Marisa and Ying's Visit

Marisa and Ying got here last Monday and visited for the week. We had lots of fun. The highlights were our trip to Enniskerry, dinner at Fitzsimmons, the tour of the Guinness Storehouse.

On Monday we ate lunch in UCD, then I took them to the city centre to show them around. We did a little shopping and I showed them the Grafton Street/O'Connell Street areas. We got some famous Butler's hot chocolate which was delicious as always. Then we went back to the O'Connell House because I was supposed to have Kevin's class, but it got cancelled which was the best timing ever. We came back here and watched a movie because they were really tired.

We went to Enniskerry on Tuesday since I had no class until 6pm, and the bus ride was supposed to be an hour. I wanted to take them somewhere that isn't just the city because when you're in Dublin you don't really get the full Irish experience. The Powercourt Estate is in Enniskerry - a mansion that has beautiful gardens and is right on the Wicklow Mountains. The Powerscourt estate is where they filmed The Count of Monte Cristo, the mansion that he buys when he becomes the count, and where he has his party. That was pretty cool because I love that movie. The Wicklow Mountains is also where a part of P.S. I Love You takes place. Unfortuately the traffic made the bus ride longer than advertised, so we couldn't stay long and I barely made it back in time for class. It was a beautiful trip though. After class we did a pub crawl on Baggot Street because it was Erin's birthday.

The next day I was in class most of the day, so they explored the city on their own. That night we wanted to go out to a pub for dinner. They wanted to have an Irish culture day, and Ying really wanted some Irish stew. We were supposed to go right after touring the Guinness Storehouse, but we didn't make it there before it closed so we went back the next day. We went to the Brazen Head which is the oldest pub in Ireland, but we didn't like their menu, so we went to Temple Bar to find somewhere else. We ended up going to Fitzsimmons, and Marisa and I both got Beef & Guinness Pie. It was the most delicious thing ever - Guinness may be gross to drink, but it's great to cook beef in. After that we went to The Temple Bar and listened to some live music.

The next day we did tourist things. We went to Christ Church Cathedral, took pictures at Dublin Castle, and went to the Guinness Storehouse including the famous Gravity Bar at the end. It was all really cool, although I officially do not like Guinness at all. I'll stick to Bulmers all the time.

After that we came back here and had a taco night. Ying went shopping for the ingredients while I was in class, and they came out really good. Then we went to see UCD's production of West Side Story because I got free tickets through the Business school. It was really good, but I was hoping they would do it with Irish accents instead of putting on New York and Spanish accents. I love the music from that show.

They left early Friday morning, and I left right after for Northern Ireland. Their visit went by really quickly. I'm looking forward to visiting them in Rome next month!