Dublin, Part 2
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Dublin, Ireland
I went to the super market across the street and bought some food, which I later used to prepare my dinner in the hostel's kitchen. Afterward I hung out with the people in my dorm and we all got ready to go out for the night. It ended up being: Me, Courtney, the three Dutch girls, the two Germans, and this one local Dubliner we had met at the hostel. We left a little before 9 and walked around the Temple Bar area for a little under an hour. I became impatient and made the executive decision to go and get a pint inside. I took the group (see photo on right)
to the bar I had gone the previous day. It was packed and I wasn't having too much fun. It was no different than a college bar and it was just loud drunken standing. If I were 4 years younger I would have been in heaven. I got one beer, which was 5.30 Euros ($6.89 USD) and that was enough for my budget. I left a little past 11 and walked back to my hostel with some of the girls. You can see a photo of the Temple Bar area on the left.
I woke woken up the next morning (today) by the Dutch girls who had left by 7:00, but started packing near 6:00. I got breakfast, toast, jam and butter, and tea and met Courtney. We decided to go to the Kilmainham Jail together. We took a bus to the Jail and paid the 2 Euro entrance fee (we got a great discount since we were students) and waited for the tour to begin. We had to make sure we were always in front and facing the guide so that Courtney could lip-read to understand. Look at the photo of us in front of the jail on the right. 
Afterwards we took a bus back to the City Center. She wanted to get a bus ticket for tomorrow, since she was leaving Dublin. I am leaving Dublin too, but wanted to get it later since it was not in the part of town I wanted to visit. We parted and I got off a couple of stops earlier than she. I walked past Christ Church Cathedral and went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I contemplated going in and just decided to go finally. It was only 4.50 Euros. I went in and looked around for maybe 15 minutes. It was beautiful and reminded me of the churches I've seen in Rome. You can check out one photo I took inside on the left.
Afterwards I walked to the Chester Beatty Library and relaxed outside for a bit in the park. I took some photos of the Dublin Castle, which was just beside it. Admission to the library was free. It may have been the most awesome thing I've seen in the last week. It was amazing. There were collections of old leather bound books (and I mean 1000+ years old). I absolutely love beautiful and rare books and this library did not fail to impress. There were also Japanese suits of armour and swords (I thought of you Papa). There was an entire floor dedicated to ancient books, manuscripts, and scrolls for all the religions of the world. It was fascinating to see the documents on Hinduism since it was so relevant to me. I had been to many of the places mentioned--Likewise for the texts on Buddhism and the Jain religion. There were texts on Zen, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity...just to name a few. There were texts from the famous Jesus people that dates back to 100 AD. After reading the original texts from Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam it really is very clear. I mean religion, it's all the same recycled stuff. Even though the goals in the different religions are different it apparent what they're all used for. They all recycled existing cultures and just modified some existing story to...I will not continue because both my mother and father (on separate accounts) scolded me for being to blatant and offensive. This is where most people would apologize but there is no way I'm going to apologize for commenting on IDEAS. Enough said...I find the Irish people to be SO nice. It's also interesting to see different types of people doing different types of things (e.g. young party-oriented people sleeping the day away and going out to the bars, older people taking tours and seeking cultural entertainment, and scholarly folk in the library, etc.). I wandered to Trinity College and walked around in the campus. To be honest I was a little disappointed. Though it was spotlessly clean, I didn't feel like it was a college. The student body could have been an advertisement for pro-cloning (i.e. VERY homogeneous). There were no student organizations anywhere to be seen, no posters advertising student groups. It was not like any typical University I've been to. But I think this is just how they are in Europe. Kids go to class and that's all. The 'college life' is mostly an American concept and I'm happy for this. I kept walking around the grounds thinking, 'Wow, Michigan's ___ is better, and Michigan...'. Maybe some of this is school pride, but I think I would be saying this no matter where I went (EVEN OSU)! I walked back to my hostel and relaxed for a bit. Today I did a lot...I am not even including all the other churches/areas I visited just for simplicity. I am loving Dublin, but am anxious to go somewhere less touristy and less expensive. The city is so beautiful and after hearing about all the history I can respect it even more. Ireland has had such a tough history and it's incredible that it's come all this way and managed to keep their Independence.
I bought a bus ticket at the main bus station that goes from Dublin to Cork. The first bus leaves at 8:00 am and the last at 6:00 pm. Buses leave every two hours. My ticket was 11 Euros (student discount again) and I think I'm going to go on the first bus to get to County Cork earlier. It's about 4.5 hours so I'll arrive half past noon. O well... time to go, if I stay on for more than another 4 minutes I will get charged for another hour of Internet use. I think I may just go out for dinner tonight. I have yet to enjoy an Irish meal, other than fast food and home cooked meals. I mean what's 20 Euros ($26 USD) anyways? I don't want to come home. I am going to start planning my next adventures...anyone interested? I'm thinking Bangkok down to Bali, Then to New Zealand/Australia and then maybe Africa and or Latin America. Cheers!
