Sunday 11 September 2016

Back in Berlin

Dear all,

now it's been a bit more than a week that I returned to Berlin.

Everything turned back to the usual every day life in Berlin and thus, this will be my farewell post.

In conclusion, I can say that I enjoyed my stay in Dublin and Ireland, though the two months passed in the blink of an eye. I had much fun exploring Ireland's cities and Dublin, though I have to admit that I wasn't able to do everything I wanted, simply due to a lack of time.

The internship itself at the company was different from what I expected at the beginning, but then again this isn't that unusual, considering the fact that I had until then only worked in Germany so far.
I did a few odd tasks and most of the time did things that I already did back in my apprentice company, but nonetheless I did some new tasks at the end of the internship, too.

In the end I would recommend doing an internship abroad to you guys if you ever get the chance to, even if your exchange company itself isn't that great, you will meet new amazing people and simply have a great time in another country. So finally you will have broadened your mind and gained new experiences, that you wouldn't be able to gain while just staying in one place.

I hope you had fun reading and following this blog, even if you just found some locations you want to go to in Ireland ;)

For a last time until then,
F

Monday 29 August 2016

Dublin's Green Side and Touristic Activities

Dear all,

now even my last weekend here in Dublin is spent and I will already be back in Berlin next week around this time.

On Monday one of my fellow German Interns and I decided to go to Phoenix Park again, as we were told by the other Interns that there are free living deer to be found. Sadly, we only spotted one stag... After that we went again to Eatokyo and ran  into one of my flatmates of our group and her companion. Though we again went to Eatokyo on Wednesday. We just can't seem to get enough of this place, haha.




At Eatokyo I enjoyed some nice Sushi on Monday (didn't do any pictures) and on Wednesday I treated myself to this awesome Seafood Ramen Bowl.



We also had this superb sunrise last week...



On Friday we went to O'Reilly's as usual and met up with one colleague of one of our German interns, though we were all in all fewer as the other German intern group we usually went to pubs with, already had their last day on Friday (but we obviously did a proper farewell party earlier that week).

On Saturday I spent my day with the same German intern as from Monday at Dublin's National Botanic Garden. The area is well taken care of and really is a great spot to relax. The most astonishing point though is, that one doesn't need to pay any entrance fee. We also have a Botanic Garden in Berlin Steglitz, but one has to pay a small entrance fee to get access to the garden.













On Sunday, the aforementioned work colleague and two other fellow German interns and me did a Free Walking Tour of the northern part of Dublin. It's great as you just meet up with the guide who has an umbrella with him near The Spire, which you can't miss at O'Connell Street next to the GPO. The Tour was really interesting as our Guide shared some Dublin insider info with us and all in all did a great job. I also went to The Rolling Donut again, although I went with a Rosie Lee Donut (red velvet donut) as they didn't had the cool blue one this time. We also spotted this fantastic café called Choco Bó, at which you can create your own chocolate bars! Well, obviously we made use of this opportunity, esp. since they had a special offer to create them for only € 2,50!

Rosie Lee Donut
Afterwards, we did a quick stop at O'Reilly's and then went to the colleagues house to eat some chips we bought along the way.

And since we have such lovely weather today, I also did some pictures of my usual way to work and the Business Park where we're located at.




I will probably write 1 to 2 follow ups when I returned to Berlin, so stay tuned! ;)

Until then,
F

Monday 22 August 2016

Irish Rainy Days in and around Galway

Dear all,

this weekend was quite exciting, as I spent it with a few fellow German interns not in Dublin, but in Galway, one of Ireland's biggest west coast cities.

We headed off early on Saturday, as we wanted to caught to first Citylink Bus to Galway. We arrived shortly after 9 am and were instantly greeted by rain.

Galway

Galway City Centre

Galway Backstreet


Without a really fixed plan in mind, we started to head to the city centre to grab some coffee/hot chocolate and visited the St. Nicholas Church and the small local street market, that took place just in front of it.

St. Nicholas Church

After that, we made our way to Mutton Island and grabbed some Fish and Chips at McDonagh's, a cozy fish restaurant, afterwards.

View from Mutton Island

View from Mutton Island


We then had an adventurous time at Cloosh. There are some uninhabited peninsulas to which you can walk to, although you should have some sturdy shoes with you, as the pathway is really rocky and there are lots of slippery algaes around.

