An Ellington Reunion

Ellington girls at Malahide Castle

This past weekend I saw my friends Katie, Jamie, Caitlin, and Bryan from Ellington. Katie is currently studying in Granada. Jamie and Caitlin are my two friends studying in Ireland (Jamie in Galway and Caitlin in Cork). Bryan just dropped by while he is on his spring break.

After I got off of work Thursday evening I met up with Katie and Jamie at the Spire in city center. We grabbed some Butlers hot chocolate before heading back to DCU to drop their stuff off and make a plan for the day. My friends Jackie, Colleen, and Marie, joined us for the trip back into the city to Gallaghers in the Temple Bar area. Caitlin and her friend Becky also met up with us for dinner. Gallaghers is extremely touristy, but the best option if you are looking to get traditional Irish food. I ordered lamb boxty, which was good, but I still prefer the chicken boxty I had up north at Ryan's.

With our stomachs full we walked a little ways back to Messrs. It's a nice but low-key pub, which I thought would be a good choice to start off the night since we could all talk and catch up. Then we went to Porterhouse, which has a louder and younger crowd. That place is always fun! We decided to go back to DCU early, though, because I had class in the morning and Jamie and Katie were tired from traveling.

The next morning I had class so Jamie and Katie met up with Caitlin in the city to do some touristy stuff. Eventually we met back up in the afternoon and grabbed lunch at one of my favorite places - Queen of Tarts. I plan on taking Brooke there too. I hope the waitstaff doesn't start to recognize me.

We then made our way to a DART station. I had never taken the DART before, but apparently the station is really close to where I work! Good to know for when I make a journey out to Howth. This weekend we decided to go to Malahide, a tiny little seaside village that boasts its own castle and a fry car railway museum (whatever that is). It was a quiet town, but cute. My only complaint is that the castle looks like when it was remodeled they ran out of money and stuck a patio window and some plywood on the front and center windowpane. When we went to take a tour, we found out we were 8 minutes too late. I found it kind of odd that they actually started the tour on time.

The most absurd looking train station sign imaginable. Did they commission a 6-year-old to paint that thing? I couldn't find my ticket to get through the turnstile for a minute, and when I looked up all my friends were already on the train, motioning and screaming for me to run! So I ran onto the train and was crushed by the doors until they pulled me out.

When we got back from Malahide some of us went back to DCU before going out later at night. We met up with Caitlin and Becky at The Quays, which has great live music. I've never been there, so it was a nice change of pace. The city was crazy this weekend, though, because of St. Patrick's Day, and everything was even more crowded than usual in Temple Bar. We then worked our way over to Fitzsimons, which was good again. Things got really incredible, though, when Katie, Jamie, Jackie, Casey, and I left to go to Coppers.

Coppers is slightly outside the main chunk of the city, but is definitely worth the extra time, effort, and money. It has the best dance music, and especially on a weekend like this it is one of the few places where locals our age can be found in abundance. I was getting a little frustrated with the huge influx of tourists this weekend, which sounds a little pretentious, but it really was difficult! On the cab ride over we chatted up the driver, who had the best laugh in the world. He just sounded so funny. All of a sudden the van door swung open while the van was going full speed. He pulled over as soon as he could, shouting "I thought I lost one of you girls out there on Dame Street!" Jackie jumped up to close the door and when she returned to her seat she hadn't realized that it had folded up, so she fell on to the van floor. The cab driver kept asking me if my drunk friend was going to be ok. Jackie hadn't even had a half-pint! While she lost all her dignity, she pretty much made that man's night. I guess you had to be there, but at this point none of us, the cabbie included, could stop laughing.

That night was an amazing party at Coppers - probably one of the best nights I've had out in Dublin yet. The music was great, we met some nice people, and all around the atmosphere couldn't have been better. When we went back to DCU we had yet another great Irish cab driver - this one gave us a lot of advice on Irish men, particularly about the love life of one of my friends. He was actually quite insightful, and really should consider making a career change to therapist.

On Saturday I woke up late and Katie and Jamie went to the Guinness Factory in the morning. Later in the afternoon Jackie, Colleen, and I met up with them, and eventually we met up with my friend Bryan. The group of us decided to get fish and chips at Beshoffs (but I had chicken fingers). It's a cheaper chain, but the chips are great! We did a lot of wandering the city that day, and went to Merrion Square to see the carnival that had been set up for the St. Patrick's festivities. Essentially it was a really crappy fair without fair food. We considered riding the ferris wheel to get the views of Dublin from above at night, but it was 4 euro! Instead we briefly showed them the outside of Oscar Wilde's house and what you can see of his statue through the gates (it's locked at night). It was yet another reminder of how upset I am that I cannot see Oscar Wilde's house. I really don't have good luck at Merrion Square.

We planned to go out that night, but once we got back to DCU we were all exhausted. Instead, we started watching clips of Father Ted. I'm not sure if I've mentioned Father Ted before, but essentially it is the funniest Irish TV show that was ever in existence, and probably one of the best shows all-around (not just out of Irish shows). Sadly, the actor playing Father Ted died after the third season so it was discontinued. Still, people here avidly watch the episodes on DVD. It's a fantastic slice of Irish culture. After Father Ted we decided to stay in and watch TV/chat, and Bryan took the bus out to DCU to join us before going back into the city to his hotel.

On Sunday, Katie, Jamie, and Bryan wanted to go out for an Irish breakfast before journeying back to Grenada and Galway. We ended up at Bewley's on Grafton Street, which has great food and coffee at decent prices. It's very cute and charming, too. Jamie opted for the full Irish breakfast, black pudding (a type of blood sausage) and all, while I stuck to a fruit scone since they were out of pancakes. Pancakes aren't very common in Ireland, and the mixes come out thin and difficult to cook, so I'll be going back at some point if I can. I need to stop finding good restaurants!

After dropping Katie off at the aircoach to the airport we wandered some more around Dublin. We went to a variety of stores on Grafton Street. The street performers were out in full force this weekend. We walked a little around St. Stephen's Green, which is getting prettier by the day as the weather improves. Then we dropped Jamie off at her bus stop.

I had a fantastic time seeing my friends this weekend. Having the opportunity to show them around made me recognize a lot of the things I'm going to miss when I leave Ireland - from little things like the biscuits and chocolate and double-decker buses, to things like the accents, the ugly Spire, the various streets I'm used to walking now, the pub style of nightlife...and the list goes on! At times I found myself feeling very proud, even defensive of Dublin. Sure, it has plenty of its own problems and inefficiencies that drive me mad, like every place in the world surely does, but I've developed a deep level of affection and attachment to this place rather quickly. I'm looking forward to being back in the states, but there are a whole lot of things here that I'll miss when I'm gone.