I'm a senior!

9 days until the beach. I can't wait to lay on the hammock and read, take long naps for absolutely no reason, walk barefoot on the beach, spend the evenings on a porch swing with a glass of wine in my hand, laughing and talking with my family. Oh, summer!

One year later

I saw the professor I went on study abroad with today-like me, he is incredulous that it has indeed been an entire year since we left. Here's a mini-recap of the first week of my trip in photos (all taken by moi) 

"The Fate of the Children of Lir"-Garden of Remembrance, Dublin. This garden commemorates all those who gave their lives for Ireland's freedom and this statue stands at the end of the garden. The myth of the Children of Lir is a sad one: their father remarried an evil witch who disliked her stepchildren so much that she turned them into swans and cursed them by making them remain as swans for 9000 years. At the end of that time, they turned back into humans and died. 

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. One of the major cathedrals of Dublin, it was once Catholic but now belongs to the Church of Ireland. A neat fact about this church is that years ago, an organ from the 1800s was being taken apart and a mummified cat and rat were found in one of the pipes. Apparently the cat was chasing the rat and they both got stuck and preserved in an unused organ. 

St. James' Gate Brewery, the original site of the Guinness factory. The factory has moved down the road, but the original building still stands as a museum to all things Guinness. At the wall where visitors can post messages, I wrote one to my daddy, who has drunk Guinness since I was a little girl; I posted it just before I went up to the Gravity Bar on the 8th story to drink my free pint and take in the panoramic view of Dublin. 

The Liffey River, which runs down the center of Dublin. I crossed the Liffey every day while we were in Dublin. It's a rather nasty green color, which (thankfully) didn't show up in this picture. One day, we saw people doing a charity swim to raise money for cystic fibrosis research. It was freezing just standing on the bridge watching, so I will spare you the pictures of old Irishmen in their speedos! 

I'm not sure who this gentleman is, but the first thing we did after arriving in Dublin was to visit the Book of Kells. The ancient manuscript is impressive, but I was more in love with the Long Room, which houses other old books, rows upon rows of them. 

Going back through these pictures makes me miss Ireland that much more. Hopefully I will be able to go back soon!