In Which the Girl from the Emerald City Heads to the Emerald Isle

Have you got some tea? A nice, comfortable blanket? Maybe a week’s worth of rations? You’ll need them. It’s been a very busy week, and I’m not willing to scrimp on the details. (Well, I’m willing to scrimp on some of them.) I’m writing this update a whole day early, because I fear that if I wait until tomorrow, task of writing out my adventures my just seem to daunting. Right now I’m still quite excited to share them with you. So, with no further ado… my week!

Monday:

This is the part where I scrimp on the details. Monday was great, but not particularly noteworthy. Sue, once again, turned us into quivering messes. Once again, we could not for the LIFE OF US execute “The Happy Pair” in Historical Dance, but did quite well on “Dull Sir John’s.” Alex and I are improving at La Volte (sp?) but we recognise we have a ways to go. Perhaps a long ways. And that was Monday.

Tuesday:

Similar scrimping. We went to see the National Gallery (again!), and had a “lecturer” (apparently they don’t answer to “tour guide”) talk with us about three different paintings. Delightful! That evening we went to see Brief Encounter, which was very good. It’s the first time I’ve seen multimedia actually work in a play, and not come off as a pretentious director’s idea of being edgy. Characters stepped in and out of a movie; it was clever, and just beautifully done. The actors were 100% committed, and even the non-central characters made their roles important. It was a treat to behold!

AND they gave us a piece of a scone at intermission. Not that I allowed that to bias my opinion.

Wednesday:

Wednesday morning found me trundling along Clerkenwell street with my enormous rolling duffle bag stuffed full of my various treasures. Was I running away? No, though to an outsider that may appear to be the case. What I was actually heading toward was an Acting exercise. In this exercise we have to behave as ourselves for about 10 minutes, using a series of objects and actions in order to display some of our “inner” characteristics. We are not allowed to act.

Now, I challenge you. Get a group of twelve people, and have them watch every little thing you do for ten minutes. Then tell me if you did anything naturally. It’s really hard to do, especially because the whole time you’re up there your mind is saying, “Ok, now don’t pay attention to those people out there. Just focus on what you’re doing. Wait, but this action is supposed to make it clear that you feel capable. Are you looking capable? Maybe you need to make that clearer. But if you make that clearer, that’s acting. But maybe you would be doing it differently in real life. Is this really how you sponge of the counter?... etc.” In order to help us actually behave naturally, we were supposed to recreate our home space in the Marlow room. This is not possible. Nothing you could ever do to the Marlowe room would make it feel like home. But hey, nothing like a challenge! So of course I dragged along stacks of books, a comforter, a pillow, photographs, postcards, and everything else I could think of that might make me feel like I was in my kitchen and bedroom. Hey, I tried.

That was quite the event, let me tell you.

Then, after school, Sevita, Caroline, Marielle, Liz and I flew to Ireland. It’s an hour away. Seriously. And guess how much our tickets cost.

No, really. Guess.

Fine, don’t guess. I’ll tell you. Including EVERYTHING (all the fees they could think to add, and the ticket itself), my ticket cost £25. I find that absolutely unbelievable. I was surprised when I bought it, but I was even more surprised when I actually got to Ireland. I was sure there was going to be a catch somewhere, that at some point someone would jump up and say, “Ha ha! Fooled you! There’s no way you could ever get to another country so cheaply, you optimistic little twerp!” It didn’t happen. We got there.

We settled into The Dublin Bunkhouse, pleased with the location and excited for the next day.

Look, it's almost like I never left Seattle.

Thursday:

Our first full day in Dublin! We tiptoed into our clothes and out of the hostel by 8:30 in the morning. As we crowded out of the building, we were all tossing out ideas of what we should do. I wanted to go to Christchurch Cathedral, Caroline wanted to see St. Patrick’s, everyone was dying to go to Trinity College, and the list goes on.

