UCLA Study Abroad | International Education Office | England

BY SAVANNAH SHAPIRO

Ireland became our little home for the weekend. Our three days that we spent traveling to Ireland was spontaneous and it was the first time in my life where I can now say that I understand what the word traveling means. There are few times in life where you can say you went to Ireland for a weekend, and I’m still in a sense of shock to say that I can now say that.

After class on Friday, three of us went to Euston station to catch a train to Chester. From Chester, we transferred trains and took our last train to Holyhead. Our final connection was from Holyhead to Dublin on a ferry which was more like a cruise ship. Over the course of a weekend, we spent 19 hours traveling. We took a bus, two trains and a ferry but managed to get Ireland

We arrived in Ireland at 12:30AM and got to the place we were staying which was in Seapoint, a cute little suburban town that is nestled next to the coast.

On Saturday morning, we attempted to do as much as we possibly could do in our one full day. We went to the beach in the morning which was right down the street from where we stayed.

After the beach, we learned how to take Ireland’s public transportation called The Dart. We took The Dart, which is just a train, across the coast to a town called Bray. There was a large street fair and a big green cliff looking out toward the ocean. We hiked up the hill and I was able to live my dream of standing on a cliff in Ireland. I dropped half of my caprese sandwich on the way, so the view made up for the tragedy.

We went to the center of the city in Dublin to go see Dublin Castle. The castle was fun, but it was hard to hold a flame next to Windsor. Windsor still takes the cake and is my favorite. To get into Dublin Castle, it is around €6.00 with a student ID card.

We made our way down to the Guinness Storehouse that everyone recommended us to go to. We learned how the craft Guinness beer and the process of brewing beer. The Storehouse was like a museum and they turned beer making into an art. For students, the tour cost is €18.00.

We ended the night in a pub and restaurant called O’Neills. What made my trip so special was this pub. We are at the Carvery which serves you an entire chicken if you wish that’s garnished with a sprig of rosemary smack dab in the breast. The restaurant is similar to buffet style in a way, but I was struggling. I must have looked confused and because an Irish woman nearby asked me if figured it out how to order. I said no not really and she said me either actually. She told me that you just have to get people’s attention here and tell them what you want. It was nice to finally have help and it was the first time that someone explained that there’s never really a system or line to a restaurant.

We stayed at O’Neills to watch the Irish band and River dancers perform which easily became my favorite moment of our trip. We were crammed in a little pub and I couldn’t believe where I was. Irish Dancing is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen and I may or may not have cried in the pub. It was such a small moment in a small little pub, but it made everything about our long weekend of traveling worth it.

On Sunday morning, we got up early to go see the Trinity College Library which was one of the prettiest libraries I’ve been to! It was €10.00 to get into the library but it also included the Book of Kells.

We ended our short but sweet trip in Stephens Green a park located right in the heart of Dublin. We sat on a bench and laughed thinking about our journey that we took and how great it was. It seemed crazy, but there’s not one moment where we regret our tiny little getaway to Ireland. We wished we had more time to soak up everything that Ireland has to offer, but we left satisfied with what we did.