It Rains Mainly in the Plains of Ireland

Back when I was visiting my family in Florida, we shared a little joke that you knew you were in Tallahassee because it was raining. Every day like clockwork it would rain in the afternoon. Here in Limerick, it rains several times a day. Most of the time the showers are quick hitters and gone in 15 minutes. But today's rain lasted all day.

The showers started during class and started to let up a bit on our walk home. After having an afternoon run canceled, a group of seven of us decided to venture downtown for dinner. Except it started to rain. Hard. By the time we reached the bus stop we were soaked. Then we stood and waited for the bus for 15 minutes. It didn't come so we hiked to a nearby gas station to call a cab. After waiting for 15 more minutes, the rain let up and we decided to walk up to the next bus stop. Fifty minutes after leaving, we reached downtown.

After roaming the city for a bit, we found a small secret restaurant for dinner. It was solid. I had smoked chicken stuffed with salmon. I meant to take a picture of this but remembered my plan after the first bite. (I will try of all my fancy meals from now on.)

When we emerged from the restaurant at 9 p.m. the sun was just on the horizon, but still quite bright. Time to put on the shades. Again we wandered around for a while and ended up at the Bank Bar and Grill for dessert. I didn't partake in the food, but the atmosphere was great. Unfortunately, right as we were leaving at 10 two chaps started to play some Irish music. It was tempting to stay, but we decided against it so we could get home and rest up for this weekend.

When we got off the bus at our stop we were greeted by the result of a long day of rain. Pretty sweet. I guess the rain isn't so bad after all.


I don't know if I'm going to be able to post for the next few days while we make a trip to Dublin, but expect a big roundup when I can write again. Here's a preview of our trip:

We leave for Dublin Thursday after class, no definite plans for that day yet. On Friday morning, we will tour the Four Courts (kind of like the Supreme Court in D.C.) Then we will talk to a few barristers. Afterward, everyone is dead set on visiting the Guinness factory. In the evening, we will have a fancy dinner to celebrate the Fourth of July and go out on the town. Saturday will include a trip up to Belfast to see more historical buildings and courts. Our visit will also coincide with a prelude to parades leading up to the Orange Walk. Should be interesting.

We return to Dublin on Sunday for a free day. Right now, I think my plan for Sunday is to travel with another girl with Northern Ireland roots to find our family's origin. Jill knows that her family has a castle, which has since been turned into an equestrian center. I, on the other hand, don't know much. I know the Arneals came from County Tyrone. I think they originated from a town called Killeeshill, but that isn't certain. I don't know if anything is still there. Right now we are planning on renting a car. Hopefully, everything lines up because it should make for an exciting trip.

LJLA