Wish I took my camera! My first pub was Taaffes, a local pub that has traditional music played live every night and in the late afternoon. A group of us went there for lunch after some tours today, when it was empty and still serving food. We ended up going back after supper (at a ritzy Italian restaurant--with gelato!) and stayed until midnight. The girls I went with all ended up hooking up with some other American guys, so I found another group to walk home with.
It was definitely an interesting experience...but I think I'm going to avoid the rest of the semester. It's incredibly awkward to sit there and watch other people get drunk and act stupid when I have no desire to have any alcohol myself. I did take some girl's whisky, though--nasty. All of the other American kids are taking full advantage of the fact that the drinking age here is 18. Oy vey.
Besides that, the day was pretty interesting. One of the API women showed us briefly around the college campus and then some spots in the city center, then left us on our own. We went back to the college at 1:30 to get an official tour...by a drunk student...who we then saw at midnight when we were walking back. He tried to hit on one of the girls while trying to pretend he was actually doing his job. Let's hope the rest of Ireland doesn't fancy liquor as much as college students seem to.
Our biggest challenge of the day was finding our way to Milano's, the restaurant, after walking back to our rooms to change. We had seen it briefly in the middle of the city and had to find it in the dark without maps. My group got lost briefly, but ended up finding it relatively easily. I can't wait until I actually know where I'm going. Of course, the rest of the kids will learn it sooner since they plan on clubbing every night, but I am content to learn the college campus better than the pub routes.
Wow, this was a bitter post. Here's hoping tomorrow is better! Good night.
