I'll Have Music With a Side of Tea

I believe this is the last weekend of this little adventure I'm on that I'll be in Dublin.  The rest of the time I'll be traveling.  It was nice to get a weekend "off" to be able to relax a little.  

After suffering from what I'm 95% sure was a bad case of food poisoning Monday night, I had an accounting test the next day followed by a big group presentation in Irish History the day after.  I could barely sit up straight in my test so we'll see how that turns out and I was still feeling sick for the presentation but it went well enough.  I hardly ever get sick but of course, when I do, it happens at the worst times.  Anyways, I'm all better now.

On Thursday night, I went and saw UCD's production of Phantom of the Opera.  The international student network gave out free tickets but I would have easily paid the 15 euro to see it.  The singing was fantastic!  Broadway quality without a doubt.  The seating was all on a flat floor with horrible spacing so someone's head was center stage for me the whole time but other than that, I was blown away!  I had never seen Phantom of the Opera before and am glad I got to do that.

As foreshadowed in last weeks entry, I went to the uilleann pipes workshop with API on Friday.  We learned a little about the history of the pipes and how they work and then got a demonstration.  Once again, I was blown away!  The guy who played for us apparently played for the queen at some point.  The pipes kind of reminded me of how an organ works.  We got free CDs with uilleann pipe music and it's the greatest thing ever.

After the workshop, the group headed over to Bewley's where we were treated to tea and cake.  I got a piece of fudge cake that may have been the richest chocolate I've ever eaten.  I have a serious sweet tooth but still wasn't able to finish the whole thing. 

Saturday was a do nothing day.  I stayed in bed and watched Harry Potter.  It was great.

Today, fellow CSUer/APIer Kerry who goes to the National University of Ireland in Maynooth and me went to a medieval/viking museum called Dublinia.  We learned about some vikings and the early days in Dublin.  Afterwards we stopped into a pub I had been told everyone has to go to called The Long Hall.  It was beautiful inside and they serve a great pint of the black stuff.  There was a rugby match of Ireland vs. Scotland on and it was fun to see how into it the Irish people in the pub were getting.  We then got some lunch (and more tea) at a very tiny cafe and walked around a little more.  Good day.

I'm super excited for next weekend for a couple of reasons:
1) The API group is going to Galway and Connemara in western Ireland for the weekend
2) My 21st birthday is on Saturday!

Other exciting news:
Sister Megan and me finalized some travel plans.  We're going to be traveling around Europe a bit (Italy, Switzerland, and Austria to name a few) at the end of April/beginning of May.  Should be really fun!