Olympic Day 5 - Ireland

Welcome to Ireland!!! This place is amazing. I think when they speak of the luck of the Irish, they are definitely talking about Dublin. The people here are amazing, and what could be more lucky than being in the same pool and hotel that we trained at before Olympic Qualifiers back in April? The staff here at the hotel is great, they gave us a fruit basket and a really nice good luck card.

Somewhere in Ireland from the plane!

 

Here in Dublin, we met up with our alternate Cate Stewart! unfortunately she isn't allowed to stay with us in the village, but she's here training with us, and is going to be able to come watch as an observer at the games. She's been great. Seriously always has a smile on her face and can look at anything in a positive way. Its definitely going to come in handy during this last stretch of training. I definitely know I get grumpy when I'm tired (but really, who doesnt? Point out a sweet, exhausted person to me and then maybe I'll change my opinion! :P) so Cate's personality is like a ray of sunshine when I can't see anything but the water haha! Our practices here are much longer than they were when we were staying in the Olympic Village in London. It's almost like we're back in Indy, training twice a day for at least 3 hours each. We have the entire diving well to ourselves, and Cate was amazing enough to bring our sound system from home. I can't imagine the extra weight in her suitcase!

On another topic, one which could be an athletes favorite topic, food! The hotel restaurant here is the Forchetta. It's an Italian restaurant, with forks EVERYWHERE!

Yes, that is a giant fork, made out of forks

 

It's great, again I can't believe how nice the people are. So artistic too! Even food has become an art form.

Chicken with basil risotto

 

Alright, idk how good this looks to anyone else, but it TASTED amazing. They also have a minestrone soup to die for. Well, maybe not literally. I still have an Olympics to compete in! :)

With all of the social media, My facebook, twitter, and e-mail has been blowing up with good luck wishes. I can't believe how much support is out there, even from people I don't know! I sat next to a man on the way home from US Opens a few weeks ago, and his kids made me good luck cards!

Thanks so much Kamren, Karter, and Krisee!

 

How adorable is that?! I got a picture of this and it seriously made my day.

Well everyone, this one is a little shorter than the last few, but I'm exhausted! I still haven't caught up on my sleep from the Opening Ceremonies. So worth it though! More tomorrow! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask! I'll answer them tomorrow. :)
Also, if you want to follow me a bit more with pictures, check out my twitter page (twitter.com/marykillman) I update that throughout the day so you can really keep up with what I'm up to! :)
--Mary
P.s. I think I should pick up on some of the british/Irish jargon. Cheers!