Dublin, Take 2

This past weekend I went on adventure with Steph, another visiting friend, to Dublin. Since I didn't get to see many of the famous sights during my orientation there, we set out to see as many as we could in the two days we were there.

Our bus arrived Friday evening, and after a small bit of wandering and a one minute taxi ride (that we didn't get charged for since it was so short), we found our hostel and our friend Cullan (also from Tufts). Dinner consisted of fish and chips eaten out of a paper bag as we walked around the Temple Bar area and through a bit of Trinity College. It was pretty amazing, but no pictures were taken since we were all pretty occupied with the deliciousness of the food.

On Saturday Steph and I got up early to go see the Book of Kells. We got there right on time and spent almost two hours going through the exhibits, looking at the actual book, and staring up in awe at the ceiling of the Long Room, part of one of Trinity's oldest libraries.

Also worth noting: I may or may not have purchased a Book of Kells coloring/colouring book. All I can say is that my procrastination sessions next semester will probably produce some pretty cool pictures.

We then went back to the hostel to meet Cullan, who brought us some pretty amazing baked good for breakfast:

It was a beautiful day - I don't know how I keep getting so lucky with the weather here - and we walked through the city and across the river to St. Michin's Church. And, of course, took a few pictures along the way...

Troll crossing the river:

The General Post Office, where a group of rebels barricaded themselves during the 1916 Easter Rising:

You can still see the bullet marks in the columns in some places.

St. Michin's Church is your run of the mill Episcopal church, but underneath it is a different story. It houses several crypts, two of which are open to the public. You have to climb down steep stone steps (like the entrance to a cellar, only older) to enter. Little rooms on either side of the main passage are filled, sometimes stuffed, with dusty coffins. In one room at the very back of one of the chambers, four coffins are opened so that you can see what's inside. MUMMIES! The conditions of the crypt were just right for preserving the bodies, which are all several hundred years old. The oldest, tucked all the way in the back, is a 900 year old Crusader, who had to be "adjusted" to fit into his coffin (his feet were cut off). Legend has it that shaking the hand of the Crusader brings good luck, so with our guide's urging, we all crouched and climbed into the back of the little room to rub his finger. It was a strange experience, but undeniably very cool. I did Purell my hands before lunch though.

Steph really wanted to see the Guinness Storehouse, and since I really enjoy the view from the Gravity Bar, we headed up to St. James' Gate.

We stopped at the Jameson Distillery for a photo along the way:

I tried the Guinness again in the tasting section of the tour, and again I ended up getting a Sprite at the Gravity Bar. Troll, however, enjoyed his pint:

Background info for the following story: there were men in kilts all over Dublin from the minute we stepped off the bus on Friday. Having been in this country for two months and never seeing a single kilt (which makes sense, since kilts are more associated with Scotland), I was pretty curious as to what may be behind the hordes of tartan. Emboldened by the three mouthfuls of Guinness I had tasted earlier (just kidding!), I asked two kilt-clad men in the Gravity Bar. It turns out that they were showing their support for Scotland, who were playing Ireland in the final match of the Six Nations Rugby championship that evening, which I knew but never thought to associate with the kilts.

We met one of Steph's friends who is studying at Trinity for the semester and went to a pub to watch the last bit of the rugby match. While the only way Ireland could win the entire championship was to thoroughly thrash Scotland with a large margin of points AND have England beat Wales (a very unlikely combination of events), everyone was still hoping for an Irish victory. It looked like it might happen, but we were disappointed by a lucky Scottish penalty kick in the last few minutes of the match. We consoled ourselves with delicious Lebanese food for dinner.

Sunday morning we were again met with absolutely beautiful weather, which perfectly coincided with our plans to explore some of Dublin's parks.

Fusiliers Arch, the main entrance to St. Stephen's Green:

The two biggest swans I have ever seen in my life:

Troll enjoying the flowers:

Even better than St. Stephen's Green were the Iveagh Gardens, a much smaller park only blocks away from the Green. The walls reminded me of the Secret Garden:

Exploring one of the many tree-covered paths:

A hedgemaze leading to a sundial in the center (and yes, we walked through the entire maze):

Though it took a minute or two, we did manage to confirm that the sundial did, in fact, display the proper time:

If the first gate didn't remind you of the Secret Garden, then this one should:

We spent some time walking around Grafton Street, the middle of Dublin's main shopping district. We found some beautiful jewelry at one of the carts on the street and I pulled off some impressive bargaining to get us a very good deal of some rings (well, to be honest, the seller agreed to the first price I offered).

There's nothing like a giant bubble to brighten your day:

After eating the best potato and leek soup I've had so far (and I've had my fair share of it here), Steph caught a bus to get to the airport, and I high-tailed it to the bus station to get my bus back to Limerick. While it was disappointing to be stuck on a bus on what was the warmest day since I arrived here in Ireland, the lambs and calves dotting the countryside made the view worthwhile.

And now I must go finish an essay due Thursday so that I can take part in tonight's RAG week festivities. RAG stands for Raise and Give and, from what I can gather, seems to be field day events, Spring Fling, and Fall Ball/Winter Bash all rolled into one and stretched out over an entire week. Should be quite the time!