Today was the most amazing day. The one class I had this evening at 6 pm was cancelled, so I had the whole day to do whatever I pleased. I walked an hour and a half into the city where I met Conner and spent the day with him. We went to the Krust cafe where we shared a coconut cronut over coffee and tea, then went to the Dublin Castle. After looking around there, we decided to go to the Dublin City Hall, where we visited their exhibition to learn about the city's history. It was a cool exhibit that displayed many artifacts important in the development of Dublin and Ireland throughout the years.
Afterwards, we made our way to the Christ Church Cathedral and got a guided tour there. It was amazing to be walking through this monumental cathedral that was built in the 13th century. All the features were amazing! It was so easy to miss some of the smaller details in the design of the building, like faces sculpted into the sides of pillars high above where you would normally look.
We spent the remainder of the day walking the riverside, which is just beautiful on a nice autumn day like today! Conner and I decided to take a big step and have our first Guinness together in Ireland, and we happened to do so at an iconic pub called The Boar's Head. At four in the afternoon, we didn't expect anything walking into an empty pub, but ended up meeting an amazing man. This man came in, ordered a Guinness, overheard us talking, and decided to take a chance in getting to know us a little better. He asked where we were from, and after telling him each where we were from, asked us what we were doing here. The man was impressed to hear that we went to Purdue and told us we must be pretty bright. He worked for Texas Instruments, Intel, and Apple, and let us know that when he started his career that they worked with slide rulers. Throughout our talk, we got to learn a lot about his life and his time in Ireland as well as the states. We were told how nice it was to meet people like us who are bright, innovative, and traveling to broaden our horizons. Over an hour was spent talking to this man before he left us with his last piece of advice. He said: "I want you guys to have a great trip here while you're in Ireland, and remember that wherever you go while you are here, if you are ever having a bad day or anything, look up. There is always little things up above on buildings or anywhere that are little touches of Ireland that are of interest and cheer you up." You can meet some of the greatest people at what you may think at first are some insignificant times. Always keeping a positive attitude and remembering to look up and appreciate where I am and who I'm surrounded by.
Afterwards, we made our way to the Christ Church Cathedral and got a guided tour there. It was amazing to be walking through this monumental cathedral that was built in the 13th century. All the features were amazing! It was so easy to miss some of the smaller details in the design of the building, like faces sculpted into the sides of pillars high above where you would normally look.
We spent the remainder of the day walking the riverside, which is just beautiful on a nice autumn day like today! Conner and I decided to take a big step and have our first Guinness together in Ireland, and we happened to do so at an iconic pub called The Boar's Head. At four in the afternoon, we didn't expect anything walking into an empty pub, but ended up meeting an amazing man. This man came in, ordered a Guinness, overheard us talking, and decided to take a chance in getting to know us a little better. He asked where we were from, and after telling him each where we were from, asked us what we were doing here. The man was impressed to hear that we went to Purdue and told us we must be pretty bright. He worked for Texas Instruments, Intel, and Apple, and let us know that when he started his career that they worked with slide rulers. Throughout our talk, we got to learn a lot about his life and his time in Ireland as well as the states. We were told how nice it was to meet people like us who are bright, innovative, and traveling to broaden our horizons. Over an hour was spent talking to this man before he left us with his last piece of advice. He said: "I want you guys to have a great trip here while you're in Ireland, and remember that wherever you go while you are here, if you are ever having a bad day or anything, look up. There is always little things up above on buildings or anywhere that are little touches of Ireland that are of interest and cheer you up." You can meet some of the greatest people at what you may think at first are some insignificant times. Always keeping a positive attitude and remembering to look up and appreciate where I am and who I'm surrounded by.