Overseas and Off-Campus Programs Blog

I have had a problem that has plagued me and my wallet since my high school days, I am addicted to coffee. The cup of dark happiness has helped me through all the assignments of high school and now college. I have accepted this necessary evil and have been able to find many cute, quirky and delicious coffee places throughout Portland that have quenched immensely my tired college soul. When I came to Dublin, I made it my mission to embark on the same type of quest in this new city. I thought people would be crazy about tea before I came here and while I have found that that is indeed the case, coffee is on the rise as well. I have been here for about a month and I have come to the conclusion that like Portland, Dublin has become home to another very popular drink of the caffeinated quality. It has its fair share of pubs that serve many adult alcoholic beverages which I am not quite a fan of, but throughout the city at all times of the day, people are at tables either inside or outside many cafes or restaurants indulging in cups of tea or coffee. But the problem that I have consistently run into and I have talked to others who can attest, is the takeaway coffee cup sizes are not the big bucket type size a college student going to late night 3-hour classes and all day internships truly need for the hefty price.

While I have discovered great gourmet coffee shops where I have received my mocha or vanilla latte in a lovely glass cup with a curly handle at Mannings Cafe right down from where we are living and that has been open since the 1950s. Or I have enjoyed my coffee in pretty china with a dainty floral pattern on the front at Queen of Tarts that looks like it has been taken from the world of Alice in Wonderland or I have also been to many very small mom and pop coffee shops that have served the same cup of joe for over 50 years. Those places are all good and all my drinks have been perfectly brewed and crafted each accompanied by a dainty leaf or heart in the foam. I have also noticed that some of their mochas have more spice than in the states. I have had mochas that have tasted more like cinnamon which have been a nice spicy surprise.  But I have continuously been faced with the issue that a small cup of coffee that I usually ended up slurping down in under five minutes costs between 4 to 6 euro. For the broke college student like me, that price many times a week would make me go quickly into debt feeding my coffee addiction. Luckily, I have found a safe haven, and holy grail solution to the problem and many other participants have discovered it as well. 

Literally right across the street and a couple of stores down from one of the main buildings we have our classes in,  is the promise land for caffeine addicts in Dublin I have declared. In a small building is Krust, a bakery cafe that serves large coffees and mouth-watering cronuts, donut croissants in many yummy flavors. When you order and pay at the register you are able to get a good sized coffee and a cornet for a flat 5 euro! Praise Student Discounts!! The ambiance of the place has lots of quirky charm and definitely reminds me of Portland. It has many silly pictures and quotes plastered on the walls and it always blares Bubblegum Pop hits from the speakers. The downstairs is a more quiet space that would be ideal to bust out an essay or two which I definitely see my self doing, unfortunately, in the quite near future. 

I have also discovered that in many places of work, like the internship I am placed at, people offer you tea or coffee all day which is a great perk. Whenever you need a break and time for self-care during the day, everyone is welcome to come into the kitchen and help themselves to a piping hot cup of tea or coffee. What is also great with this is I have discovered is that the coffee is actually really tasty. Whenever this has happened in the states, I have found that the coffee is crappy, cold or has been sitting there for an extended period of time. It is not really appetizing but this coffee is the exact opposite and since I am working at my internship for seven hours, a hot cup of good coffee is much appreciated. With our jam-packed school, internship and explore schedule, a good cup of coffee that is a reasonable size for a reasonable price is much appreciated. I know that I and many others will continue to frequent Krust many more times until we leave Dublin in April. I just filled up my first punch card and received my first free drink. This positive reinforcement will brainwash me, to continue to want to keep going back to Krust both before and after everything I do in Dublin.