A Crusader Reunion!

From speaking to the avid travelers of the students studying abroad, I’ve realized that their mantra seems to be “try, try again…and you will succeed, eventually!” Last Tuesday, I greeted Amanda Guarino (who’s studying at the University of Sussex and also blogging) in the Dublin Airport with a big tackle! We were so happy that her plane had taken off from Gatwick and landed in Dublin without either cancellation or delay—a feat we were a little worried about, seeing as in December, after a cancellation of three flights due to approximately two and a half inches of snow, Amanda wasn’t able to make it over when Kelsey and Nora visited!

We spent the first night catching up and planning our Ireland adventures over pizza—and began the next morning bright and early with a visit to Howth, a small fishing village on the northern border of Dublin! It was a foggy morning, but that only seemed to magnify the beauty of the lighthouse and the small seafood restaurants lining the streets. We even caught sight of a seal on our walk to the lighthouse! We returned to Dublin in the afternoon, where we both went to my Uncanny in Women’s Fiction class and then had dinner at Bewley’s, one of the treasures of Grafton Street!

We spent the next two days doing our own little walking tour of Dublin—seeing everything from the Dublin Spire, the Garden of Remembrance, Christchurch Cathedral, Stephen’s Green, the Book of Kells in Trinity’s Library, the National Museum, and the River Liffey. And, of course, we made a crucial stop in Carroll’s, the classic shop for Irish souvenirs—complete with some classic Irish songs playing as background music! Although the store is geared towards tourists and thus, leprechauns, Irish flags, and green of any and every sort is well in abundance, it immediately became clear that the store is already preparing for St. Patrick’s Day. I’m looking forward to seeing the celebrations that take place in Dublin that day!

On Saturday, we took a tour of the Wicklow mountains, a tour which brought us to the site where P.S. I love you was filmed, the Guinness estate and lakes (Loch Tae and Loch Dan), and Glendalough, a site of ancient monastic ruins! Our tour guide kept us laughing—and singing—the entire ride! Amanda and I were nearly coerced into belting out a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York—but, luckily, our tour guide took the lead there! Unfortunately, Amanda had to return to Brighton on Sunday morning, as much as I wanted to keep her in Dublin!

But, in addition to being happy that the weather had been on our side and allowed us to see many aspects of Ireland, from city life, to seaside fisheries, to mountain passes that border Ireland’s countryside, I was so happy to have the time to just reconnect and share stories with Amanda! Reuniting with fellow Crusaders never fails to feel like reuniting with family! And, while I’m beyond excited to return to Holy Cross next year and share the experiences of senior year with all of my lovely Crusaders, I’m also excited to continue my journey in Ireland, to continue being part of what will become treasured stories and memories. And, next year, upon the biggest reunion I will have ever experienced, I can’t wait to see how all of our stories will interweave and how, despite our very different experiences, will undoubtedly only bind my second family of Crusaders closer together.

P.S. The picture of the cat is Trinny, Trinity’s very own on-campus cat. She’s a pretty famous member of campus life (I mean, she even has her own facebook page-I can’t say I know another cat that’s on facebook!) Amanda and I ran into Trinny on our second morning in Dublin; she was sitting casually on the benches overlooking the rugby fields-clearly in her domain. 🙂

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2011 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “A Crusader Reunion!”

1. Kelsey says:

   February 19, 2011 at 8:26 am

   All so incredible!! So glad you guys had such an amazing time!!!

2. Jade says:

   February 19, 2011 at 12:31 pm

   Amanda,

   You’re very lucky to be in Ireland! I’ve been at Dublin a few years ago. The mornings are so magic! My two best places are the National Museum, and the Christchurch Cathedral as you visited. You’re very lucky!

   Irish cats are happy too 🙂

3. LV Handbag says:

   February 22, 2011 at 4:42 pm

   …

   THX, I always love a good read. Dont stop posting!……

4. Janet says:

   May 6, 2011 at 1:39 am

   I visited the Wicklow mountains in May 2008. Absolutely lovely there. Trinny seems adorable.

5. Sarouel says:

   June 3, 2011 at 5:06 am

   What a chance to travel around the world! You are a very lucky girl! Visit a celtic country is my dream, and your pictures make me dreaming.