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Chapter 3: Dublin

Hi, so here am I again, ready and happy to speak a little about Dublin. We flew there on the 30th of December, using one of those "cheap" fares from RyanAir that don't turn out so cheap after you add taxes and convert the currency. But still... it was much cheaper than flying from the states and so worth it. Since we were actually there for a couple days, I'm going to try and break this down into days. Here goes.

Day 1 (in Dublin): I went off on my own to explore. I didn't really know where to go. I mean, who knows what to do in Dublin. You don't really hear about that town. I only knew two things: Trinity College (and the Book of Kells) and the Museum of Archaeology, so I figured I would go to one of those two things. I looked at the map and planned my route, but when you're on the outside world, it doesn't seem as straightforward as a map, and I have this aversion to looking at maps in public. Especially when I'm on my own, I guess. So I just wandered around for a while. I got some rolls and a hot chocolate and stumbled upon Trinity College. Unfortunately, I still had a full cup of hot chocolate and I knew they wouldn't let me view the Book of Kells while holding a beverage, so I determined to come back later and started looking for the Museum of Archaeology.

Didn't really find it, though afterwards I found out that I had been skirting around it the whole time. Instead, I stumbled upon summer, in the form of Merrion Square. Here, the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and everything was green. There were lavendar flowers and deep shadows. Whar really amazed me, though, is how green even the trees were. Covered in moss.

So I sat down and took of my coat. Although I had on a short-sleeved t-shirt, I felt just fine sitting on a bench in the sun. I took out my iPod and started listening to some Belle and Sebastian. On my way out of the square, I saw Oscar Wilde lounging on a rock, a smirk on his face.

This memorial to Oscar Wilde had quotes that I recognized from An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest. I felt wittier just reading them. And across the street was the house Oscar himself inhabited.

Leaving the square, I fell behind a cute Irish grandpa and his little grandchildren and followed them as they walked hand in hand to the Natural History Museum.

This museum, mistaken for the archaeology one that I was looking for, inspired me to take up bird-watching when I get home. I also wanted to become a lepidopterist after viewing the peacock or teardropped wings of butterflies hidden under heavy coverings for preservation's sake.

After this museum, I entered St. Stephen's Green and rested for a while. I also surreptitiously snuck glances at my city map, realizing that the museum I was actually in search of was not far distant. But first a picture of a fountain in the green. And lunch at, of all places, Quizno's in the St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center, still festively decorated.

You know, it was nice to get a turkey bacon guac sandwich at Quizno's but hugely overpriced. This sandwich, along with chips and a drink, cost about 10 euro. So, you know, be grateful it doesn't cost that much at home.

After eating and resting and again checking my position on the map, I found the direct route to the Archaeology Museum. It contained metal working, a viking boat, and the carcass of a man found on the bog. I spent all this time on the first floor, not realizing that the best part is on the second floor. So, if you ever go there, make sure to go to the top floor first.

Back to Stephen's Green and the WB Yeats Memorial ("Though leaves are many, the root is one" -- line from Yeats that was the theme of Euphony).

And I watched the sun set through the reflection of a pond.

Later, I met up with Dan and Angie to celebrate New Year's. We ate dinner and then went to O'Shea's Pub for some live Irish music.

I tried to nurse a Coke throughout the evening, but eventually, I drank it all. When it was gone, an older gentleman offered to buy me a drink, but I graciously declined. He sat by me for a while, and I watched as he drank 6 pints of Guinness and then he was replaced by an older couple from England. They were such a cute couple. The hotel they were staying in was having a fancy-dress ball, but they thought it would be more fun to come to this pub. And it was. Being the only sober people in the pub, we saw it from a different perspective than many, I'm sure. We even had a visit from the police just in time before a fight was able to really get going. When the clock struck twelve, one of the musicians pulled out the bagpipes and played Auld Lang Syne, while I held hands with the old lady next to me and sang along. Her husband leaned over and declared, "Happy New Year, love!" As soon as I could respectfully get away, I did. I spent the first few minutes of the new year walking back to the hostel, where the night clerk was standing outside watching some fireworks go off in the distance. I took a shower and was asleep by the time everyone else got back.

Day 2: Dan and Angie had signed up for a daytrip, so I decided that I would go on one of my own. I walked with them to the TI in the morning and found a nice coach with a sign that read to Wicklow and Glendalough and asked the driver if there were enough room for one more. He kindly let me board. I joined 3 couples from Manchester and another young couple from South Africa and together we toured the city of Dublin while en route to the countryside. It wasn't necessarily the best day for seeing the country - rainy and windy, but still, I got a feel for the green, rolling pastures.

