Wanderings

Today started with the freshman feeling and ended with elation. I woke up this morning and tried finding where my morning class was online. It was nowhere to be found, partly because I don't understand the website, and because I didn't prepare well. In any case, I get to school and go up to the English Department. Turns out my class was off campus, and by the time I got there I was a half hour late. Hoping not to disturb, I walk in the door (which happens to be at the front of the classroom) and the professor immediately stops lecturing to greet me. He asks me my name, then asks the class to rewind 5 minutes to catch me up on what they were talking about. He was nice about it but it was still embarrassing. On the way out I also knocked over a desk. In any case, the class is on John Milton, and the professor is very interesting.

After class I decided to go on a an adventure through Dublin. I hadn't wandered at all alone yet, and I was in the mood to. I wasn't really sure how far I'd go, but my rule with wandering is that I look up at the rooftops of distant buildings in opposite directions, and whichever roofs look more endearing I move toward. I ended up walking through Dublin for 3 hours, covering many, many miles on the way. This is what I literally love doing most, and now I have a much better feel for the city. I also saw some really interesting places on the way. I walked through Dublin City Hall, through the National Botanic Gardens, around countless shops, antique stores, convenience stores, and even explored University College Dublin's campus. After a while I definitely had no idea where I was, which was great, really, and tried finding a map. Not one place I entered sold a map. Part of this adventure consisted on getting tips from mapless stores where a map might be sold, going to the recommendation, and then being pointed somewhere else. Finally during hour three I asked a nice Dubliner how the bus system worked, then took the number 13 back to the city center. Along this trip I had my computer in my backpack and my newly purchased edition of John Milton's complete works (weighs over 5 lbs.). I think my favorite stop was the Botanic Gardens. The green houses on sight look like miniature versions of the Crystal Palace.

When I got back to the city center I stopped at a pub/restaurant called the Gin Palace. I had a great plate of fish and chips, a Guinness, and did homework for my John Donne class. This place is decorated beautifully, some walls gilded, a portion of the floor set in mosaics, and red upholstering on the furniture. I'll definitely be going back there.

Tonight we went to one of the girls' apartments and made travel plans. This weekend we are going to Galway (from Thursday to Sunday). Should be a great time. We also started making plans for a Vienna, Prague, Berlin trip. There are so many places to go, and it's so exciting to start planning for it. After planning we hung out for another couple of hours, got extremely slap happy and destressed from the day. If you clicked on the Debbie Downer link above, it's there because we watched this SNL skit tonight, which is hilarious. Enjoy!