Exploring Campus

I've spent the last few days exploring the area, figuring out where my classes will be held, and buying groceries. The campus is big - significantly bigger than Tufts - but it's not unwieldy, and you can easily walk from one end to the other in twenty minutes or so. While the village that I'm in is a bit farther from the city center than I'd like (actually, the whole campus is), it's really centrally located to most of the academic buildings, which is really convenient.

The walk to the closest shopping plaza is mostly paved and is full of cars, but at one point you get a really nice view:

A group of us walked part of the river walk which borders the Shannon and ended up spending twenty minutes exploring deteriorating ruins. We have no idea how old they actually were, but it was really cool regardless.

The Living Bridge connects two parts of campus that are separated by the Shannon. It was named as such because it sways and moves as it adjusts to the conditions around it. You can't feel it when you're moving, but as soon as you stop (especially in the middle), it becomes really apparent. It was really cool, but a tiny bit creepy as well.

Eventually I'll take a picture while I'm not actually standing on the bridge because the view is quite impressive.

Grocery shopping is not so easy. For one thing, you have to be super organized and not get many perishable items because six of us - SIX! - share one mini-fridge and one mini-freezer. The second difficulty is watching so many euros being spent at once. While needing food is obviously something I have no choice about, it's hard not to think about the other things (like bus and plane tickets to really cool places) while making my purchases. Plus I still think of everything in dollars, and multiplying by 1.5 is just depressing.

I do manage to still laugh though:

The ones labeled "Irish" are usually 50 cents to one Euro more expensive.

The campus was a full estate at one point in its history, and the Stables pub I've referred to previously is named for what it once was:

The student center that the pub is part of is a complete maze, and has several courtyards, much to my dismay when I first arranged to meet someone "in the courtyard":

Tonight there's another rugby match, and then tomorrow the real work begins with the first classes!