Last night I went into Dublin to meet up with Agnieszka, who Mercè introduced me to, and some of her friends. We went to a Canada Day party at Woolshed Pub. It was fun meeting some new girls and seeing everyone dressed up in Canada gear got me excited for July 4th!
Today I went on a walk to Gormanston College. The "college" is actually a Catholic high school but it is situated in Gormanston Castle which was built in 1786. The castle is about a 30 minute walk from my host family's house. I've been wanting to post more pictures of Stamullen and I decided this walk would be a great opportunity. The weather was overcast but it was a pleasant 60 degrees today so I threw on my Appalachian sweatshirt and headed out the door!
I walked to the school where I had gone every afternoon the past two weeks to get the girls. They attend St. Patrick's School. School ended last Thursday so I will now have all three girls for the day until school starts back in September!
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| All of the road signs in Ireland are in Irish and English |
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| Rainbow School! |
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| St. Patrick's school in Irish! |
The school is less than a 10 minute walk from my host family's house. While the girls were in school this walk was a great way to break up the day and get out of the house with Pippa. With all three girls I'm going to try to walk to Gormanston College a few days a week! When I got to the college grounds today I was surprised to see this sign...:
...but the gate was unlocked so I went in anyway! The grounds of the school are beautiful with green grass and trees. I didn't get too close to the castle itself because I didn't want to push my unauthorized luck, but when I got home Ciara told me she would walk on the grounds all of the time when she was on maternity leave with Pippa so I intend to investigate more when I return!
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| Beautiful tree at the college entrance! |
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| Side view of the castle |
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It still seems odd to me that I can say I am living within a 30 minute stroll of a castle built in the 18th century! On the way back I went to the main part of Stamullen to get a soda and something to munch on. I've already eaten the double stuf oreos I brought from home so I needed to restock my room! All of the au pairs I've talked to keep favorite foods in their room to combat homesickness and keep the treats out of the hands of the kids!
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| Welcome to Stamullen! |
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| The downtown strip |
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| These church ruins (complete with graveyard) are just visible from the main road in my town. I haven't figured out how to get to them yet but I can't wait to explore these as well! |
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| I just couldn't resist this sign! |
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| Part of the neighborhood |
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| Home sweet home |
Overall I had a very relaxing weekend. I was so happy to go into Dublin Saturday night but I also had a lot of fun getting to know Stamullen better today!
Great pictures! Glad you didn't get thrown into an Irish prison for your trespass.
ReplyDeletefunny how things look very different than from what I have pictured in my head...love seeing your neighborhood!
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