Howth

I got back to the apartment this past Friday and found Katie sitting on the couch. She typically goes home to Cork on the weekends, but this past weekend she decided to stay. I am glad she did because she accompanied me to The Pav (Trinity College on campus pub) to meet up with Caroline and her lab. After some good conversation, Katie and I decided to head back to the apartment to have tortellini and wine. We soon realized our mistake--there was nothing for desert. So, we found a bit of flour in the cabinet, some brown sugar, and some buttermilk which we mixed together and baked in a bowl (yes, in a bowl). We did this because 1. all of my eggs were missing and 2. because when I said we found a 'bit' of flour.. I meant a bit, so not enough for cookies. Back to the eggs? Yes, they were missing. That morning I had boiled an egg to add to my tuna fish salad for my lunch at work. I had 5 eggs left, and some how they were mysteriously missing that evening...

Matt's parents were also visiting this past weekend and invited me for a night out. We first went to Café en Seine for dinner. The website for this restaurant reads "Cosmopolitan and stylish: A continental and stylish café bar on Dublin's stylish Dawson Street, that will transport you back to the heady days of early 19th century Paris with excellent food and drink." I didn't bring my camera, so I found these pictures online to show you...

It is a restaurant daily and at night it turns into a classy night club.

Dance floor

So as you might see, the design of the place was extravagant. We ordered 3 appetizers to share for the table: chicken wings (odd at a place like this?), spring roll, and bread and pestos.

I had lamb shank for my entre over potatoes and for desert we ordered fudge brownie, doughnuts and raspberry tart, and a large meringue all to share. 

After the delicious feast, we all went to the Gaiety Theatre to see The Riverdance which is traditional Irish singing and dancing you may have seen as a program on TV. 

Thanks Hoscheit's for the wonderful night out!

After the show, I had told Caroline I would meet her at a pub to meet her friend who was visiting. We called her Schuller (last name) for the weekend and she had just come from Greece where she was working on an archeological dig. I thought she was pretty interesting in that she decided she loved archaeology and had come to terms that she may not find a career in that so she also plans to open a bakery with her brother. I enjoyed hearing about how the bakery would look and her plans for the layout.

The next morning, Caroline, Schuller, Katie, and I took the Dart to Howth, a beach town on the coast. After a large box of fish and chips, we walked to see seals. These seals hang around the marina waiting for boats to toss over leftover fish, and probably to be fed by tourists. 

see how close they come up to the wall? 

This one just kept bobbing up and down in the water looking at us. It was so cute!

After sitting on some rocks overlooking the ocean, we went to the farmers market to buy rhubarb which I had never had but the girls insisted on baking a rhubarb crumble the next day..



I also managed to go to the National Gallery of Ireland this week after work. I finished my lab experiments early and took an audio tour around the gallery. There were some paintings by Irish artists such as William Orpen, Frances Danby, Nathaniel Hone, and an entire exhibit on Jack B. Yeats and then there were works by Titian, Monet, Picasso, and van Gogh as well. One interesting painting was by Conrad Faber "Portrait of Katherina Knoblauch". It was painted along with "Portrait of Friedrich Rohrbach" who was Katherina's husband. Friedrich Rohrbach hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago, which I have totally been too (I probably looked at the painting as well, but who knows).

Left: "Portrait of Fredrich Rohrbach" hanging at the Chicago Art Institute Right: "Portrait of Katherina Knoblauch" hanging in the National Gallery of Ireland. These were painted as a pair. On the back there is an inscription with I believe the family crest as well as Katherina's age of 19. These paintings were created for the couples 3rd anniversary.. that means marriage was at her age of 16!!!

My time here is winding down.. hopefully I can see some more things before I head home : )