Dublin Ramblin'

Back again! I hear that you Minnesotans are getting some snow these days. For the first time since being here, I think Ireland is much warmer than Minnesota right now. It's sunny out, and pretty much a perfect fall day. The days will, however, get much shorter here soon. Until then I will have to soak up the warmth and enjoy myself. Anyway... on to the update!

The Vikes game lasted till 4pm here (GO FAVRE!) so it was fairly difficult to get up in the morning for Ethics Seminar. We discussed our excursions as a whole, received some assignments which would enable some further reflection

on our experiences. The remaining of Tuesday was left to homework, laundry, and (I think?) the Twins game.. just another relaxing day in Ireland.

Wednesday morning, we further discussed some Frank O'Connor short stories and began The Playboy of the Western World. We are 'performing' the play in class... I play Michael Flaherty.

Afterwards, we had a family meeting to discuss our plans for Dublin. After finishing all classes and meetings, John Murray and I decided to help JP to sweep/paint new parking lot lines for the Park Lodge Hotel. We worked for 4 hours, and were rewarded with a nice meal and free drinks in the pub that night. It was fun to work with JP. He had a lot of the same music/movie tastes as me. He also mentioned that we were REALLY lucky to have gone to Skellig Michael, as he had visited Portmagee 4 times just to get onto Skellig Michael and has yet to get onto the island. He offered us pot-roast with scallop potatoes (delicious). Everyone went to the pub that night and watched the twins game.. a great all-around group time.

Thursday was another early morning, as we were all on the bus and ready to go a little after 8:00 a.m. After riding the bus for a while... I did notice that I unfortunately forgot my camera (don't worry, I will be receiving photos that I took with others), so I will have some photos up

later today or tomorrow. Our first stop was at Clanmacnoise, a monastic site that is stationed on the River Shannon and is close to four different counties in Ireland. The site included a few ancient high crosses, 8 old, old churches, and a wonderful view of the Shannon. The visit was nice. John Murray and I took a walk out to a nun's church (about 10 minutes away from the site) after the tour and sat atop an arch and marveled at the green landscape. The sun shone brightly and definitely made the visit worthwhile.

After the Clanmacnoise trip, we proceeded to Dublin. Our new bus-driver/tour-guide, Michael, was very knowledgeable of the area and it was helpful for him to take a tour around Dublin. Before setting off for the hostel, Michael took us to the site of the Papal visit in Phoenix Park. Here a cross was erected in honor of the late Pope John Paul II. The green grass expanded for meters and meters: it was the kind of park that would be perfect for flying a kite, throwing/kicing a football around... pretty much anything that requires a HUGE wide open field of grass.

We finally arrived at the hostel in the evening. I took some time to go out and get some food to cook up for dinner (had burgers for the first time this trip!). That night we explored the Temple Bar area. I visited a place called "The Porterhouse" which had pretty much every beer of the world. Afterwards, I went across the street to a place that was playing reggae music. It was a fantastic night!

On Friday morning, we were all up and on the bus at 9:00a.m. We took a trip to a place called Newgrange, which an ancient burial structure that is older than both the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge. The structure was huge, and the giant stones used to make it were from all different parts of Ireland. This structure had to have taken a lifetime or MORE to make, and it make the experience absolutely incredible. The opening of Newgrange is positioned correctly so that annually, on the winter solstice at dawn, the sun shines brightly, lighting up the whole inside of the tomb. on the tour, there was a simulation of the lighting.. it was mind-blowing.

After Newgrange, we returned to Dublin. Some of us were dropped off at the Guinness Storehouse, yet, having already been there, I choose to go to the National Gallery instead. I saw great paintings by Jack Yeats, Caravaggio ("The Taking of Christ"), and even one piece by Picasso. My favorite piece was The Opening of the Sixth Seal. I visited the Gallery twice (once Friday, once Saturday), and enjoyed every minute of it.

After the Gallery, the guys I was with decided to go back to the hostel. I wanted to keep on walking around, so I took a tour down O'Connell Street. I stepped inside a sports shop and found the greatest buy I have ever laid my eyes upon- a thick, white Celtic zip-up sporting

jacket for 20 EURO, marked down from 65 Euro! The store said that the jacket wouldn't sell because it was too big. It fit me just fine... so I bought it! I also picked up food for my buddies and myself, and made my way back to the hostel.

That night, I ended up getting into a Rhythm & Blues Club for half-price (I haggled with the bouncer), and enjoyed some fantastic music with my friends from the study abroad group. Great night!

For the whole of Saturday we were left to our own devices. I hung out with Kyle.. and we had a very successful day. We saw several churches (St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church), went to the National Gallery, the National Museum (where we saw bog bodies from ancient times) and Trinty College. At Trinity College, we snuck into the Book of Kels (saved 8 Euro) and even watched an intense Rugby game on the school's pitch. After all of this, we took a walk down O'Connell Street and went through a little food market before returning home.

After eating a nice dinner, all of us went over to a play that had been set up by Dr. Davis at the Abbey Theatre. The play was, to put it lightly, very bizarre. I was glad to get to the pub next door afterwards and watch the last 5 minutes of the big football match between Italy and Ireland (which ended up being a tie, and most of the action was in the last 5 minutes!). That night, John, Kyle and I found "The Legends" and made requests all night to a pair of talented musicians. The guitar/fiddle combo was surprisingly great, and it ended up being a laid-back yet fun night.

The next morning I made it over to Mass at a franciscan church a block away from the hostel. After Mass, we all loaded into the bus and made our way over to Kilmainham Jail. While I wasn't absolutely pumped to go to Kilmainham (for the simple fact that I had already been there), I actually got a lot more out of the visit than I thought I would. After actually reading up on Irish History, the visit was much more "close to home" than my first visit. Not only that, but it helped that I was already familiar with the structure. I was glad to have taken the tour again.

I ended the rest of Sunday by sitting on a bus back to the PLH, shopping at TESCO for food, and completing as much homework as I possibly could.

Yesterday it was fairly difficult to get up after a late of studying. In history we discussed the Great Famine (or "Great Hunger"), and how it is argued that death from this famine was caused by the British. It was an interesting class; I had never known in-depth the story of the famine, so it was a very enlightening class indeed. Irish Catholicism covered what we had

visited in Dublin, and we also made presentations with pictures, videos, etc about some of our favorite parts about our visit. Last night I was up late (again) completing homework for Dr. Davis's Class (once that is corrected I will be happy to post it somehow on the blog).

This morning, we reviewed our Dublin experience (both written and verbally). I actually discussed Kilmainham as the most significant visit to my understanding of Ireland, as I believed that it encompassed the Irish Nation's story: a story of incarceration and redemption, all for freedom. Afterwards, I sat in on another class (that I'm not even a part of) and watched a great, bizzare film called The Butcher Boy. It was quite strange but good, and had that strange humor that is often found in British/Irish films.

That's about it for now! I'll try to get this weekend's pics up soon.. and I'm going to try and blog before I leave for fall break (which, for me, starts this Saturday). After that, it'll be off to the Mediterranean! Until next time...

mahalo

Thomas