I Made It!

I'm officially in my new apartment in the Belgrove Residence of UCD! It sure was a journey to get here. I started with an hour and half car ride to Newark airport but checked my bag and got through security all within thirty minutes, so I had over two hours to wait by the gate to board. My luggage weighed exactly 45lbs, so I'll definitely have to be careful not to exceed the 50lb limit on my way back. I had a great flight with an aisle seat and no one sitting next to me for the first time ever. For dinner, I had cheese ravioli, bread with butter, apple juice, and vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. I watched How to be Single and an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Then I took a two hour nap and had a croissant with butter and apple juice for breakfast. Once I landed in Glasgow, I had to go through customs and then security again, which took no time at all. The layover in Glasgow wasn't too bad. I enjoyed looking at all the stores and Scottish souvenirs such as the plaid kilts and scarves, books about the Loch Ness monster and various items with the Scottish flag imprinted on them. The flight to Dublin went by fast, and I sat in the second row in another aisle seat. Once we landed, I went through customs and got my bag. I quickly found the Aircoach bus, and it pulled up right as I got to the stop. Once I got to the UCD campus, I had to walk awhile to find the reception desk to check in and then proceeded to get lost trying to find the Belgrove Residence. Once I found building 31, I realized my apartment is on the second floor. After getting settled in, I went to the Centra store on campus to buy a little food and other necessities. Then I showered and got some much needed sleep. However, I couldn't deeply fall asleep because of the new environment and the fact that it was only 4pm. I met my one roommate, Liam who goes to Indiana University. We talked for awhile, and he made us chicken and asparagus for dinner. Then we took the bus to go out for some drinks downtown. We met up with his friend Seth who also attends Indiana University. First, we walked around the Temple Bar area and along Grafton Street, a very popular street to shop. Our first bar was Captain America's on Grafton Street where I got a Swedish hard cider called Kopparberg, mixed berry flavor. Next, we went to The Duke, which was a really nice quiet bar with an older crowd, and I just had a glass of water. Afterwards, we took a taxi back to campus and got back around 12:30am. I'd say it was a very successful first day in Dublin after a long journey to the apartment.