First two days in Ireland

This picture of the apartment is of the kitchen, obviously, because I was impressed with its size and counterspace.
The other picture is of a pub we went to tonight, which had a funny name, as you'll see, (hopefully you've read this book in American Literature classes).

Dublin really is beautiful, but because it's booming, there is a lot of construction, making it look less than beautiful. Kinda like summer in Syracuse or Binghamton. Other than that it is gorgeous and rustic, like European cities. Dublin is very eco-friendly, so they charge for plastic bags at grocery stores, the hot water has a timer on it, and so many people ride bikes that there is a bike lane right in the road on the side of the car's lane next to the curb. The toilets have two flush settings--a smaller amount of water for pee and a larger amount of water for poop. Saves a lot of water in the long run.
My apartment is very nice. It's like a condo and would cost, by my estimate, $5,000 a month if this were in NYC. The flats are rented out to businessmen normally. There is a kitchen with a washing machine in it, a decent size with good counterspace. There is an open dining room/living room. There is a broom closet with cleaning things, but not the actually fluids, just the brooms and such. There are two double rooms, the bigger one having its own full bath, the smaller one (Kilby's and mine) having dibs to the common bigger full bath across the hall, like two or three feet across the hall. It's really nice and was just built (the complex) last year. Everything is art-deco/modern in style. My flat is kind of far from the center where the class is, like a 35-45 minute monorail ride away, but it's a nicer place because of that. The closer flats are not as nice. The one good thing about being also a stop away even from town, is that we have a mall with Europe's (or maybe just the UK and Ireland) most popular grocery store chain right in it, Tesco's, that is open 24/7.

Anyway, I am going to bed earlier than usual, because I find I can somehow stick to a nice bedtime schedule abroad. I really should adapt that schedule to school and home, but oh well. Cheers!

Love,
Hannah
P.S. Craic, pronounced crack, means fun in Gaelic, so people will often be heard saying, "Did you have craic last night?"
P.P.S. Some flat buildings, the ones attached to each other on the sides, have a different color for each door, not just blue or red as people would think. It was pretty cool. The doors of Dublin are famous for the multi-colored system.