Currently, in Dublin, housing is hard to find and at the beginning of the semester, we couldn’t get housing at the Marino Institute. We instead are lucky enough to get a homestay. We first planned to stay and currently staying with a woman named Margaret for most of our time here in Coolock which is a district of Dublin County (which I will explain more about below). But she was on vacation for the first two weeks we were here, so we stayed with Gemma in Balgriffin. Both places were lovely, and the people we stayed with were warm and welcoming. Gemma helped us to figure out the bus and both would check in and ask us about our days. It was actually really nice and in a way I’m glad we weren’t able to stay at Marino. Mostly because it just I think made this experience totally different and was able to develop different connections with people in Ireland. For each homestay, we paid 180 euros a week which included utilities. Below are photos of both of our different homestays.

County Dublin

In Ireland, they have different names for different areas of a city or country. Below is an image of Dublin County, so this whole area highlighted would be considered Dublin. This was something we found to be different. For example, when I think of Boston I think of being directly in the city. Whereas in Dublin areas outside are also considered a part of Dublin. For example, it would be like calling a place like Evret, Saugus, or Braintree a part of Boston. 

Next, the different villages in Dublin have been labeled with a number with the north side all odd numbers and the south side all even

 

In Ireland, they take two weeks off for the Easter holidays. During this time I spent my time traveling around the country trying to see as much as I could. I mostly did day trips to Waterford, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Killarney, Tralee, and Dingle. To get to all these cities I used the computer bus system. The night before I would look up where I wanted to go and look for the fastest public transport routes. For most of the places I went, I used Dublin Coach, 

 

Dublin Coach – https://www.dublincoach.ie

Air Coach – https://www.aircoach.ie

 

These buses helped me to see a good portion of the country and were at a good price. For some of them, they were long bus rides but it was a good time I would use my time on the bus to look up information about the place i was traveling to or just to relax and sleep. I will say I took the bus to Tralee and then went from there to Killarney and Dingle. 

 

Once I arrived at each place I would head to the tourist information center. Here I would grab a map and talk to one of the people there and they would give me great advice on what I should go and visit. With the help of the tourist information center, I had a streak of seeing castles for seven days. I also found a bunch of museums, breweries, restaurants, hikes, and even a boat tour. 

 

During the second week of Easter, my mom came and we rented a car and headed north stopping at Galway, Sligo, Westport, Donegal, Derry, Randallstown, and Belfast. Here we still used the tourist information center and by the end of the two weeks, I had been to all but five countries in Ireland. Through it all I had the best time and got to meet great people while also seeing an amazing country.

I have officially spent a full week in Ireland. During this time I have had the pleasure of exploring Dublin’s city center, the Marino Institute, and the bus system. From all of this exploration, I have learned a lot about Ireland and its education system. 

Fun Facts about Dublin 

I did a hop on hop off tour as well as going to lots of museums, and here are some facts I picked up. 

Georgian doors – In Dublin then an area named after the four kings of England all named George. Legend is that when Queen Victoria died the Dubliners or dubs were asked to paint their doors black in mourning. Well, they didn’t listen and decided to paint them different colors.

The building across from Trinity was the bank of Ireland and has no glass windows. This was because the glass was too expensive, so they didn’t put windows in. People joke that when your money went in it never would see the light of day again.

Oscar Wilde – On the bus tour I got to see not only the place where he was born and lived for a year but also the building where he grew up.

I also was lucky enough to go to Howth on the weekend. It was beautiful and highly suggest you go and visit. There is a long hike you can do and the market in town has fabulous food.