Horsing Around (Or, Another Weekend Report)

When I was a little kid I used to have an imaginary horse named Bradley. He was brown with a black mane and a black tail. Later he turned into my two-wheeler and I would ride him around the neighborhood, down to the new street where the good hay was. I always wished that Bradley was real and that I could actually ride him.

On Friday I got my wish!

Photo by Lilly Johnsson

The school organized a trip to Bray to go horseback riding and so a small group of us signed up and made the trip with Lilly, the Operations Manager who's very nice and an avid horse-lover. When we got to the riding school we put on long black riding boots (shoes for Ian, since the boots wouldn't fit over his manly legs) and helmets and were introduced to our horses. I quickly realized that being on a horse would be a lot scarier than I had initially anticipated as they were enormous and had really big teeth. My horse, Levi, was the smallest horse available, so we were a good team. He was a sweetheart and made me feel very at ease. He was like, "dude, don't worry, I got this," and didn't need me to steer or stop him at all. He had ridden the trail plenty of times before and knew exactly what to do. It was a really pleasant outing.

Photo by Sam Maskak

The next day we went to the Temple Bar food market, also known as Heaven on Earth. It is now my Saturday morning tradition to make my way to this farmers' market and buy a crepe, maybe a loaf of bread, sometimes some produce. They have everything from organic apple juice to an outdoor oyster bar to bakeries and veggie vendors to artisan cheeses and fresh kebabs. Wandering around the market not only makes our mouths water, but lets us pick up on more of the Dublin culture.

Photo by Sam Maslak

It was sunny and warm on Saturday, so after the market a few of us made our way over to Phoenix Park and rented bikes for a couple of hours. The park has many kilometers of bike paths so riding around was easy and fun. We saw the Irish president's house, a few cool monuments, and a field of about 50 deer who were munching on the grass and seemed perfectly unaware that there were people staring at them only a hundred feet away. By the time we made it all the way through the park the sun has gone away and it was cloudy and cold, so we returned the bikes and headed home to warm up.

Photo by Sam Maslak

Today Ian and I celebrated Valentine's Day! It's not really until tomorrow, but since it's still the weekend we thought it would be a good day to do it. Ian cooked for me which is always a treat, and tonight it was simply amazing--surf and turf! There was salmon, steak, garlic mashed potatoes, and carrots. I made dessert--Bailey's white chocolate pudding with homemade whipped cream and Cadbury chocolate shavings; I know, fancy, right? I think we're a good team--he loves cooking, and I love making dessert! Ian even surprised me with my favorite Little Debbie Valentine cakes that he had shipped all the way from the US by his parents! (THANK YOU!) It was a great way to end the week! Back to classes tomorrow, and then Northern Ireland next weekend! Stay tuned!