This morning, I took the bus from the Dublin city center to University College Dublin. UCD is around 30 minutes from the city center by bus. Once there, I went once again to Insomnia Coffee, and this time got some food in addition to my drink(a chicken mango chili wrap, which was quite good). There, I finished The Demon in the Freezer(amazing book). Afterwards, I strolled through the UCD campus, which is also the home of Ireland’s National Virus Reference Lab(this was especially interesting to me after reading The Demon in the Freezer). The campus is very new, and has a remote feel to it, even though it lies in the suburbs of Dublin. On the tour, we began by looking at the academic buildings, which were very new, and looked like something out of an IKEA catalog. The dorms matched. The student rec centers were alive with students, and had many activities going on, such as swim practices, debate tournaments, and talks. Overall, I liked the school. However, I’m not sure if there was enough in its favor to bring me to Ireland over Purdue, especially given the benefits and flexibility a degree at Purdue offers.
After UCD, I took the bus back into the city, and window shopped. Near Trinity College Dublin’s campus, I ate at a tiny Italian cafe. I had a really good pistachio cannoli, and a chicken pesto calzone so good I think I will have dreams of it in years to come.
After dinner, I returned to the hostel, and did some house keeping tasks, such as laundry. A nice Russian man helped me sort out how to use the machines. I am now writing this to you, with around 4 hours until I leave for the airport for my flight to Manchester tomorrow(it is currently 11:50 PM). I plan on pulling an all nighter, because I cannot trust that I will wake up to an alarm if I go to sleep. Cheers, and I’ll write to you tomorrow.