Ireland

Day 1— My friend Macklin and I stayed in Leixlip, a suburb of Dublin about a 35-minute train ride away. After riding into Dublin we went first to Brother Hubbard (http://brotherhubbard.ie/), an incredible breakfast, lunch, and brunch spot with killer coffee and Moroccan inspired meals. Brother Hubbard also has some tasty baked goods to take for the road, (peanut butter, s’more cookie, anyone?) Dublin is a great city because once you’re there, you can walk to most of the major sites. We saw Dublin Castle, Grafton St., The National History Museum (free of charge!), and Fallon & Byrne, a specialty foods store in center city.

Day 2 -- Our second day in Ireland began with a walk through Phoenix Park, and then we headed back to Brother Hubbard for brunch because it was too good to stay away! This time, we picked up some sweets from their partner store, Little Brother, and headed for the coast! After a few hours along the water, we went back into the city to get the best fish and chips in Dublin from Leo Burdock (http://leoburdock.com/), which we enjoyed in St. Patrick’s park.

Day 3 – The weather on our third day was rainy and cold, so instead of heading into the city, we decided to explore Leixlip a bit. There was a nice park near our Airbnb, so we walked around and picked up scones and coffee from a bakery in the center of town. For the rest of the day, we studied for our upcoming tests and watched the 3^rd Hobbit movie—courtesy of Irish Netflix.

Day 4 – Our final day in Ireland ended up being a wonderful and crazy adventure. From Dublin, we took a bus to Enniskerry, a little town near the Wicklow Mountains. We had wanted to get to Glendalough, where the valley of Wicklow National Park is, but there was no way to get there via public transportation, so our goal was to hike to a waterfall along the trail near Enniskerry. Getting to the start of the trail was a 3 mile walk along a beautiful road, and then we hiked 12 miles along the trail until we reached the waterfall which was incredible! Once we got off the trail we walked another 3 miles back into Enniskerry where we ate the best panini of our lives. Overall, it was a long and strenuous journey, but the most incredible day!