Dublin Head + a day at Powerscourt

Last weekend i rowed in my first regatta with the University College Dublin Ladies' Boat Club. It was amazing! First of all, i'm still amazed by the fact that i'm getting to row in January and now February. ON THE WATER. Rowing on the water at this point of the year in either Minnesota or Michigan would probably require some sort of steel-hulled shell (boat), which would definitely slow it down a little bit.




On to the regatta! It wasn't actually a regatta, but a head race, which is longer than the normal spring racing course of about 2000 metres (notice the -re instead of -er???!!). The Dublin Head was 3.8 km, starting at O'Connel Bridge and ending after Island Bridge, right before the weir (a sort of dam thing). I had rowed with that particular line-up of girls only twice before, on the previous weekend, but it had felt pretty good, especially for it being the first time i was in the boat and i was super excited to have even be chosen to race. The race was on Saturday morning and 2 of my friends even came down to watch it (a cute v-day-inspired poster in tow). I heard them scream my name as i went under O'Connel Street Bridge, but i stayed focus on the race, and we got through it with out any problems. Rowing through the city centre of Dublin was such a cool experience; we passed under haypenny bridge, and past such landmarks as the Custom House and the infamous Guiness Factory. We even beat the other boat in our category! It wasn't a major race or anything, but it was a great deal of fun, and i can't wait for more chances to race! Once back at the boathouse, we celebrated with valentines-themed and other special cookies and sweets that some of the girls had prepared, Yum! There was even a story about it (the race not the cookies) on the ucd website: http://www.ucd.ie/sport/news_160209_boatdublinhead.html




This Friday, i, along with my friend Alanna, went to Powerscourt, the traditional country home of the Powers family, of the whiskey brewing fame. It is a beautifully preserved estate, which has been open to tourists for the last few decades. Along with the beautiful house, there are beautiful gardens, which expand behind the house down into the valley below. They were designed with Versailles in mind, and this influence is clearly visible. The main Garden has a great deal of manicured shrubs and Classical-Style Statues of Greek and Roman Gods, in both marble and bronze. The focal point of the Garden is Triton Lake, a circular pond with a sculptural fountain of Triton, spewing a tall flume of water from his mouth. There is also a beautiful Japanese garden.




The day we went on couldn't have been more perfect; it was unusually sunny compared to the weather that we've had so far here. It's also just about turning to spring here, so early spring flowers like crocus were just starting to bloom and everything else was starting to really green up.




I'm falling asleep as i write this....i'll fix any mistakes later :)