Yesterday I decided to walk to both of my local shopping centres - Dundrum and Nutgrove - so I could get my bearings a little plus buy a few toiletries and groceries. Let's just say it was a little surreal - first of all, looking both ways before you cross the street is REALLY important when cars are coming from the opposite directions that you'd expect. Second, the speed bumps here are bricked and have a wide and gentle slope to them, not those heinous yellow ones that look like they belong in the front of a parking space. Third, I walked past old stone walls that have clearly been around forever in front of row houses that all look alike but somehow look cuter than most houses in the U.S.
It only took about 15 minutes to get to Dundrum Shopping Centre, which is basically a big mall, with a surprising amount of stores that I recognized. Hamley's was the first place I stopped and it is a two-story toy store (tongue twister) that reminded me a little of Big because there were multiple areas for kids to play and try out sweet toys. I looked around a few clothing stores too and found a Tesco (grocery store) where I got some Irish bread and cheddar for lunch...and some generic string cheese because it's delicious. After about 2 hours I headed back to the cottage and dropped off my stuff then headed to the other shopping centre that was much smaller but had an Aldi's! In case anyone was wondering about how expensive things are here, the carts at this Aldi's needed a 2 euro coin instead of a quarter! The food inside was still relatively cheap but more expensive than the Aldi's at home. Also, Dad, gas is 1.48 euros per liter or about $7-8/gallon if I do my math correctly (no wonder I don't see any SUVs around).
Today was my first day at Farmer's Pharmacy, just a block or so past Dundrum Shopping Centre so an easy morning walk, or at least it was today since the sun was out and no rain! I somehow have missed rain since I've been here so my thoughts may change later on this week. The pharmacy is only open 9-7 and is one of 4 that Liam Farmer (my preceptor) owns - they were started by his dad I believe but he was only in the pharmacy for about an hour before heading to another branch. I worked with Tony (pharmacist), Nicola and Lorna (techs/cashiers) and Katherine (intern-last year of pharmacy school). They were all so nice and made me tea twice! Speaking of tea, the blister packs that the pharmacy can fill for patients have 4 times for taking pills and one is "tea time" which I find to be confusing since I was offered tea 3 different times today. I ate lunch at Fleming's butcher and deli - delicious panini that was pretty reasonable but there's a fish and chips place, Leo Burdock's, across the street that I will definitely have to try. Almost every prescription comes in a little unit-dose box (28 or 30 count) so a label just goes on the outside and that's it. Patients often ask for a refill and wait about a minute or two and get it right away, but it is a lot slower than my Rite Aid at home (which is even slow compared to other Rite Aid's).
This weekend I booked a hop-on, hop-off tour of Dublin since I haven't really done anything in the city yet. The ticket is good for both days and I can get on or off anywhere I want, plus it hits most of the major sights in the City Centre. It might rain on Saturday but Sunday is supposed to be really nice and Teresa said she has had other guests go on Saturday, stop at places they might want to check out further, but then go back on Sunday and pick a few places where they really want to spend their time (like Temple Bar or Guinness Storehouse). I'm also looking at a few other tours (2 or 3 days) that hit some places like Galway, Connemara, Blarney, Belfast, etc. so I can have easy access to everything in a weekend. I basically want to do everything so I'm being a dork and might work on a spreadsheet so I can see what combinations of tours to do so I don't overlap any areas if possible.
Plans for tomorrow: fish and chips, buy postage and postcards, maybe see a movie. If you would like a postcard, email or Facebook message me your address!
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