Touristy with Barnes

Bailey came and visit me this week, and it was glorious! We had a really great time and we did lots of touristy things, which I always love. I gave her a nice little surprise by meeting her at the airport, and then we went out and got a glass of wine, tapas and mussels....best idea we've ever had! On Tuesday we went to The Human Body Exhibition. It's the one where they have the real peoples' bodies on display, after being stripped of skin and muscles, etc. to teach the spectators of the human body. I was really excited to go, but I have to say I was a total baby when I got into the exhibition; even within the first room I was freaking out, because it's such a strange concept that you are in this room full of dead bodies. In any case, I don't think I'll be going back any time soon. They didn't allow you to take pictures within the exhibition, which is fine by me because I wouldn't want to look at those pictures anyway.

That night we met up with a few friends and went out on the town (to Dicey's, a popular bar in Dublin on Tuesday night). Part of the dance floor is outdoors, and since this is Ireland of course it rained. It was such a fun night though! Lesson learnt: dancing in the rain with your girlfriends is always a fun time :)

On Wednesday we lounged around for a few hours and made ourselves a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast and baked beans. We then went to the Guinness Storehouse, which is only a 10 minute walk from my apartment. The tour was cool, and I could remember snippets of being there before. What I noticed mostly was that it was very loud, as there were tonnes of people and videos on the tour. We ended our tour at the very busy Gravity Bar with our free pint (and in my case, half pint) of Guinness. Lesson leanrt: neither of us like Guinness that much.

On Thursday it was sad saying good bye to Bailey because we never know when we're going to meet again. She's off to San Fransisco and Hawaii this weekend...I don't know how it'll compare to Dublin, but I'm sure the weather will be better!

Have fun on your holiday, Barnes!
And good night everyone else :)

Weekend Alone

Hello all,
This past week was my first week back in the Drawing Rooms (after my one month stint in the bar). I'm not sure which I prefer, because they're both so different...but the bar is definitely a lot more relaxed. This week has had fairly good weather, so I've been spending my days on the Terrace serving people tea while working on my tan.

This week I also started apartment hunting on a whim. On July 1st I was hanging out with Rochelle and Tiffany, and decided to just search the web and see if there were any apartments that looked good (I wasn't even seriously considering moving) and within an hour I had two appointments to view some rooms. So I decided that I wanted to move from Cork Street because, to be honest, the area is pretty sketchy and at least a half hour walk away from anywhere I want to spend my time. I looked at about five apartments, and found one that I love! I'm going to be moving on August 8th :) The apartment is shared with three other girls and I will be sharing the room with a Venezuelan girl. It's in an amazing location (right across the street from Christchurch Cathedral - very central) and the rent is 200 Euros less than what I pay now (because it's a single bed in a shared room). I'm really excited to move, even though it's in almost exactly a month!

I had yesterday and today off work, and I decided I wanted to do something worthwhile. Yesterday I went to Christchurch Cathedral with my current roommate, Maria. It was really interesting and there is a  creepy crypt beneath the church. My favourite/the weirdest part was the mummified bodies of a cat and a rat. Apparently someone found their bodies in some organ pipes...the cat was presumed to be chasing the rat and they both got stuck in the organ, and their bodies were preserved fairly well (although skeletal and gross).

Today I slept in late and went to the coastal town of Howth (pronounced Hoath) for a few hours. To get there it's about a half hour ride on the DART train.  It was a gorgeous day and perfect to go on a hike! The views were breathtaking and it was really peaceful hiking by myself. It took me about two hours to do the trail; afterwards I bought a sandwich and a fruit salad and had myself a little picnic by the ocean. Here are some photos (but to get the full effect you'll just have to visit and come on the hike with me!)

Kind of awkward taking pictures of yourself, but it had to be done!

Hope everyone else is having good weather and a relaxing summer!
Love,
Jenna