Extended Weekend Adventures

This weekend was a 3-day for us. While some people went to London and Scotland, I chose to stay in Ireland and explore some of the towns along the train route instead. I haven't been going out as much as some people because of the reading and homework we've had, so I made an effort to do more fun stuff this weekend and visit more towns. It's been great so far!


On Friday, after lunch I went to Blackrock and Booterstown on the train with Josh and Ethan. We stopped at the Starbucks there, which is the closest we have to where we live. Then we found a bar that James Joyce wrote about/recommended as one of his favorites because he lived down the street from there. So we also went and found his old house. It was called "Leoville" and people actually still live in it today. If you don't know who James Joyce is, he is one of the most renowned Irish writers of the past 150 years.

The pub that James Joyce recommended. See his plaque on the right part of the wall.

Old house of James Joyce.

View of the train station from the Starbucks.

After finding James Joyce's house we walked up to the town, Booterstown, from Blackrock and passed Blackrock College which is the school that Eamon de Valera, a leader of the Irish fight for independence and eventual Taoiseach of the country, used to attend and teach at. 

de Valera's old house.

As we made our way into Booterstown we stopped at a popular cake shop and got cupcakes. Then we took them down to the beach to eat and explore.

Delicious.

Ethan and Josh enjoying the cakes.

We could see it raining in the distance with the birds flying. Super cool views.

It went on forever.

At the DART station. 

We had a lovely sunset as we made our way back to the YWCA for the night.

Saturday: I, again, made an effort to go do something fun in the midst of all my reading. I new Bono and Enya had homes not to far from where we live so Lindsay and I took the train to Killiney, a town a few stops up from us to do some stalking.

Platform 9 and 3/4!!!

Knock, knock, knockin' on Enya's door.

Outside of Bono's house!

Enya's castle. No big deal.

Cool, abandoned, graffiti building. We may or may not have seen people doing drugs in there. Sketchy.

The clouds were extremely dark to the south, so you can see the water turn from blue to black and white.

Lindsay at the train station. I love these structures.

And today, Sunday, we went to Dublin for the St. Patrick's Day parade! Our toes about froze off from the endless drizzle and slush plus super cold temperatures, but we had quite the experience with drunken Irish locals and crazy tourists decked in green, white and orange. The only photos from that are on my phone, so I will be doing a separate blog post about that later. Happy St. Patrick's day to you all! May the luck of the Irish be with you this year!

Until next time,

Max