LIFE IN IRELAND: Weekend Fun

This last weekend was very active...and very fun! I think with the combination of warmer weather, familiarity with the city, and our time here coming to a close, everyone is a bit antsy to get out and see more around Dublin. So that's just what we did.

On Friday night, some of us girls went to something called a Ceili (an Irish word pronounced "kay-lee," which means "party"). Basically there was a live Irish band, a large dance floor, and lessons on how to dance the Irish way!

The regulars are usually older people, but we happened to come on a night where a large group of Austrian high schoolers came for a visit. It was so fun to have a mixture of older, Irish people teaching us the steps, while reminiscing on what it was like to be at a high school dance.

Because all the dances required a partner, we primarily danced with one another, but I was privileged to dance with an old Irish man and an Austrian high school boy...haha. There were 5 of us that went to the Ceili, which meant someone usually had to sit out. I sat out the first dance, but not for too long before one of the high school boys came up to me and asked, "Will you dance with my friend?" Haha...oh high schoolers :P Later on in the night an older Irish man asked each one of us girls to dance with him...he was a good dancer!

Katelyn, myself, Leanna, and Kim (and Erin took the picture)

Before each dance, the instructor demonstrated and needed a volunteer. He kept asking us to be his volunteers because he said we were the only ones with enough courage!

Not sure what this dance was called...

Dancing with "Mr. Limerick" (as we called him). My dance with him was the waltz...he was great at leading, but the song we danced to happened to be nearly 10 minutes long! My calves were burning by the end and so was my nose...Mr. Limerick didn't smell very good :<( but he was such a sweet man!

On Saturday Erin, Katelyn, Kim, and I went to Phoenix Park, which is one of the largest parks in Europe. Inside the park is the President's house, which we got to tour (without going through ANY security...weird) and see her personal office, which was really cool.

President Mary McAleese's house

As we were roaming the park, we saw some deer and decided to see how close we could get...

I was amazed at how close Kim was able to get. But then...

THEY started coming towards ME! They got closer...

And closer...

Oh my goodness! I couldn't believe it! Granted, I had an apple core to offer, but I had never been that close to a live deer before. I was a little scared of his antlers, not gonna lie...

I love the Spring time flowers!!!

Then Sunday after church, I headed back up to Howth (if you remember in an earlier post, I had gone there for Valentine's Day but had a miserable experience because it was so cold). Howth is a small seaside town located on a peninsula just north of Dublin. I went with Katelyn and Leanna, and Leanna's two friends who were visiting from Oxford. We enjoyed walking on the docks and piers, through the farmer's market, and along the cliff walk...so beautiful.