Reclaimed Wheel

Tuesday marked the second week of class, and the start of tutorial sessions for some courses. Since lectures are fairly large, tutorials act as an opportunity to meet with a teaching assistant in a smaller group setting. They tend to be very interactive and discussion based. By Wednesday, I finalized my course schedule, retrieved signatures from four departments, and submitted my registration form to the International Office. This semester, I will take: Social Studies: Comparative Welfare States - Retrenchment and Restructuring, Sociology: European Societies, Political Science: Irish Politics, and History: Ireland in the 20th Century.

Also this week, I scheduled two trips for the upcoming weekends. Kathryn, Brittany, Sean and I signed up for the Surfing Society's trip to Lahinch in County Clare (West Coast). We leave Friday afternoon on February 4th and return that Sunday night. We are headed there by way of a charter bus, and will stay in cottages along the shore. I imagine that the water, as well as the weather, will be next to freezing, but where else, if not Ireland, will I learn to surf for a cheap price with wet suit, board, lessons, transport, and housing included? In addition, I booked my Ryan Air flights to London to visit Erik at the London School of Economics for Friday, February 11th through late Monday, February 14th. Plans are already in the works for a trip to Belfast (or Galway... or Cork) the following weekend.

In contrast to the week before, there were visits to clubs or pubs during the week - only a little Jersey Shore and  Gone Baby Gone at Maggie and Kathryn's on Wednesday. However, on Friday night, we decided to visit Point Village which boasts the Dublin (ferris) Wheel (alternatively the Dublin Eye[sore]) and the O2 indoor concert venue. Both projects were part of the last breaths of the Celtic Tiger and efforts to renew the Docklands. The Wheel is a relatively short 25 minute walk from our apartments - made longer with our visit to the Mona Lisa, student-priced Italian restaurant by Trinity's Main Gate.

View of the Renewed Docklands

The urban renewal efforts along the waterfront are welcoming for the extensive walking and bike paths that now line the Liffey. Trees, covered with blue LED lights, dot the pathways. We crossed into the North Side of Dublin via the Seán O'Casey Footbridge, and along the way passed the remarkable Samuel Beckett cable bridge and new Convention Center with its tilted, glass, illuminated facade. After passing a couple "dodgy" blocks of dilapidated, former dock buildings we arrived at Point Village. As a sign of the economy, or perhaps the frigid cold, there were few tourists about at the miniature carnival.

Nevertheless, we paid our 7 euro (student price) to ride the Dublin Wheel for 13 minutes. Unfortunately, each pod only fits six adults, so Sean, Brittany, Kathryn and Maggie went in one, while John, Eric, and I waited for the wheel to lift them upwards before we boarded ours. In an quasi-boast, the website for the Wheel states that it is less than half the height of the London Eye. Given the flat nature of Dublin, and the scarcity of tall buildings, no additional height was needed to see the city. From our pod, you could see the new Aviva Stadium, the Irish Sea, and into the heart of the city. After our ride, we opted not to purchase our group picture package (complete with lanyards!) and instead headed to MacTorcaill's for warmth.

Dublin Wheel

Full Dublin Album

For reading to the bottom of this post, you are rewarded with a new feature of my blog, titled "Things that are Different, and Stores that are Not"

Things that are Different: Plastic bags are rare and cost 30 cents apiece
Stores that are Not: Subway