A Week of Firsts

I experienced a lot of firsts this past week and even crossed another Irish "to do" off my list!  Wednesday I went over to Natalia's house for dinner.  Her host family were on holidays (not vacation) the past week and she wanted to make a Spanish dinner for Ioana and me.  I had no idea what to expect since my experience with foreign foods is limited to Italian dishes and Taco Bell.  However, I had nothing to worry about.  Natalia made tortillas de patatas and another bread dish which is native to Catalonia.  The main dish (tortillas de patatas) was similar to a huge omelette with potatoes and onions.  It was delicious!  I also think I finally got the answer to my family's question as to why we all received eggs when we ordered tortillas at a restaurant in Puerto Rico a few years ago.  Tortilla in Mexico and tortilla in Spain (and Puerto Rico apparently) are NOT the same thing.  So keep that in mind in your travels.

I can't believe how quickly this weekend flew by for me!  I spent Friday night watching TV at Natalia's house with her and Ioana.  Its been really nice to have a few girls in the neighborhood so I don't always have to make the journey to Dublin for company.  Saturday I went into Dublin to meet up with Hailey.  Hailey and I went to Appalachian together and were introduced by our friend Hillary before we left.  I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it was to see an American after two months!

We did A LOT of walking around the city so I could show her a few of the major landmarks and we ran across these insane sand sculptures at Dublin Castle:

Sand Sculptures at Dublin Castle

I couldn't believe the detail!

I think there was some sort of theme going on but I'm not sure what this is supposed to be....

Picture with Molly Malone: Check!

Then we met up with Agnieszka and another au pair to go to dinner and to a free music festival that was going on in Temple Bar.  We did A LOT more walking to all the different pubs participating in the festival and Hailey and I finally called it a night around 1:30 am.  I'm ashamed to say if I stayed up any longer I thought I was going to fall asleep on the streets of Dublin.  And to think just a few short months ago I thought my night had been dramatically cut short when the last call bell rang at Klondike.  Just goes to show what living with three children does to your bed time.

Luckily, Hailey and I were staying in a hostel in the city so we only had  ten minute walk back to our beds.  This was my first ever hostel experience and I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and comfortable the room was.  We were sharing the room with 10 other people but the two bunk beds next to ours remained vacant all night so we had a little bit of privacy.  I think the only downside to the hostel was there was only one bathroom for the whole room.  It wasn't an issue for us since literally all we did was sleep at the hostel and then go back home the next day, but I could see how that might have been an issue for anyone staying for a long period of time.

Ruby and Maisy are starting school in two short weeks.  I know my job will get a little bit easier when that happens which is great, but I also know I'll be a little lonely talking to only Pippa for the better part of the day once they go back.  Theres only so much you can say to someone who has about 1 and a half words in their vocabulary.

Pippa is getting closer to walking every day so you can all expect a video the MINUTE that happens.  I spend a good portion of each day pointing at myself and repeating Laura over and over but she still calls me dada just like she calls everyone else.

Friday I am off to Belfast for the weekend so stayed tuned for an update on that!  We are going to visit the Giant's Causeway (if you don't know what that is google it right this second.  Its beautiful!) and see the new Titanic exhibit that just opened up for the 100th anniversary (because did you know the Titanic was built in Belfast??).  It should be a very interesting weekend with another stay in a hostel as well as my first time exchanging currency (Belfast is a part of the UK so they use pounds and not euros).  I'm excited for my first major excursion away from Stamullen!