I went to the super market across the street and bought some food, which I later used to prepare my dinner in the hostel's kitchen. Afterward I hung out with the people in my dorm and we all got ready to go out for the night. It ended up being: Me, Courtney, the three Dutch girls, the two Germans, and this one local Dubliner we had met at the hostel. We left a little before 9 and walked around the Temple Bar area for a little under an hour. I became impatient and made the executive decision to go and get a pint inside. I took the group (see photo on right)
to the bar I had gone the previous day. It was packed and I wasn't having too much fun. It was no different than a college bar and it was just loud drunken standing. If I were 4 years younger I would have been in heaven. I got one beer, which was 5.30 Euros ($6.89 USD) and that was enough for my budget. I left a little past 11 and walked back to my hostel with some of the girls. You can see a photo of the Temple Bar area on the left. I woke woken up the next morning (today) by the Dutch girls who had left by 7:00, but started packing near 6:00. I got breakfast, toast, jam and butter, and tea and met Courtney. We decided to go to the Kilmainham Jail together. We took a bus to the Jail and paid the 2 Euro entrance fee (we got a great discount since we were students) and waited for the tour to begin. We had to make sure we were always in front and facing the guide so that Courtney could lip-read to understand. Look at the photo of us in front of the jail on the right. Afterwards we took a bus back to the City Center. She wanted to get a bus ticket for tomorrow, since she was leaving Dublin. I am leaving Dublin too, but wanted to get it later since it was not in the part of town I wanted to visit. We parted and I got off a couple of stops earlier than she. I walked past Christ Church Cathedral and went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I contemplated going in and just decided to go finally. It was only 4.50 Euros. I went in and looked around for maybe 15 minutes. It was beautiful and reminded me of the churches I've seen in Rome. You can check out one photo I took inside on the left. Afterwards I walked to the Chester Beatty Library and relaxed outside for a bit in the park. I took some photos of the Dublin Castle, which was just beside it. Admission to the library was free. It may have been the most awesome thing I've seen in the last week. It was amazing. There were collections of old leather bound books (and I mean 1000+ years old). I absolutely love beautiful and rare books and this library did not fail to impress. There were also Japanese suits of armour and swords (I thought of you Papa). There was an entire floor dedicated to ancient books, manuscripts, and scrolls for all the religions of the world. It was fascinating to see the documents on Hinduism since it was so relevant to me. I had been to many of the places mentioned--Likewise for the texts on Buddhism and the Jain religion. There were texts on Zen, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity...just to name a few. There were texts from the famous Jesus people that dates back to 100 AD. After reading the original texts from Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam it really is very clear. I mean religion, it's all the same recycled stuff. Even though the goals in the different religions are different it apparent what they're all used for. They all recycled existing cultures and just modified some existing story to...I will not continue because both my mother and father (on separate accounts) scolded me for being to blatant and offensive. This is where most people would apologize but there is no way I'm going to apologize for commenting on IDEAS. Enough said...I find the Irish people to be SO nice. It's also interesting to see different types of people doing different types of things (e.g. young party-oriented people sleeping the day away and going out to the bars, older people taking tours and seeking cultural entertainment, and scholarly folk in the library, etc.). I wandered to Trinity College and walked around in the campus. To be honest I was a little disappointed. Though it was spotlessly clean, I didn't feel like it was a college. The student body could have been an advertisement for pro-cloning (i.e. VERY homogeneous). There were no student organizations anywhere to be seen, no posters advertising student groups. It was not like any typical University I've been to. But I think this is just how they are in Europe. Kids go to class and that's all. The 'college life' is mostly an American concept and I'm happy for this. I kept walking around the grounds thinking, 'Wow, Michigan's ___ is better, and Michigan...'. Maybe some of this is school pride, but I think I would be saying this no matter where I went (EVEN OSU)! I walked back to my hostel and relaxed for a bit. Today I did a lot...I am not even including all the other churches/areas I visited just for simplicity. I am loving Dublin, but am anxious to go somewhere less touristy and less expensive. The city is so beautiful and after hearing about all the history I can respect it even more. Ireland has had such a tough history and it's incredible that it's come all this way and managed to keep their Independence.I bought a bus ticket at the main bus station that goes from Dublin to Cork. The first bus leaves at 8:00 am and the last at 6:00 pm. Buses leave every two hours. My ticket was 11 Euros (student discount again) and I think I'm going to go on the first bus to get to County Cork earlier. It's about 4.5 hours so I'll arrive half past noon. O well... time to go, if I stay on for more than another 4 minutes I will get charged for another hour of Internet use. I think I may just go out for dinner tonight. I have yet to enjoy an Irish meal, other than fast food and home cooked meals. I mean what's 20 Euros ($26 USD) anyways? I don't want to come home. I am going to start planning my next adventures...anyone interested? I'm thinking Bangkok down to Bali, Then to New Zealand/Australia and then maybe Africa and or Latin America. Cheers!
---END OF POSTING---