FRIDAY was Patricia’s last day at The Travel Department. She left early, too, because she had two job interviews lined up for that afternoon— one at Barclays and one at Citibank. After work all the interns (minus Rebecca and plus an Italian friend of Patricia’s) met at Jenny’s dad’s house in Ranelagh to make some pizzas and pregame before going out to Dandelion. On the way there, we picked up six bottles of wine and a liter of vodka in Tesco—what we estimated would be the right amount to get seven 20-somethings sufficiently drunk. Fortunately, it was.

Jenny’s home turned out to be less a “house” and more what I would call a “mansion.” I didn’t know such nice places existed in Dublin! Seriously, it has four stories, a movie theater, wood paneling everywhere, marble floors, and I’m guessing around 20-ft ceilings. It’s a lovely old stone house that was gutted and completely restored by the owner, whom Jenny’s dad is renting it from. Whoever this guy is who owns it, he must be one classy bastard. There are hunting-themed oil paintings of men in top hats with their hounds and horses on almost every wall. Jenny’s bedroom has a chart depicting all the different types of cigars, hung next to an amusing portrait of a fox dressed up as a jockey. Even the frigging toilet brush is fancy, sitting in a porcelain and gold container shaped like an elephant! We were blown away but also found it all pretty amusing.  Avril and I went around taking photos of everything (see facebook), from the golden bird cage in the dining room to the crystal decanters in the “TV” room, which is actually more of a theater since the screen drops down from the ceiling and covers an entire wall.

I see Dublin in a whole new light now. I mean, it’s just reassuring to know that really classy people do live here. Because I’ve grown used to being surrounded by girls wearing pajama pants and guys in Adidas tracksuits (aka knackers, they’re everywhere on the north side). Colin’s really sensitive about his northsider roots, so I probably shouldn’t say much more about that. His pride is pretty intense. But I will say that the south side would definitely be my ideal place to live.

SATURDAY Colin and I finally made it out to this vegetarian restaurant in town that I’ve been wanting to try for ages. It’s called Govinda’s, and they basically only serve one dish—the “Govinda’s Special.” But the limited selection isn’t a problem, because the special is delicious. It changes all the time, I think, but mine was a mix of tofu, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese, carrots and green beans in a sweet sauce and potatoes in a tasty tomato sauce, served with white rice. The regular portion is only €8.50, and it was more than enough food for me. The large is €10.50. I highly recommend it!

TONIGHT we’re finally going to see Avatar, in 3D. I’m not sure what to expect. The story sounds dumb, but the animation is supposed to be fantastic. I’m mostly just excited to be getting out of the house!