Wednesday Night after class we decided to make the most of our time in Dublin and go out on the town. Some of the other study abroad students were planning on hitting Dicey's later on, so we went out earlier to explore the city and enjoy some pub music. The pub of choice: the Brazen Head, Dublin's oldest pub. Founded in 1198. It's further away from the city centre so it was a little bit of a walk from O'Connell Street but the night was clear (a little crisp) and the River Liffey was all lit up. We may have passed some questionable people, whom Laura swears were shooting up on drugs, but I highly doubt that. We found the Brazen Head, so precious. 
It's a small little pub with an attached restaurant and hotel. The pub was crowded so we found a table outside in the beer garden which was so classic and full of character. I had a celebratory vodka & coke in honor of Nicole & Caitlin's 21st birthdays in America. It only seems right to celebrate the besties birthday, even from miles away.
We enjoyed the live music. I love when they cover American songs...this time it was them playing a very Irish sounding version of Time after Time by Cyndi Lauper. We sat there for a bit soaking it in, while Claire went on the typical Guinness glass hunt and Laura ripped her coaster to bits. 
We decided to move on, and headed back towards Trinity & Nassau Street. We decided to take the last bus home, so we sat in Porterhouse Central for a while waiting for it. 90s Night at Porterhouse meant songs like Dreamlover & 2 Pac Changes. Wondrous. Then it was home :)
Thursday after class, we decided it was time for the spring break wolfpack to fully reunite. A typical wolfpack dinner: chicken wings. Jen had been raving about the chicken wings at Elephant & Castle and so we all met up there at 6 pm. Claire & Laura had been shopping in the city all day so they made us a reservation and were sitting in the corner nook when the rest of us arrived. We ordered our wings and enjoyed the American motif going on around us. We had spent the bus ride talking about all things American...like the fourth of july and grandma's potato salad. We also discussed my new aspirations in life...like watching Oprah, joining her book club, and crossing things off my bucket list like the guys in the Buried Life. And making yet another reunion plan. This time for Nashville. So my style. We ordered dessert and after some confusion with the waiter ended up getting a banana split, hot fudge sundae (very much lacking the hot fudge element), and probably the world's best cheesecake. We shared our desserts and then headed into the Dublin Streets.
Jen, Laura, & Claire headed back to UCD to get some things done/drop off their purchases, so I took the others to the Brazen Head, since they had never been. Another beautiful walk in the city was only dampened by the rudest Dubliner I have met thus far saying some choice comments to me for absolutely no reason. We found our way back to the Brazen Head and barstooled it for a while. Pubs always make me sleepy. They are just so relaxing and dimly lit. Ah. But soon it was time to head back to Blackrock for Thursday's greatest tradition. We got to O'Connell Street, just in time to see the bus pulling up, forcing us to sprint towards the bus and have some man stop in the center of our path with a football looking pose. The bus driver was kind enough to wait, redeeming my love for the Irish after the earlier incident, and we were not ashamed to huff and puff as we paid our fare. The anticipation for karaoke was pretty high, and as soon as we got close to Blackrock, Laura called to tell us that Brock Jones had called in sick and that karaoke was cancelled. We were pretty much at the Wicked Wolf at this point so we got off the bus and met up with Claire & Laura. We were so disappointed and think that maybe we should be put on the phone tree for when these things happen. So we found sanctuary at Supermac's, but it's not quite the same without karaoke. Feeling depressed and defeated, we hailed a "maxi taxi" back to campus. I ended up in Claire & Laura's apartment forcing Laura to watch Foster's commercials as she showed us the Australian fruit commercials. To end the night, we played our favorite commercials. Pure Michigan. It was the voice of Tim Allen in my head as I fell asleep that would prove to be inspiration for tomorrow's adventures.
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