DUBLIN -- Day 3

Sadly, this post is going to be unfinished, because I still need some pictures from Katie Kero of our evening, but I'll put what I have up now and finish later :)

We were in the Doors of Dublin area, and this was maybe my favorite door. Sadly the light wasn't great out this day, but we made do.

Second-favorite door -- I want a door like this so bad!!

St. Patrick's Cathedral, as seen from afar and on a bus

Still not sure why I took a picture of this -- it was a good chocolate bar, but not the best ever... must just be the cow obsession.

Gorgeous stained glass windows at the back of St. Patrick's Cathedral

This chapel is the oldest part of the church, and was used by the chemistry guy Boyle and his family -- but by moving it, the Lady's Chapel was discovered behind the normal one, so I guess it was necessary to move it, even if Boyle got pissed about it.

The restored floor was gorgeous, so I took a really weird photo of it. You're welcome.

I approve of whimsical children's books retelling classic novels, because they're adorable; hence, the attention this one got. Jonathan Swift (or Dean Swift, as everyone kept calling him) was buried here; hence, why his novel was made into a children's book and is on sale here :)

A long view of St. Patrick's Cathedral

The corner devoted to Jonathan Swift and his grave and one of his lovers

They had hand-painted stained glass on sale, which I nearly bought, until I remembered that stained glass doesn't travel well... :(

I love that ceilings here are so cool to look at :)

That wooden pulpit you see behind our guide's head used to be on wheels. Apparently, Jonathan Swift would deliver his sermons from this pulpit and would wheel around the room, hitting people who tried to sleep during his sermon. I don't like church, but I would've loved to see that.

The Lady's Chapel, set further back from the main area, so women could be religious too. How kind, right?

This was a special piece of stained glass because the top part isn't painted like everything else -- it was actually made out of individual pieces of glass, like Tiffany glass.

Me and Katie getting ready to go to the Jameson film festival premier of "Saving the Titanic"!

 And this is where more pictures go later. Stay tuned!


-S

 

DUBLIN -- Day 2

Here follow the events of Thursday...

A wonderful bar and restaurant, just across the street from our hostel! I want to go back on Spring Break :)

Globetrotters! Not the sketchiest place ever, but had me a little anxiety-ridden going in and out -- a friend of mine said that this part of town was rougher than the rest of Dublin. But it was fun :)

A funny sign outside of Globetrotters -- it has mileage to all these different cities, and for Tipperary, another Irish city, it just says 'a long way' ;)

Kilmainham Jail = AWESOME

Super cool carving over the door :)

Our tour guide was excellent, and kept offering to put the little Revoir girls in one of the cells for a little bit ;)

Some graffiti on the walls. They were selling entire books about the graffiti, but I figured I would just snap a picture and move on...

I stuck my camera through the eye-hole of one of the cells while walking, and took this picture. I like how it turned out, but I was a little apprehensive to see if there would be a ghost or something in here... Kilmainham has a bad history of being a 'reform jail', and kind of turned into a haven during the Famine times, when people wanted to be in jail just to have a little food. Sometimes, our guide told us, the cells meant for 1 would be holding as many as 5 or 6 people. So sad and scary.

The main area of Kilmainham -- awe-inspiring. Many films have used this area for sets, including "Michael Collins", which we watched part of just before leaving for Dublin. A very cool space :)

The back courtyard. The cross is a marker for where some leaders of the rebel leaders in the Easter 1916 uprising -- a very somber piece of history.

This is when we were back outside -- the two strange bricks above the window were where they had pieces of wood to hang people on. A double gallows, where people could watch the hangings :(

We then drove a loop around Phoenix Park and saw the taoiseach's house (pronounced tee-shuck)! Many jokes were made about White Houses and parallels to American governmental houses.

A monument in Phoenix Park, though I can't for the life of me remember what it's for -- Owen mentioned it and drove on, and I was so focused on getting a picture that I didn't listen very carefully. Tourist.