For, as far as I can tell, no particular reason, Trinity College was chosen as the first location. We spent a while wandering around the campus and taking pictures of and with different architectural phenomena. The buildings that make up Trinity College are absolutely beautiful, but they are nothing compared to what is within. Marielle and I decided that we were willing to fork over the €7 in order to see the Book of Kells and the Long Room of the Trinity Library, and I am very glad that we did.

The Book of Kells is a book of the four gospels of the life of Christ. It was written in the 9th century by four different monks (now known only as monks A, B, C, and D) who painstakingly copied all four gospels and then illustrated the entire book. The illustrations are elaborate and beautiful, and include pictures of different saints or their animal representations and decorated emphasis on certain letters. It’s really impossible to describe what an experience it was to see this book. I can’t get over how much work went into it—the four gospels, carefully handwritten and illustrated on calfskin that had to be cleaned and stretched in order to be used. In the same exhibit there was a display of brooches from the 1st and 2nd centuries. It’s overwhelming how much history is buried in Ireland’s earth.

After seeing the Book of Kells, we headed into the Long Room. At this point it is essentially a gallery of books—the books are too old to touch. The whole room, though, looks like something out of Beauty and the Beast. There are ladders to reach the books with, and they are connected to tracks on the ceiling, so you can push them along and reach what you want. There’s also a spiral staircase that twists tightly and goes up through the ceiling onto the next level. Along the center of the room there is a display of herbals/botanicals, all carefully illustrated and researched. These people really struggled for knowledge… it’s becoming pretty clear how much is just handed to me.

No pictures allowed in the Long Room or of the Book of Kells...

...so we just took lots of pictures outside!

After leaving Trinity College, Marielle and I wandered over to the National Gallery. We never made it, though. They wouldn’t let her bring her coffee inside (reasonably, I suppose), and so we ended up strolling through a garden that we stumbled across. It was very peaceful, and a pleasant break from the city.

When we got back to the National Gallery, we ran in to Caroline, and instead of going to look at the paintings, we decided to head off to see Dublin Castle. We wanted to go inside, but entrance was by tour only. Tours are a) something that can only be obtained if you hand over money and b) 50 minutes long and we were starving. Instead, we decided to appreciate that Dublin HAS a castle, and headed off to lunch. Conveniently, that particular group is all some degree of vegetarian (pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan) so we found it pretty easy to agree on a place to eat: “Oh! They have stuff we can eat! We can have a choice! Let’s eat here.” It’s called Juice, and I highly recommend it.

We appreciated Dublin Castle from the outside. It worked out pretty well.

This is one of the many things I love about Ireland. Modern streeet...
with a really old building at the end of it!

After lunch we launched off to Christchurch Cathedral, which was huge and stunning. There was some entrance fee, but by the time we realised that we had accidentally slipped in with a large group. On one hand, why on earth would someone have to pay to go into a church? Should religion be at least somewhat free? On the other hand, we just (accidentally) snuck into a church. How bad is that? God has yet to strike us down, but I’m convinced it’s only a matter of time. Christchurch Cathedral was, like many other cathedrals, a monolith of stained class and carved stone. We went down to the crypt too, which was absolutely vast. There was one grave/memorial that talked about a man that “found happiness by bringing happiness to others.” To me, that sounds like the best kind of life one can lead.

Christchurch Cathedral

Following that, we swung by St. Patrick’s Cathedral; again, stunning from the outside. Again, cost money to go into. So we appreciated the outside.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

During our wandering around after seeing St. Patrick’s Cathedral, we can across a door that had a puzzling sign stuck in the window. I’m putting a picture up so you can all appreciate it. (And yes, I know what they mean. But still, appreciate what the sign says.)

Following is a picture of our Very Favourite Place in Ireland… Butler’s Chocolate. I can’t even count the number of times we went there. I think I went at least five times. I’m not even kidding. (Right after I wrote that sentence, I had to get up and get myself a chocolate from my stash. White chocolate. Mmm.) If you’re looking for a way to be my Very Best Friend, don’t hesitate to send me some chocolate.