Although John, that's our tour guide, kindly offered to stop whenever we wanted so we could get some pictures, my tendency would've been to stop around every corner, so I sometimes had to content myself with taking a couple photos from inside the coach, like this one of a peat bog.

There was some question in the coach as to whether or not we should tour the ruins of an old monastery and cemetery because the rain was quite heavy, but in the end, half of us decided to brave it, using some umbrellas that John luckily had stowed away, while others went to the pub for an Irish coffee.

In this cemetery stood an unadorned Celtic cross. Legend has it that if you can reach your arms around the cross and make a wish, your wish will come true. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite get my arms around it and have my hands meet, but I still made a wish. Hopefully it will come true eventually.

After touring the cemetery, we took a walk to the upper lake. We crossed a stone bridge and when looking over the edge, pennies were shining golden in the water.

It felt romantic (not in the loving kind of way) walking up the path to the lake, an umbrella resting on my shoulder and every once in a while, I would give it a little twirl. I chatted with one of the ladies from Manchester and learned about her children. We saw waterfalls and ferns. And then the lake itself.

Here we met up with the rest of the party and went over to the Avoca Woolen Mill for lunch. John set his tray down next to mine and we conversed over hot soup and warm, homemade bread. I found myself confiding in him a little about my parents' divorce, and he told me about his own marriage and his two kids. We talked about the tsunami disaster/tragedy. I was glad to have had company. Afterwards, I walked down to the pub, where everyone else had lunch. Shamrocks sprouted from the rock walls along the road.

I didn't fancy entering the pub to sit awkwardly with strangers, so I decided to pick up a chocolate bar in a little store across the street. I entered, carrying my bag from the Avoca Mill, where I had bought a sweater, and the clerk (a middle-aged men with a glass of Guinness next to him on the counter) asked me what I had bought. I showed him my new sweater and he approved the purchase. Just then, another man entered and asked for help from the clerk unloading something or other from his car, so I was left in charge of the store for a bit. His daughter (about 5 or 6) stood next to the counter, sucking on a lollipop. I said hello and she promptly went to the back of the store. I checked out the covers of magazines and held down the fort until the clerk's wife appeared on the porch. I heard her ask her husband, "Who's minding the store?" He replied, "Some American." I bought my cadbury chocolate and left, just as the coach was pulling up.

To round out the day, we stopped by the meeting of the rivers in the Vale of Avoca. I guess Thomas Moore, the poet, wrote about it. John told us about how Thomas Moore could be seen sitting under a tree at the meeting of the rivers. In later years, people would visit the spot and take a branch from the tree as a memento. So many people did this that the tree is now dead and fenced off.

But here the rivers met, and I took a picture with John.

We listened to Tommy Flemming and Enya on the way back to Dublin. I once again tried to take some photos from the coach.

Back in Dublin, I once again met up with Angie and Dan and we went to a little pub where we heard they had free Irish Dancing to view. It was hot and stuffy and the dancers seemed artificial somehow. I didn't stay long.

Day 3: Sunday, so we went to church in an Irish ward where everyone had accents. It was charming. Afterwards, there was a huge cemetery across the way, and since you already are familiar with my penchant for visiting cemeteries, I need not tell you that I stopped there on our way back. Here's what I found:

This next one was cool because it was actually the grave of the architect that designed the large tower there in the cemetery, so he got a little mini-tower all his own.

As the evening fell, I visited Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral, but both were already closed. So some last pictures of Dublin.

Oh man, how could I almost forget one of the best parts of Dublin?! Well, I thought it was great. It was just this kid that I met at the hostel that night. He was 11 and staying there with his grandad and sister. We talked for quite a while and he told me all about his cat named Blaze, who has his own email address (which reminds me, I keep meaning to email the cat) and how he was really a blessing because he showed up the day that his hamster died. And then they have another cat named Esmerelda and a dog that they've been watching for over a year. Oh man, this kid. He was so great.

We went to bed super early that night because we had to leave for London at 5 in the morning. We almost missed it, though, because we couldn't get a taxi and then we had to run to catch the airport bus. Luckily, we all made it there in time, although in separate buses. But London is a whole 'nother (and final) chapter.