been incredible.  The 15 person team is full of unique and diverse people from…

If you’re reading this you must know me and you probably also know that the last thing I need to do is to participate in a tourist activity that apparently makes you talk more.  But I went to Blarney Castle in Cork to lean over the edge of the top of the castle and kiss the Blarney Stone in hopes of receiving “the gift of gab” anyway.  So there are a few different legends about the famed Blarney Stone.  According to the website, some say it was Jacob’s pillow and the prophet Jeremiah brought it to Ireland.  Others will say it’s part of the “Stone of Ezel” that David hid…

You guessed it: the Cliffs of Moher.  Located mostly along the West Coast of Ireland and part of the natural wonder the Wild Atlantic Way, the cliffs are breathtaking.  A group of us Americans in Dublin decided to spend a quick one day and one night in Galway to experience the cliffs, and to live out our dreams of being “Galway Girls” for our beloved Ed Sheeran.  I’ve never traveled to the West Coast of America because of how far and expensive it would be, but in just two and a half hours on a train, we were able to speed across all of Ireland from Dublin to Galway.  After…

Ring Ring!  London Calling!  Another weekend trip this past Thursday night through Sunday morning.  This time to the capital of the United Kingdom.  Four girls in the Dublin program, including myself, booked the cheapest flights we could find to London.  What we didn’t really realize was that cheapest flights meant we wouldn’t be flying in or out of London-Heathrow.  Instead we were landing in Southend and leaving from Luton; each of these about an hour and half outside of London city center.  But it worked out fine and we did a whirlwind tour of the giant city! We woke up Friday morning and had brunch at a small French Bistro…

My mom has taught me so many amazing things in my twenty years.  One of the least useful things she’s taught me is the French phrase “voulez-vous acheter une carte postale” meaning would you like to buy a postcard.  This was incredibly irrelevant during my weekend trip to France.  Long story short, I love my mom and I love Paris. I waited for 30 minutes after my flight from Dublin landed in Charles da Gualle airport for my friends Madison and Caroline to get in from Denmark.  Madison finally texted me to meet at baggage claim…in Orley.  So yeah, not the same airport.  After a day of travel I managed…

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any schoolhouse rock-esque videos to educate myself on the government in Ireland because those videos are basically how every American kid learned how a bill becomes a law.  Anyway, I’ve been reading up on the government because the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Department of Taoiseach are some of bigO’s biggest clients.  In addition, one of my friends is interning with Josepha Madigan, a TD for Dublin Rathdown and also the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.  Another one of my friends is interning with a Dublin City council member, who is also a former Lord Mayor of Dublin, and now works on…

Howth is a small town on a peninsula just east of Dublin; about a 45 minute bus ride, and it’s beautiful.  There are tons of attractions in the small town including a cliff walk, Malahide castle, St. Mary’s Abbey, and a bird conservatory.  But what my friends and I did for the day on our budget was simply wander around the seaside village.  After eating chowder and fish and chips right on the water, we walked along the edge of the coast and experienced an absolutely beautiful Dublin day.  Sailboats filled a marina and were constantly breezing in and out of their port, past a small lighthouse and out into…

Of course money can’t buy happiness, but my plane ticket wasn’t cheap!  Now that I’ve been in Dublin for almost two weeks, I’m getting a pretty good idea of where everything in the city is and what are some of the must see attractions.  So the best free things I’m talking about are museums and views!!  This past week I visited the the National Archeology Museum, The National Gallery, Dublin Castle and Glendalough in Co. Wicklow. The National Archeology Museum was fascinating and portrayed the history of the Irish island via objects.  With tools from the stone and bronze age as well as jewelry and Christian artwork, the museum gave…