Dublin Diaries: Week 5

It is hard to believe I am already in the final stretch of my internship. With only a few weeks left, work on the AURA project is wrapping up, and I have been focused on tying everything I have been building over the summer together. It has been a genuinely rewarding experience, and I am glad I got to contribute to something as interesting as autonomous agriculture robotics.

One thing I have noticed is that no matter how much fun I have on my weekend trips, coming back to Dublin always feels good. At this point, it really does feel like home. I know the streets, I know my routine, and there is a comfort to returning that I did not expect to feel so strongly. I have loved every city I have visited this summer, but Dublin is where I feel most at ease.

This weekend I took advantage of an Irish bank holiday that gave me an extra day off and used it to finally visit Paris. I had already booked a bunch of activities, and the city lived up to every bit of the anticipation. I visited the Louvre, which was overwhelming in the best way, did a boat tour along the Seine that offered some beautiful views of the city, saw the Eiffel Tower from the water and then later got to go up to the top of it, and visited the Catacombs, which were eerie and fascinating in equal measure.

Beyond the activities, I just really enjoyed Paris as a city. The food was great, the public transport was easy to navigate, and despite what I had always heard about Parisian attitudes toward tourists, everyone I encountered was genuinely friendly and welcoming. Out of all the cities I have visited this summer (besides Dublin), Edinburgh, Belfast, London, and Paris, Paris is my favorite. There is just a lot to see and do, and the whole city has a great energy to it.

Looking ahead, I still have about two and a half weeks left on my program, which I plan to spend soaking up more of Dublin and finishing strong at the internship. And after the program wraps up, I will be spending roughly four weeks backpacking around Europe with some friends before heading home, so the adventure is far from over.

This experience has genuinely been one of the best things I have ever done. It has pushed me to grow in ways I did not expect, both professionally and personally, and I am so grateful I made the decision to come. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer brings.