After Elizabeth so cleverly predicted my experience in the student hostel in Paris - the one which I left less than 48 hours of arriving - I began to worry about what I was going to face with my acceptance of a room in a house in Dublin with a faceless "three score and ten" Una. Elizabeth had very cheekily asked whether she had mentioned her 42 cats or that her "small room" was situated under the stairs. So I looked down on Dublin Bay from the plane with some trepidation but so far it has been proven as wasted worry.


I arrived to a room with the afternoon sun streaming into my large window. The 'small' room is quite roomy, with a table for my computer and study, plenty of storage space for my possessions and wait for the fanfare - an ensuite. This apparently in Ireland is a luxury and the unlimited hotwater just icing on a very well received cake. On top of that, the house is situated in a lovely part of Dublin, 7 miutes walk from Dublin Bay and 4 minutes walk from the Dart (the main railway line of Dublin). I have a Tescos 100m down the road that is situated in a very nice little shopping centre.


I walked to the University campus yesterday and it takes 15-20 minutes so I am now ready to be enlightened about natural heritage conservation which starts tomorrow. Today (other than finding an internet cafe in the Temple Bar area) I experienced two cultural events from each end of the spectrum - a visit to Merrion Square (genteel Georgian architecture) and the National Gallery as well as having a drink in a pub while watching Ireland beat Wales in a rugby test (I held back my question about who thought of the rule of sticking their hand under the bottom of a player and sticking them up in the air to catch the ball).

My other secret way to occupy myself is to sit in cafes and nurse a hot chocolate (diet coke doesn't work in 10C) and listen to the variety of Irish accents - they shouldn't worry that I am eavesdropping as I can't understand much of what is said but it sounds lovely!