Doesn't Caroline look sweet?

It's not as all as if she would mortgage her soul for this chocolate.

For dinner that evening we went to a pub recommended to us by the people working at our hostel. It’s called The Church and it’s, well, a church. Rather, it’s a church that was converted into a pub. (Sacrilegious? Maybe. But great.) There we got dinner and drinks, and hung out appreciating the atmosphere and the music.

There's an organ and everything!

We all agree-- it's a great place! Go, if you get a chance.

Clearly this picture of Luna with a Guinness was taken more

for my amusement than for my Mom's elementary school.

After some further wandering around that evening we found ourselves a dessert place called Sheebeen Chic. The walls were mosaic-ed with glass, plastic forks, random letters, and everything else the creator could find and clotheslines crisscrossed the ceiling. I got an apple tart and Caroline got a “runny bun.”

It took forever for a waitress to see to us... in the meantime, we took pictures.

We headed back to the hostel, set our alarm, and curled up for sleep. Hours later we were awakened by loud conversations. What? For those of you who have never stayed in a hostel, it is important to note that this extremely inexpensive form of accommodation usually means sharing a room with multiple other somebodys. In our, very unlucky, case, these “somebodys” included a group of very loud, inconsiderate British boys. They yelled to each other, fumbled noisily with their suitcases, and were generally obnoxious….
For
Three
Hours.

Seriously. That is not an exaggeration.

Oh well. Welcome to hostel living, I suppose!

Friday:

We roused ourselves out of bed at about 7:40, and after breakfast at the hostel we went to meet our tour bus. We booked our tour through Day Tours Unplugged, and had a very enthusiastic, chatty guide named Damien. He kept making comments “to the ladies” about the kind of wedding presents we like, how we see an Irish round tour and think of Rapunzel, and so on. For a while I felt stereotyped, and then I just felt amused. Sure, all ladies want a house right here! Of course! Naturally I was thinking of Rapunzel! How could I not?
We took off through the city, making a brief stop by the sea and some sailboats (with a rainbow!) before winding up into the countryside.

Marielle, me, Sevita, Kip, Liz, Caroline, Marken, Laura, and Abby. LDA takes over Ireland!

After driving past Enya’s castle (really) and Bono’s house, we found ourselves on vast, sprawling terrain. The air was misty and cool, and everything felt steeped in magic. It became immediately apparent how Ireland became filled with stories of faeries, brownies, sprites, elves, leprechauns, and so on. It’s the sort of country that makes you feel like there is a very real possibility that you might see something magical, might actually find that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

At one point, as we were stopped on a hillside overlooking a glacial lake, Kip asked—to no one in particular—“Where are we?” It was entirely apt. We were in a place that none of us had really, I believe, thought existed outside of wall posters and perhaps the occasional documentary.

One of the places we stopped was Glendalough, a valley in County Wicklow that contains a monastic city founded in the 6th century. It was destroyed eleven times by Vikings, English royalty, and so on… and yet, the Irish just kept rebuilding it, every time. In the “city” you can see an Irish round tour, used for storing various manuscripts and other items used for worship, a 12th (?) century stone church, and countless gravestones. I wish there was a way to put into words what it feels like to see something like this… I hardly felt like I was really there. It was absolutely surreal. People lived here, worked here, claimed sanctuary here. Over 1,500 years ago this was a very real place for many people; their ghosts haunt it. I don’t mean this to sound like I bumped into the ghost of St. Kevin or anything, but it’s a feeling that surrounds the place. It’s rich with history, and free from many of the trappings of tourism. There are no ropes—you can rub your fingers across the stones that monks laid in place. You can dip your hands into the water collected in the stone tabernacle, and kneel and read the names on the gravestones. It’s not just a history book.

The window ledge was actually the alter, and near the back right corner of this room,

you can just barely see the stone tabernacle. The room is full of tombstones as well.

An Irish round tower behind St. Kevin's Church (built in the 12th century)

View back to the monastic city

The rest of the hillsides were equally breathtaking, crowded with sheep or heather, disappearing into low-laying clouds.

