Ireland 2023 Day 1

I am in Ireland again for another study abroad trip with my students. Darci (my co-leader, source of emotional support, source of emotional abuse) is joining me again with her partner Peyton. We assign our students to do a travel blog, and Darci makes me do one too. I will be posting as much as I can, hopefully with some stories that give a taste of the experience. Here it goes…


Departure: Amy drove me to the La Crosse airport at 4:45. At gate at 4:48. (It’s hard to overstate how much I love small town airports.) No photos or stories of this time because neither of us were happy to be up.

Great view of Westby WI out of the window

Flight: I watched the movie M3GAN on the flight to Dublin. Not great, and less robot murdering than I had hoped. The woman next to me watched it on my screen the whole time. I felt a little bad that I fast forwarded most parts with dialogue (I’m not a fan of character development), but the woman didn’t seem to mind. I was using headphones, so maybe she even preferred it?


This was M3GAN from the movie, and also how the woman looked watching it over my shoulder.


Accommodation: Our Airbnb is really nice. We each have our own floor in a classic Dublin apartment. There are a few quirks, as would be expected, but it is the perfect space for us to use for the next month.
My floor.

Darci tries to figure out remote for TV. Unsuccessfully.


The Pubs: Anyone who visits Ireland becomes insufferable when they return and won't stop talking about the freshness of the food and beer, so I will avoid gloating too much about it. Suffice it to say, there is very little as satisfying as the 1st pint at a true Irish corner pub.

Sláinte!

Peyton’s face captures my feelings perfectly.


Shopping: The last item on the agenda today was grocery shopping. It’s hard to express just how great food shopping is here. There are three groceries within two blocks of our apartment, each specializing in something different. Each like Willy wonka’s factory for someone who likes weird snacks and novelty candy. I can’t possibly go over everything that had me fascinated in the stores, and I need to head to bed (the jet lag is a little rough) but summary point: they have skittles here without the skittle skin!!!


Proof.


Not just prawn. Prawn cocktail. 

Pringles innovation meeting: “You know what spice deserves its own Pringle?…”


Final note: I love literal Irish restaurant names.





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