It's Been A While, The Zoo, and Fresh Produce Markets

Hi Everyone!

I know it has been a while since I last wrote to you. In all honesty, I have been truly busy.  I am either eating, sleeping, studying, or at the gym during my free time.  My life revolves around my text books, but I am loving my classes.  All my subjects are very interesting and I am learning so much about stocks, bonds, derivatives, and capital markets.  I am in with a great group and we are constantly having study sessions trying to keep up with all the material the professors are throwing at us each week.

Not to worry though, I am taking time off once a week just for myself.  As the Bible states, Sunday is a day of rest.  Therefore, I rest.  I have decided after much consideration, that Sundays are my day off when I do absolutely no studying (well, almost no studying).  I have found a pub in Dublin called The Woolshed.  This is one of the best pubs in the city mainly because every Sunday they play all the NFL games on big screen televisions.  This means I can watch the Saint's play every week!!!  Yea!  Plus they serve chili, and everyone knows you cannot watch football without eating chili.  :)  And the best part of all is that all the Americans know about this pub so every Sunday is a day of gathering for Americans to watch football.

Having been in Ireland over a month now, I have learned a few things about grocery shopping, mainly that if you buy produce from the shops you have to eat it that night or the next day, otherwise it goes bad.  I have done a bit of searching and have come across a few farmer's markets in the city.  Now on Sunday I buy all my fruits and vegetables from the market for the week.  And they are so fresh!!  The tomatoes are huge and the bananas last the whole week without going ripe on me.  I know it is all fresh too because when I bought green onions last week the roots still had mud on them.  The farmer's markets don't just sell fruits and vegetables either.  They have stalls with cheese, breads, pastries, crafts,and cider.  Oh the cider!!!  I had hot apple cider the other day with a shot of apple brandy and it was delicious. 

Last, but not least, I wanted to mention the Dublin Zoo. I also went to the zoo on the 18th of September, but I never put up my photos.  The zoo was great!  I saw all types of animals (Who would have guessed?) and enjoyed the chilly weather with the rain.  I am hoping in the weeks to come I can do a bit more sightseeing and I will keep everyone up to date on what is going on.

Love Always,
Amanda