My Weekend in Dublin

My first weekend away from water for was a success! For our thursday field trip we went to Dublin, which is about a two and a half hour bus ride from Waterford. Which was fine by me.... we have been nonstop since I've been here so I got a very good nap in on the bus! I was rudely awoken by the screeching of the bus's PA system turning on. We got a 30 minute bus tour as we drove through Dublin to our destination. I don't really recall any of what our tour guide said, I was to busy trying to pry my eyes open and wake up. But the first stop we made was the Writer's museum, the Museum was established to promote interest, through its collection, displays and activities, in Irish literature as a whole and in the lives and works of individual Irish writers. The writers featured in the Museum are those who have made an important contribution to Irish or international literature or, on a local level, to the literature of Dublin. It is a view of Irish literature from a Dublin perspective.In the two Museum Rooms is presented a history of Irish literature from its beginnings up to recent times. The panels describe the various phases, movements and notable names, while the showcases and pictures illustrate the lives and works of individual writers. Room 1 takes the story through to the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the Literary Revival. Room 2 is entirely devoted to the great writers of the twentieth century. Living writers, even those who have already established their place in history, are not included in the display. At the top of the grand staircase is the Gorham Library with its Stapleton ceiling. Here is kept the Museum's reserve of books, including rare and first editions and critical works. There are also displays of volumes from special collections. There are plenty of books, representing the milestones in the progress of Irish literature from Gulliver's Travels to Dracula, The Importance of Being Earnest, Ulysses and Waiting for Godot. Most of these are first or early editions, recapturing the moment when they first surprised the world. There are books inscribed to Oliver Gogarty by W.B. Yeats and to Brinsley MacNamara by James Joyce, while a first edition of Patrick Kavanagh's 'The Great Hunger' includes in the poet's own hand a stanza which the prudish publisher declined to print. Can you see why my Lit. professor decided to go here for a field trip? :D

The next stop was about a 2 mile trek to Trinity College. It was pretty cool being there because it was Graduation weekend and they were all dressed up in there prestigious caps and gowns. Love it! Oh and a fun fact about Trinity was that Hagwart's dinning room was filmed here for the Harry Potter Movies. I look in the room and it looked nothing like the actual dining room... but it was filmed there right? Lol. While I was there I did get to see the book ok Kells, which was breath taking:) then I got to see the ginormous library there too. After going to Trinity we headed over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. It's the Oldest Church in Dublin. The reason we went there was for the fact that Johnathan Swift was buried there and he's open of the writers we're studying in my world lit class. 

Lis and Jamie :) My Trip Buddies

 Once we were done our group had to book it back to the bus to grab our luggage off in we were planning on staying the weekend. The bus only had a five minute window to get the luggage off and the people going back to Waterford back on the bus and pull out of the parking spot. Our group basically ran two miles to reach the bus in time. Lol I bet the locals were like "look at those crazy Americans." We made it in time to check in and grab our stuff and head to the hostel. I have to say the whole hostel thing isn't my style but having two other girls with me made it a lot bearable. We had a six bed female dorm room and three vacant bed once we were there but each night there was three different girls. We only stayed two nights and the sharing a bathroom with 6 girls is a NIGHTMARE! 

Any way back to my story after we checked in and dropped our stuff off, and when I said dropped I mean hid our stuff, we headed back out to do some shopping and find somewhere to eat. We found this Traditional Irish pub that turned out to be more of a tourist place, than a real pub. But we sat down for a while and listened to the music and people interact around us. We decided to go ahead and eat there and I ordered fish and chips and a Guinness. I have to say the Guinness is better than a Miller or a Bud so I was happy. But I'm not much of a beer drinker, I love my Froo Froo Drinks ;) I Love the fish and 'chips' too.... I was so afraid it wouldn't be any good and taste fishy but it was delectable! The only downside of the night was we had to wait like thirty minutes for our waitress to take our order. Then another hour and a half to two hours for our food to even arrive. So we eat in a hurry to be able to walk back to our hostel before dark. We've all herd horror stories about young girls alone after dark right?... so we booked it Lol.

The next day we did more wondering and ended up shopping some more. Then we decided to go see a Riverdance. Which is a show that showcases traditional Irish dance through out time, and I absolutely Loved it. It was so much fun! Here is a peek at what we saw:) 

After the riverdance we decided to go look for a real Irish pub. We actually found one right around the corner from the hostel. When we went in we couldn't find a free table, but the really sweet older gents got up a let us have the table.... That soooo wouldn't happen in the states! I thought about buying them a round of pints but I thought of it to late and they left before I had the chance. For dinner I had the Irish Stew which is a stew with lamb and veggies. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!!!!


I think we spent a good three hours there. Oh, something funny that happened there was after we sat down and ordered the music changed to country and we got a couple of people turn to us and smile at us.... Why does everyone here associate county music to Americans? Lol We all busted out laughing.... It was a fun evening:)
Well that pretty much sums up my weekend. The next morning we got up had breakfast went to a coffee shop* then hopped on the bus back to Waterford. Where I am now getting ready for classes tomorrow. 






Click here for the Rest of the Pictures I Took Over the Weekend:)




Love and Miss everyone!


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