See what I mean about expecting faeries?

Scrippsies do Ireland.

That evening, we followed Damien’s advice and took ourselves on a walk to the Brazen Head pub, the oldest pub in Ireland. It was established by the Vikings in 1198. I had a Guinness where the Vikings drank beer! That must earn me some Cool Points, right?

That night: More loud whispering from those nutty boys. At least they weren’t yelling anymore.

Saturday:

I spent this morning (was it really only this morning?) meandering through the Dublin city center, and saw the Famine Memorial and a replica of the Jeanie Johnston. I didn’t expect the Famine Memorial to actually have an effect on me; I thought I’d see it as something of historical importance, but that it would not be at all an emotional experience. The statues of starving people, though, made my stomach clench. It made it clear what had happened, and it was a very sobering sight.

The replica of the Jeanie Johnston, however, was a fairly uplifting one. The little ship sailed back and forth from Ireland to America sixteen (?) times, and not one person died on that ship. That, my friends, is a miracle considering the size of the ship, the distance it had to go, and the illnesses that often plagued people.

Then, this afternoon, I flew back to London. On the plane I talked to the girl sitting next to me, and introduced her to Luna. She was a great travel companion, and I wish I could be guaranteed such fun people on all of my flights! Eventually, after what seemed like ages of travelling, I made it back here. It’s nice to be back in my flat, but I’m already eager for my next trip to Ireland!

In the words of our tour guide, "God bless Ryan Air!"

And now, for Luna!

Here I am in the airport with my friends Liz and Sevita. We were all very excited to head off to Ireland!

Here I am at Trinity College, in Dublin. Trinity College houses the Book of Kells, a book that was created in the 9th century. It was all hand made, written by four different monks on paper made out of calfskin. The paint used for the illustrations had to be made from ground up rock. It sure makes art projects these days seem easy!

While we were wandering through the city, Litza, Marielle and I found this pretty park. It was nice to see a splash of green amongst all the buildings!

This is Dublin Castle. It's a government building, so you can't go in if you're not on a tour. Oh well, it was still fun to see the outside!

Here I am at Christchurch Cathedral. Isn't it beautiful? It's a huge church, and I even got to explore the crypt underneath, where people are buried.

Mmmm... Butler's Chocolates! We all loved this chocolate store. I got to help pick out the chocolates. Caroline's favorite was the vanilla flavor, but I think I like the dark chocolate best. Butler's is a chain of chocolate stores all over Ireland.

We stayed in a place called a hostel while we were travelling. It's sort of like a dormitory-- lots of people sleep in the same room, in bunkbeds. Ours was called the Dublin Bunkhouse.

Here I am, launching off on my bus tour to see some of the Irish countryside. Marielle and I were quite excited!

These gravestones are part of a monastic city (Catholic city for monks) that was built in the 6th century. It was like walking into a history book to see all these things, and was really interesting. Ireland has the most amazing history! Vikings came in and destroyed this whole city several times. Then, later, the English government did. The city has been destroyed a total of 11 times. Wow!

This was one of my favorite buildings we saw. It's more "modern"-- it was only built 800 years ago. This is called St. Kevin's Church.

This is the upper lake of Glendalough. Doesn't it look like a fairy is going to come out at any moment?

Here I am with Litza, Sevita, Marielle, and Caroline on a hill overlooking a lake that formed when the glaciers melted. Isn't it beautiful?

Here I am with a replica of the Jeanie Johnston. The original ship traveled back and forth from Ireland to America sixteen times... and not one person ever died durin the journey. That's an absolute miracle!

The Irish Potato Famine occurred between 1845 and 1849. During that time, half of Ireland's population vanished, either starving to death or leaving the country because they couldn't survive there. The Famine was caused by a disease that struck the potato crop, totally ruining it. These statues were set up in memorial of that terrible time.

I had such a good time in Ireland, and I very much hope to go back some day. It's so much fun!