Dublin Weekend (Day Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen; July 12th-14th)

Friday morning, we had session on Edmund Spenser's "Four Hymns." After having some issues about who was coming to Dublin, Heather, Scott, and I departed on the train around 6:30pm. We had to catch a different train in London (the coolest train) that took us to Crewe. This train ride was probably my favorite. There was this British guy sitting across from us talking on the phone, but everyone could hear his conversation because we're in an enclosed space. Apparently, he was the best man in a wedding the next day and was preparing his speech. He wanted to know the names of everyone coming and the relation they had to the bride or groom (it was a small wedding, only about 15 people). But he kept repeating everything and it was absolutely hilarious! We heard about Tanya, her aunt Rosemary who never leaves her home, her grandparents, and PJ's "squeeze." There were two other British guys (about college-aged) sitting in front of him and they were just cracking up. The guy left for a while, and then we started laughing with the other two guys and got to talking. They told us that all Brits weren't like that guy, but he was the stereotype. The other guy came back, and they asked him how PJ's squeeze was doing! I don't think he really knew we were laughing about it all...but then we all got to talking and we told them what we were going to Dublin. They had just been the previous year, and they told us to go to the Guinness Storehouse and do the tour...but they couldn't remember what else they had done in Dublin! It was so funny. We got off before them, and they shook are hands farewell and wished us luck. In Crewe, we caught another train to Holyhead (in Wales!). I slept on that train. We got to Holyhead around 12:30am, and we had to wait two hours for the ferry to Dublin! (We actually didn't need our passports for Ireland - it was weird!) The ferry was amazing! It was bigger than the one we took to Paris. It had a shopping area, a movie theater, a kids' area, a bar (of course), food area, and a bunch of gambling machines. It was really nice though, with couches and chairs everywhere. I mainly slept, until we got in to Dublin at 6am.

The harp bridge over the River Liffey.

The sun was already up, we got a map, and we walked toward the city center. There was an ad on the map for a breakfast place open at 8:30am so we headed for that. We weren't walking very quickly, and we were taking lots of pictures of everything (the River Liffey is so pretty!), so we got to the restaurant at 8:15am. We looked around for a bit 'til it opened, then went in. It was a pretty big place, with the restaurant on the second floor and a big gift shop on the first. We claimed a cute little table in the corner by the window, and then were going to figure out how to get food (there was a cafeteria-like area). However, this older man walks towards us with this really confused look on his face, and he just kind of stops and looks like he doesn't know what to do. We were standing by the table, about to go get food, when he asks us if we're American. We reply in the affirmative, then he says, "Is it usual to claim a table before you've paid for your food?" We again said yes, and then he informed us that it was "bad manners" to do so in Ireland. We apologized and moved of course, but I remain skeptical as to if this is actually the case. He, of course, sat at the table we had claimed and was still there reading his newspaper when we left! I think he may have just been a regular who always sits there and didn't know what to do when his routine got messed up. So we ordered, paid, and carried our food to our table while carrying our backpacks. But the food itself was wonderful! I had eggs, pudding, sausage, a hashbrown-type thing, toast, and tea, all for 5 euros. They also had free wifi there, so we stayed for a bit and also browsed the store below. Then we headed to Trinity College.

In the Trinity College Library.

Once there, we got in line to see the library and the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells was awesome, but the library was SO cool!! You can't touch any of the books, but it's book shelves on both sides of the room going up the wall with spiral staircases and a bunch of statues of great philosophers and others. It was so beautiful. We spent a good while there, then walked down Grafton Street and saw the busy part of town, with all the street performers and stuff. It was cool! Nest, we walked to the Dublin Castle, which honestly was a bit of a disappointment. I really wanted to go in a castle, but there's not much left of this castle to see. We walked around the gardens and outside; it was really beautiful. But apparently, there was a fire in the castle once that they couldn't put out. It was beginning to spread, so they blew up the castle to stop the fire. I guess it worked, but there's not much castle anymore. We did go in the Chester Beatty library right next to the castle, and that was cool. Chester Beatty collected everything in the library, and when he died it all got turned into a library. There were some really old handwritten manuscripts though, including some from the Bible! It was so fascinating.

