Best Friends Abroad - LOOK MA, WE MADE IT

Well everyone, Hello!

What is better than your best friends coming to visit you during a year abroad? Let me clear that up for you... nothing is better.

When living abroad, you can be having the time of your life, but it is still easy to get a bit homesick. When you're adjusting to new people, new places and new foods, it's all very exciting and fun, but you still have a tendency to miss your friends and family. 

Well folks, I can safely say that I don't think I've been homesick once since touching down in Ireland. The amount of friends and family that have visited me is just astounding! Before you leave, you tell everyone to visit, but it's such a treat to actually have people come and do it.

The latest installment to "My Loves Abroad" is Melanie and Katelyn's trip over to the Emerald Isle. It was so nuts leaving home after the holidays and being able to say " See ya next week" when I was saying goodbye to them.

They arrived early Saturday morning to a beautiful crisp winter day in Dublin. While Court had to work, Eddie and I took them out to brunch at one of our favourite spots- Hobart's Café in Ranelagh (Home to the Hangover Cure, might I add.)

                     

After eating, we took a little afternoon snooze so they could get adjusted to the time zone and also prepare for their first night out in Dublin (It was a Saturday after all.) We ordered takeaway, watched Friends and got ready to hit the town. We ended up dancing the night away at Dicey's and ordering some 4 am pizza (which took so long to arrive, everyone fell asleep-- Get it together Apache.) While at work, the next day, I heard on the radio that Aaron Paul had been in Dicey's and The Dean the night before. We were devastated because Court had been at work (at The Dean) and we all were in Dicey's and we didn't see him or even hear word that he was in Dublin until it was just too late. Just truly heartbreaking.

Monday, we hit up the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. Once again, really my favourite way to show people around Dublin! It's so handy because when you don't have a car, it's difficult to show them everything you want without trecking around on public transport. They get to see the sights, get a bit of history and really just take in how cool of a city Dublin really is. I then showed them some of my favourite pubs and we grabbed some dinner at one of the most hipster places in Dublin, Cassidy's.

Tuesday, I had work, but met up with the girls afterward for the second leg of the bus tour. It was very brief, but got to show them a little bit more of the Docklands and other side of town. We had just barely escaped the rain and warmed up over some coffee in Costa.

Katelyn has studied abroad in Galway, so coming back to Ireland was so nostalgic for her. It was cool to have her remember things she had done and places she'd been in Dublin, even for just a short period of time. That being said, we got to meet up with a couple of her friends that she studied with at NUIG. We spent most of the night in this pub called the Porterhouse which specializes in craft beers. If you're looking for a cool place to try some new beer, I highly recommend it. You can get a flight of 3 beers for just 5.50. Their bar menu is delicious and I'll definitely be headed back there!

Her friends brought some of their friends and Eddie and Courtney met up with us at well. We had a great time chatting and grabbed some burgers at The Counter, which is slowly becoming my favourite burger place ever. It was such a fun night and all of the people were lovely. It was nice to see how the group had formed and even better that Katelyn got to see some old friends!

Wednesday I had to work again so the girls headed off on their own. They got to do the Jameson tour and get lost in the city. Getting lost in a city is one of my favourite things to do as a tourist when I don't have any place to be. It really allows you to see cool parts of a place that you may had not had the chance to see. For dinner, I took them to Mak, because a trip to Ranelagh just really isn't complete without it. Food was delicious as always.

On Thursday, we woke up and headed to Heuston Station to grab the train out to Galway! We got the student prices so it really wasn't that expensive at all. A much better and more convenient way to travel to Galway than the 5 hour bus ride Michelle and I had taken before! We checked into the hostel and lounged a bit before meeting up with another friend of Katelyn's from NUIG for dinner. We went to this place called the Cellar, which had a cool vibe and a bunch of delicious food! It was fairly inexpensive and we left stuffed!

           

                           

 

   

Later that night, we met up with a couple more friends of Katelyn's at a bar called The Front Door. I've been each time I've been to Galway, and it never ever disappoints. We were lucky enough to snag a table because the place is jammers after about 11 pm. One of her friend had even taken a recent trip to America and had been to Ithaca! I got to gush about one of my favourite places in the world in a pub in Galway, Ireland-- now that is a pretty small world if you ask me. We had a great night and certainly found the west coast craic ;).

Finally abroad together at the same time=happy campers

 

 

Group Shot

Friday, we grabbed a hungover brunch with Katelyn's friend Lisa and rehashed the night. We did a bit of shopping and grabbed a world-famous Irish Coffee before getting the train back to Dublin.

That night, we made some sandwiches and headed out with Eddie and a few of his mates. They came to have a game-filled pre-drink session out at ours before heading into town to show the girls one last great night in Ireland. We headed to Play, which always proves to be a great time. The drinks are cheap, the music is grand and the craic is mighty. We had a fantastic send-off for the girls. They got very little sleep as their flight was leaving very early the next morning, but it was certainly worth it.

 

I miss them already, but had such a wonderful fun and laugh-filled week with them! In this period of life, it's hard to spend extended periods of time with the people you love most, but I couldn't have been happier to spend time with my best friends and finally have the euro trip we always talked about. Although it is the first, it certainly will not be the last.

Love from Baile Átha Cliath,

Paige xx