today is Tuesday and there are only 4 days left here in Ireland – Dublin. Time for a new advice. đ
Get a credit card!
I know some of you already own one, two or maybe more, but for those people who do not thought about it…should. Even if you do not need the credit card in your home country, it could be very useful in others. Many credit institutions allocate them for free. The big advantage is, that you mostly (it depends on your credit institution) do not pay any transaction fees and It is also very easy to pay with them. Besides most of the shops accept them. Before you go to another country, inform your credit institution that you will make a journey. Otherwise it could happen that they lock your credit card for caution’s sake and it become useless. đ
Be careful!
If you want to buy something with your credit card, you do not need to key in your PIN number. Mostly it suffices that you sign the receipt. As much more you should look that you do not lose your credit card. Other people could buy something with it without your PIN.
Just in case safe the emergency number from your credit institution in your mobile phone.
That’s the last week here. I look forward to get back home in my normal life but really enjoyed the time here. The last few weeks rushed and I didn’t even realized that the time is almost over. I’m looking forward to tomorrow because one of our human resource managers has planned a big dinner for the hole office. We will go in a restaurant that was rent for us the evening and enjoy delicious Asian cuisine. Hope everybody had a great time.
Today we’ve been invited by Intern Europe for an analysis of the stay here in Belfast, after a bit of becoming mentally awake we had a little talk about our experience and filled out some forms that need to be held in their archive. It was about how we liked our work-placement and the overall internship abroad. After that Martin, Nick, Eric, Marco, Max and me had a breakfast in a tiny but great restaurant called „Meat in a Bap“. Later that day I maybe go to the gym or to the cinema (since a few new movies were released which are worth the watch), it depends on what the others will decide for.
Steak, potatoes and carrot/onion/parsnip-vegetables, thatâs what. I had a great time at their house and after dinner, Eamonn, his wife Angela and I sat back and watched the England vs. Uruguay game. Everybody that cares knows how the game went so I wonât go into detail here; I will just say that I think the outcome was absolutely deserved on both sides. It was an interesting enough game to watch.
When the game was over, we all got into the car and Eamonn drove me home using the opportunity to show me around the neighborhood some more. He lives in Malahide which is north of Dublin and we took the coastal route, detouring only through Howth to see the sun set from Howth Summit. It was beautiful to see the lights of the city on one side and the light of the dying day on the other. This could’ve only been made better if someone would’ve handed me a Guinness and maybe lit a fire to keep us warm.
On Saturday, I tried sleeping in, which turned out to be no longer than 9 am. This already includes the half hour of vividly turning around while trying to find a comfortable position. I had my usual breakfast of toast with Nutella and â today â a boiled egg of which I find one or two sitting on the stove every now and then. When brekkie was over, I packed a banana and a pear that I had lying around my room for the past 2 days, a Snickers bar and the bottle of water that I bought Friday afternoon at Tesco.
I could have taken the bus and then the DART but decided on walking into city center instead to take the DART from Tara Station. It saved me money and contributed 10000 steps to my daily quota right away. The train ride into Bray was beautiful enough because the rails follow the coast line and you can see beaches turn into cliffs and vice versa. When I arrived in Bray, I made my way to the beach which was relatively busy with people playing games on the grass or walking over hot stones and swimming on the other side of the walkway.
The cliff walk towards Greystones is obviously 6km long, if you believe the 2 signs that are put up at 1/3 and 2/3 of the way. The sun was shining mercilessly and I didnât expect that seeing as the forecast was for cloudy weather. I guess the sun burnt the clouds right out of the sky like Icarus back in the day. Itâs a very interesting walk winding along the coast of Ireland and there are a few places where you can sit down and rest while enjoying the view, the sweet song of the ocean and the voices of many a bird.
I made it into Greystones at around 3.30pm and walked past a few nice looking restaurants on my way to the DART. I didnât bother eating there only because I knew I was going to come home to a prepared meal. It is in fact a nice plus for my wallet but kind of restricts social behavior, as well. I had to wait for the DART for half an hour and started watching Game of Thrones on my phone. The ride back was just as beautiful as the walk towards Greystones.
I got off at Tara Station and walked home from there, managing to put down 35073 steps for the day.
