My favorite place isn’t a specific building, but instead, it’s an entire street. Thomas Street was my favorite place in Ireland because it was at the center of my study abroad experience. Thomas Street included multiple locations that I would visit daily, such as Highlight Student Living, Cafe Bambo, the Masonry, and Centra.
Highlight Student Living was significant for my time in Dublin because it was my apartment. During my time in Dublin, I would consider Highlight to be my home because I was in the transition from my childhood home to my new home in college. Highlight was significantly better than the typical college dorm because it featured single rooms with private bathrooms, a shared kitchen/living space, a study room, and a social room. I really enjoyed the social room at Highlight because it included giant jenga, table tennis, pool, vending machines, a lounge, and a giant chess board, which was directly outside the social room.
Every morning, I was too tired to make my own breakfast or to go to a far restaurant, so I thought that Cafe Bombo was convenient because it was directly next to Highlight Student Living. Everyday, I would eat a raspberry bomboloni, which is an Italian hole-less doughnut, and drink a different type of tea or coffee for breakfast at Cafe Bambo.
After eating breakfast, I would walk over to the Masonry for class. The Masonry was conveniently located on the same street as Highlight Student Living, so I could easily walk there for class everyday. The Masonry was a good location for class because it provided us with free WiFi, coffee, and candy. During class, we would discuss different readings from British, Irish, and American history, and we would try to connect them to different site visits that we do during the day.
After class, I would want to eat a quick lunch, so I would have some free time to relax. I found Centra to be a good location for lunch because it was conveniently located down the street from Highlight Student Living, so I could order a spicy chicken fillet sandwich, chips, and a drink and then go to the kitchen at Highlight to eat lunch. After lunch, we would meet at the social space in highlight to prepare for the site visit, so my lunch plans allowed me to easily meet in the social space on time.
Even though I spent a large portion of my time in Dublin at Thomas Street, I also visited other locations. None of the site visits were on Thomas Street. Also, after the site visits, I would have free time for the rest of the day, so I would spend my free time enjoying different events across Dublin. After all the site visits and events that I do during the day, I would always return to Highlight Student Living to prepare for my next day in Ireland.