My favorite place to walk by -- lots of literary quotes from men being men :P

A bust of Michael Collins at the Hugh Lane art museum -- the only picture I got there, because this was another institution that didn't want me taking pictures on the inside :P

So I was a rebel and took a picture of the sign outside. It was a cool exhibit, lots of fun art pieces, include a few Monets I had never seen (I thought of you, Mom :D)

Brittine and I, being hardcore English majors, spent a good deal of time in the Dublin Writer's Museum, but again, no photography technically allowed on the inside. So, I took this picture on a staircase when no one could tell me off for it ;) It was an excellent museum, with very informative exhibits about well known (and lesser known) writers here in Ireland

From there, we headed right to another second-hand book store. I swear, my suitcase is going to be full of books and not clothes when I come back...

To round the evening off, we saw a professional production at the Abbey Theater, called "Bookworms". It was okay -- I liked "The Clean House" better and that was a college production in Galway. It was still cool to be at the Abbey Theater!!

 And then, after the play, I went back to the hostel and read my new book. I got so cultured this day, guys, you don't even know. Part 3 up next!

-S

DUBLIN -- Day 1

HELLO AGAIN FRIENDS!! I have returned safe and sound from Dublin. It was a long trip, and I did have a lot of fun, but it's good to be 'home'. 

GOOD MORNING SUNSHINES!!! The sun was just rising as we got on the road Wednesday morn, headed to Newgrange and then Dublin

This things are GODLY. Think Twix but better!!

There's a theme in my pictures of SUNSHINE, especially this weekend when we had so much of it. I take advantage of my blessings when I find them :)

What do we do on the bus? We get educated, that's what. Kyle and Fia, reading the Irish Times

Colleen, Calla, Bailey, Ryan, and Kyle, in various poses of awareness of the picture taker, on the bridge at Newgrange

Calla, Colleen, and Amber ran over to these adorable benches and I took the picture while still walking, then ran to catch up with me. We're pro at posing for pictures now :)

Newgrange, a very old (it was 800 years old before the pyramids were made) passage tomb, severely restored and not yet fully excavated

Brittnie, Taylor, and Katie M, getting excited to go into the tomb

Detail of the white wall on the outside of Newgrange: the stones were put back on the side of the tomb when it was discovered, and the black rocks were added to 'even out' the effect by archaeologists. I think it looks tacky, and our tour guide described it as 'very '70s'.

Again, the black rock has been added in. I don't like the look of it, but that's just me being picky.

The top opening is a roof box to let in exactly 17 minutes of light during the winter solstice -- the bottom bit is the people entrance. Needless to say it was a little tight. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, sadly (a common theme this weekend) but it was super cool. They even simulated the solstice for us!

You can still see some carvings on the outside stones -- so cool.

They're quite serious about this rule -- they stumbled onto the first entrance on accident, but there may be other entrances on different sides of the tomb. They would excavate more, but it might damage the structure, and that would be sad :( so, another one of life's grand mysteries!!

Really elaborate carvings. No one knows the true purpose of Newgrange -- all burial materials found have been on the floor, not in the four burial dishes on the inside, and no one knows why this tomb was built. I believe the theory about it being a place of worship, because of the connection to the new year. It was very cool to be in the presence of something so old.

Owen described these sheep as 'wussies' because they're not like Mayo sheep -- they have green flat pastures, instead of the steep hills in Louisburgh and Westport. I didn't know sheep could be wusses, but I trust Owen...

Taylor's battle wound, from getting hit in the face with a camera...

Amber and I, perplexed that the bus back to the visitor center was taking so long.

No one else understood why the sign said 'Q here', and because I giggled at it, I got to explain that it's a shorthand joke for 'queue here', or 'form the line here'. I got lots of blank looks about it, but I still thought it was funny.

DUBLIN

The Millennium Bridge in the port area

My bed is the top bunk -- yay hostels!! That ceiling was very low, FYI

Many of us were a little reluctant to be staying in a hostel, Brittine especially, but it was fine :)

That was all of Wednesday... Tons more pictures to come!!!

-S