"My last name is Mulloy...except with a "u" so..."

The last two days here in Dublin have been exciting, tiring, interesting, and pretty fun! Needless to say though...I'm pretty done with living out of a suitcase and can't wait to return to Boston...TOMORROW!

Yesterday:

I won't lie...yesterday was a bit of a slow day. But, I enjoyed it nonetheless because this trip is one of the first occasions where time has been meaningless. When I was in Turkey or anywhere else for that matter, I always had someplace else to be, someone to meet, some reason to be looking at my watch. But here? If I see a clock on a church somewhere, I raise my eyebrows, give a quick, "hmm" and continue on my way. It's great.

To start off, I attended mass at St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral. I was especially excited to attend mass there as I had read about their fantastic choir. In fact, this choir is where one of the famous tenors got his start (can you tell I have no idea what I'm talking about...?). Needless to say, it was incredible. It ended up being a Latin mass, so that was different, but the voices of these boys and men just gave you the shivers. The range of voices in the choir was pretty magnificent, too, as the choir had members as young as 7 years old it seems! Those little boys can really hit those high notes...holy moses. For me...the music is really what heightens my Church-going experience.

The only bummer part about mass was the few scattered protestors and their signs waiting outside the Church. The police had to guard the doors before and after mass to make sure everything went okay. I'm glad there wasn't any sort of ruckus though...!

After mass, I went to Molloy's Pub. I had seen it when I first came into the city and was excited to visit as it shared my last name (immigration often resulted in changed names when entering America...Molloy is the common originating name of Mulloy!). Unfortunately, though, I forgot that in Ireland, because Sunday is so revered as a holy day, many of the pubs don't serve food on that day! Not remembering this, I plopped into the bar...where I came face to face with several burly Irish men, sipping on their pints. It was...pretty great, I won't lie. I felt as if I walked right into every movie about an Irish pub. They were friendly though and soon directed me into the restaurant portion. There, Molloy himself explained that he would NOT be serving food. So bummed, I couldn't help but stutter out, "Oh...but my last name is Mulloy...except with a "u" (*draws imaginary "u" in the air)...so I just wanted to visit."

To appease me, he made me a ham and cheese sandwich and gave me a pot of tea.

Family bond...check!

After my ill-fated lunch, I wandered into Forever 21 and bought some socks. Then, I trekked over to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery, which is funny because I hate whiskey! I guess for a big part of this trip, I've felt like a Mulloy ambassador and that it was my duty to learn about the "drink" on behalf of everyone else. Well, duty...accepted.

The tour was pretty amusing. I learned about some stuff that I'll never be able to recall. I do know though that Jameson Whiskey never uses fresh barrels to store their whiskey as the fresh wood would taint the taste. Legit.

After the tour, I mostly wandered home and rested for a while. I really need to get some good walking shoes...But, that's besides the point.

Around dinnertime, I met up with a girl staying in my hostel who's also from Boston. We went out for sushi, whereupon she invited me to go on a Literary Pub Crawl with her. Immediately, I said, "yes!" The only bummer about traveling alone, especially in Ireland, is that doing some of the typical, must-do things is a little difficult (i.e. going to pubs). So, with expectations of wigged men and fireplaces, we arrived in the Temple Bar area at our first pub, The Duke. There, we immediately struck up a friendship with a young Australian couple and an older woman from Pittsburgh. Turns out the group was entirely composed of Aussies and Americans..!

From that moment on, I had the absolute best time! The tour was led by two Dublin actors who led us around to 4 pubs, each one with its own unique history. Before we entered the pub, however, the two actors would give us a brief history along with a corresponding skit. It was hilarious and interesting all at the same time! For anyone who ever visits Dublin...I highly recommend this. Seriously!

As the night went on, I heard a horrifying story about a cannibal, listened to the older woman's borderline personal stories about her love life, and got chummy with the rest of the kids in the group. Obviously, the night ended with McDonalds. One of the most memorable moments was when I ordered a margarita at the last pub. The burly old men drinking their Guinness stared at it, confused by its triangular glass...asking..."so, that's a margarita?" I tried to make a joke...but they just looked at me with blank stares. I wandered back to my table, laughing.

Today:

Today, I mostly focused on the Southwestern part of Dublin, which out of all the sections, requires the most walking. Two of my big "to-do" items were to visit Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral. While both of these churches were gorgeous, they are some of the only tourist attractions in Dublin that require admission which, using Euros, can definitely add up. I really enjoyed viewing them inside and out though, as I particularly enjoy stained glass window depictions.

After visiting the Christ Church Cathedral, I also took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. This tour was self-guided and encompassed 7 floors! They addressed everything from the brewing process to advertising to how they made the barrels! I really enjoyed it...especially the advertising section, where they displayed several of their campaigns.

Finally, after the tour, I was pretty tuckered out. I didn't quite make it to Marsh's Library and Dublin Castle, but...I'm okay with that On my way home, I took a picture of the The Temple Bar in the Temple Bar area (area known for high density of pubs). Unfortunately, I made eye contact with an Irishman there, who came toward me and proceeded to talk with me for 20 minutes before I could politely make an excuse and wander away. It was pretty harmless though as we talked about everything from America to Psychology to his friend who he only sees sometimes. There may have been a little undiagnosed ADHD...but that's an entirely different discussion

In total, my solo trip to Ireland was absolutely wonderful! Though I definitely will look forward to future trips with a partner, it was nice to take this time for myself before the spring semester starts. I've noticed a lot of changes in myself and I'm eager to see how they'll carry over into America.

In conclusion, I also wanted to give a great big "thank-you" to all of my family and friends who have supported me throughout these past four months. I really appreciated all of your comments, letters, and well wishes! I love you all so much and feel really blessed to be given all of you while still going after things I've wanted since I was a kid. It's in times like these that I constantly remember what a lucky kid I am.

Until next time...

-Emily

P.S. For a limited time, I'm going to make my Facebook photo albums for Turkey and Ireland public so that you all may see the pictures I didn't post on here. Take a look and enjoy!

Turkey:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2054138125235.2099427.1598010213&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2100296199158.2100922.1598010213&type=3

Ireland:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2514464513107.2110350.1598010213&type=3