View from Cloosh

View on Galway from Cloosh

Rocky Pathways





View from one of the Peninsulas

Lucky us ended up meeting our Landlord at Salthill Beach, so that we didn't slept in the hostel we reserved, but in one of his small and comfy apartments near the city centre!

On Sunday we did a Cliffs of Moher tour, but the weather turned out to be even far worse than it was on Saturday (on which we had pretty much rain the whole day aside from a few dry minutes).

At first we did a small stop at Dunguaire Castle at Kinvara, where the weather was still rather steady.
After that, we visited the Burren and did a quick stop at St. Fachtnan's Cathedral in Kilfenora to see some traditional Irish Crosses. At Doolin, we finally had some time to eat lunch before we went to the Cliffs of Moher to see the worst weather we came across so far in Ireland. But luckily we also made a stop at the Baby Cliffs as a compensation, before we started to head back to Galway.


Dunguaire Castle

The Burren

Cross at Fachtnan Church

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Baby Cliffs


At the end, we enjoyed our dinner at Murty Rabbitts where I had my best vegetarian Burger so far (esp. the chips are amazing!) and returned afterwards to the Coach Station to catch the bus back to Dublin. 

Oh, and if your out to treat yourself to some hot chocolate, I can recommend you the Jungle Cafe Galway, which is pretty much next to the aforementioned Pub :) 

That's it from me then.

Until then,
F

Monday 15 August 2016

Roaming through Irish East Coast Cities

Dear all,

I only did one bigger trip the last weekend on Saturday, which led me and two other German interns to Wexford. It was my first complete trip with Irish Rail, but it was really comfy and the coaches had a nice modern interior.

We started at Connolly Station and bought our tickets at one of the ticket machines. Luckily, they are super easy to use and all ticket types are explained -so no worries if you're not entirely sure which ticket type you should buy.

Connolly Station


We had a stay for about 6 hours in Wexford and spent 1/3 at a lovely restaurant called The Yard. They offer nice dishes with local ingredients for a reasonable price.

The Yard




After that, we pretty much aimlessly explored Wexford...







... at least until we came across a Hurling Championship. As all of us three didn't knew a thing about this sport, we had to google something about it's rules, but it was nonetheless fun to watch.




After our return form Wexford, our intern group met up at O'Reilly's and this time it really was a metal pub!

If you're asking yourself what I did on Friday and Sunday and expect some cool other trips and pictures, I'm sorry to let you down. I have to admit that I was somewhat more lazier than usual.

On Friday, I sort of got a shorthand notice that we'll have a burger party in my room mates and my apartment, so I spent that day with the partying (and slightly drunk) bunch.
I spent the Sunday in a more nerdy way, as another fellow German intern and I spent the day doing a Harry Potter marathon, though we only made it up until the 4th part, as we started later thanks to our stay at O'Reilly's and than again we had to work today again...

Until then,
F

Monday 8 August 2016

Let's go to the Beach!

Dear all,

now I've been already for a bit more than 4 weeks roaming through Dublin.

Friday evening started with a proper pub visit at O'Reilly's to which my fellow German interns and I went. We met a few nice Irish guys with whom we shared the table.

On Saturday I headed to Dún Laoghaire, as one of our standard busses always drives there.
Blessed with sunny weather, I was ready to explore Dún Laoghaire's vast piers and it's lovely city centre.

 I walked along the eastern pier and had to notice the many Eddy's Ice Cream stores. I also got myself a scoop at the tip of the Eastern Pier. I ended the day with some Singaporean Noodles at Mao's.













On Sunday I more or less spontaneously decided to do the Bray - Greystones Cliff Walk and therefore headed to Bray with the DART.

I was really excited to finally see some real deal beach in Ireland, though Bray's beach sure is pebbly! But alas, I helped myself with some fish and chips, sat on the beach and listened to some live performed Elvis cover songs. After that, the real adventure began - roughly about 6 km along Ireland's eastern coastline and some nice sunny weather. By the time I was about to reach Greystones, I had to hurry a bit, as I was supposed to meet up with some fellow German interns to see Suicide Squad in Dublin's heart around evening. 

In the end I got sunburned again and made it in time back for the movie with some time left, that I used to do some household chores :)

Bray's Beach










View on Greyestones

Greystones

Greystones Beach

Oh and I got some really cool tasks at work as well! I am currently working on a SEO and a Marketing Campaign with another French intern and an Indian colleague. I was also finally able to hold my presentation about paperless offices and got treated with some pizza by my mentor.

Until the next weekend,
F