Ireland, Day 3

Today was fun. Since Melinda had class most of the day, Amanda and I headed back to the shopping center that we visited the day before to do some souvenir shopping and to go back into the grocery store to do some typical marketing and retail analyzing. Yes, we’re nerds, we know it, we embrace it. I ended up picking up a handful of post cards and some souvenirs for my family and friends. We browsed in and out of the shops, checking out some of the typical clothing stores and popular European fashions as well as some of the more unique stores such as one that resembled Spencer’s with weird, one of a kind, and joke gifts. We even went in and checked out a “TK Maxx”. Yes, I spelled that right. It was just like a TJ Maxx, but I think the check out line was a little bit more sophisticated.

By the time we had finished walking around all 3 floors of the mall we had worked up quite an appetite, so we went back to the grocery store (in the mall) and ordered some sandwiches from the deli. It was strange because the area where we ordered actually made fresh pizzas to order, so we felt a little out of place asking for sandwiches as we weren’t even sure they MADE sandwiches. But, they did. We grabbed a drink and a bag of chips and headed back into the mall to find a place to sit down and eat our lunch.

Now, apparently the shopping centers in Ireland (or, at least this one) are slightly different from American malls in that they don’t really have a “food court”. They have many restaurants and other places to eat throughout the mall and there is seating outside and around those areas, but they’re designated only for those that purchase food there. I guess it makes sense, but makes it a little inconvenient for people like us who purchase food where there wasn’t any seating. We ended up finding like two stairs outside of what looked like a radio DJ booth? Or something in the mall and just sat down and ate our lunch. It was very strange.

By then Melinda had finished class and we met her down at the spot we had arranged before, and then we headed off to see a movie at Cineworld.

Let me tell you, this movie theater was nothing short of an experience itself. When you first walk in, you’re met with a large area to purchase tickets with lots of twisting and winding line maker….things. Unlike American theaters, groups need purchase tickets together in order to sit together, as there is assigned seating. Very, very different. We got in line and purchased our tickets together and then went over to base of the escalator (yes, escalator in the movie theater) and handed our tickets to a man standing there, who ripped them off and gave us entrance to the escalator. On the second and third floors there were a slew of concession stands ranging from typical movie concessions to even Ben and Jerry’s! The Podunk theaters we have back home didn’t even compare to this one, so I was pretty amazed. After we grabbed some popcorn ( which was still expensive, I paid 4.70 Euros, right around $6 US for a SMALL popcorn) we found our way to our screen. It was also weird because they had foyers outside of every couple of screens, and that’s where people had to wait before the movie. We had to sit there and watch a screen that had all the movies listed and wait for it to say “please take your seats” next to the movie title.

Inside was awesome, though. Large, large, LARGE screen with surround sound and amazingly comfortable seating. I want every movie theater to have these conditions! Plus, it felt extra good to be able to sit down after all that walking.

The movie was very funny (New In Town) and it was a nice relaxer after the long days of walking and weird sleeping schedules and whatnot. After the movie we walked down the street and went to the Hard Rock Café to grab drinks and appetizers, as we weren’t that hungry. The inside was very typical of a Hard Rock Café, minus the bathrooms with the typical European bathrooms. ☺

Our food was okay (not fabulous) and we enjoyed the new drinks that we tried. I gave Bulmers a shot, which is an Irish cider very similar to South Africa’s Savanna. I liked it, it was delicious. Melinda and Amanda ordered some mixed drinks after our first round, but I was happy with just getting a second Bulmers. By the time we finished it was a little late, so we headed back to the apt and decided to call it a night.