 Yes, those are real people. In the hot, hot sun. The dog, however, is fake.

The cool part of Dublin Castle.

By this time it was around 4pm, and we walked to our hostel. On our way, we passed the Millennium Spire, which was really tall but not much else haha. The hostel was bigger than the one in Paris but not quite as nice, and we were in a room with seven other people. It wasn't bad though and felt safe. We were all exhausted so we rested and figured out plans for the evening and the next day. We ate dinner at a bed & breakfast/pub nearby. Our waitresses were Irish and that was fun. We went to bed early (I think 10ish), and, even though the bed wasn't the greatest, I slept wonderfully because I was so tired!

The Millennium Spire.

Sunday morning was another hot, sunny day, even though weather.com had told me it would be in the 60s and cloudy so I'd only brought long-sleeved shirts. It was a very warm day! We had cereal and toast for breakfast, complimentary of the hostel. We were going to go take the tour at the Guinness Storehouse, but two guys in our room told us to do the Jameson tour instead, because it was cheaper and more personal. So we did that and a very true Irishman gave us the tour - he was awesome haha. After the tour, we walked to the Guinness place to see the gift store, but we couldn't even do that unless we went on that tour. And there were soo many tourists there. While we were walking around, we stopped to admire this cool-looking building. An older Irish guy walked up to us and asked if we spoke English, and then explained to us the history of the building. However, his accent was so thick that we couldn't understand what he was saying! We gathered that the building had something to do with washing but that was it.

Walking around Dublin.

By then it was almost 2pm, which was when the National Museum of Ireland was opening. We walked across the river to get to it. It wasn't terribly big and mainly focused on the war periods in Ireland, but it was still really cool. They had a bunch of planes and this really old big ship that had been conserved. We didn't stay long there because we planned on attending Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral at 3:30pm. This church was built by the vikings around 1060. It was so cool! They had some original ruins on the property. Evensong there was really different from the ones I attended in Cambridge. There was no choir or singing; only three priests doing the recitations. There weren't a lot of people in attendance - and most of the ones had only come there as tourists and didn't stay for it all. Afterwards, one of the priests shook our hands and said, "Peace be with you." He seemed happy we were there. It only lasted about 20 minutes. Then we got to look around the church and the crypts underneath (where there was also a gift shop and a little cafe). Technically, I don't think we were supposed to do this because it cost to get in the cathedral and see all of that, but we got in for free because we were attending Evensong! So that was fun. Also, a different Irish priest explained to us the history of the floor tiles and what the designs meant. When we left him, he said, "Cheerio," in his Irish accent! It was pretty awesome haha. Other than that, we didn't hear too many Irish accents! Most people wandering around were tourists.

 At the National Museum of Ireland, with the Asgard ship.

 Christ Church Cathedral.

We went to this really big souvenir shop and did some browsing. Ireland has so many better souvenirs than England does! We ate at the Long Stone Pub for dinner, and I had a bacon cheeseburger (made with Irish beef). It tasted pretty normal to me haha. By then, it was time to take the long walk back to the ferry! We thought we might be late so we hurried, but we ended up getting there at just the right time. It was still daylight when we boarded the ferry this time (even though it was 9pm), so we were able to watch the sun set from the deck as we said goodbye to Ireland. It was so beautiful! It was super windy and cold up there though, so we didn't stay too long. We arrived back in Wales around 12:30am and, surprisingly, the security guards were briefly looking at everyone's passports. It was weird, but we go in fine. We had to wait four hours for our train...I slept a little bit but not terribly well. The train was another four hours to London, and I was able to sleep then. We arrived at 8:30am, caught the train back to Cambridge, and arrived back a little after 10am Monday morning. It was quite the trip!

Sun setting over Ireland. :)