I went to Dublin today, completely on my own for the first time. This is the third time in total that I've traveled from Maynooth to Dublin. It was actually quite pleasant, if a bit intimidating. I'm still super paranoid about getting on the right train at the right time. Fortunately, they provide plenty of notice and description of which train is which, so while heading to Dublin I just kept looking for signs for Connolly Station (which is one of the stations in Dublin).

Unfortunately, my trip to Dublin was more about business than pleasure. As tempted as I was to wander into one of the millions of shops, I stuck to my memorized directions and headed straight for 7 Upper Abbey Street, which was not too far from Connolly Station. I love The Spire in Dublin. The Spire is a giant spike at the heart of the Dublin shopping district and stands at a crossroads. It's a great waypoint. It's easy to remember something like "head straight from Connolly toward the Spire, then turn right"). The area was super crowded, of course, with people of all sorts. I passed a handful of street musicians too. I actually found 7 Upper Abbey Street fairly easily, by some miracle. I went into the hardware store and, through another miracle, they had the power cord that I needed to play my Xbox 360. It seemed almost too good to be true. I headed right back to the train station afterwards, but I took my sweet time about it. I popped into the occasional store along the way but resisted the urge to...well, you know, buy the latest video game that's out...or the latest book...

All in all it was a very pleasant trip. I went at a leisurely pace so I got to take in the sights and not push myself. The train was a nice rest for my feet before then going on the long walk from the Maynooth Train Station to my apartment on campus (well, it's a long walk for me, anyways). I'm getting much better at this whole "walking everywhere" thing, if you ask me. I'm getting much more comfortable with it. Coming back to my apartment, I looked back over my shoulder and was amazed at the distance I'd traveled all on foot. It seemed incredible. I felt like such a wanderer. So independent and urbanite! And all in a foreign country! Sometimes I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it.

When I got back to my apartment I plugged in the power cord and my Xbox 360 booted up properly, just like it should. It was one of the most beautiful sights I'd seen in this country so far (ha ha). I may not have access to any of my MMOs, but the fact that I can play my xbox now makes me feel just a little bit more normal in this place.

Irish Word of the Day: Walk -- Siúlóid. 
I was walking down the street -- Bhí mé ag siúl síos an tsráid. (The "siúl" means "walking").