Second day in Dublin felt a lot better than the first in terms of being awake. After getting 10 hours of sleep, we started the day with an orientation, then a history walking tour and concluded the day with a “Hop on Hop off” bus tour. We also had lunch at a cafe called “Noshington” with Hayley, our Dublin coordinator. She told us about good thrift and vintage shops to go to and I am excited to explore them soon.

Our walking tour was given by Tim, a PhD student from Trinity College. He informed us that he used to be economics and history major. He dropped the economics major because he was taught the conservative view in the midst of the economy crash in 2008 and 2009. To think that this successful and thriving city now was not developed and suffering really surprises me. Anyways, he walked us through the same places that we saw yesterday and more with detailed explanations. Our first stop was St. Patrick’s Cathedral which is the oldest church in Dublin built in the Medieval times. Considering the fact that the United States is not even 300 years old, I think it is incredible that Ireland still has buildings standing from Medieval ages. As we were walking, Tim stopped at the City Council to tell us about the irony of how ‘horrible’ Irish take care of the old architectures. The City Council was built but destroyed one of the oldest buildings because they were careless of the history and culture. This modern building looked like the new thriving era/generation of Dublin is invading the old and unique atmosphere that has forever existed in the country. As a result, I liked how the modern part with company buildings were separate from the ‘old town’.

Still jet lagged but somehow survived day 2. I am excited for our first company visit abroad to Google Dublin tomorrow which we will get to compare and contrast to the Pittsburgh office.