Dublin!!!

We spent last weekend in Dublin, which was AMAZING! I definitely prefer Cork to Dublin, though, but there were so many cool things to see there. However, a lot of the things we got to see I will not be able to show you pictures of because photography was not allowed.

Dublin is a 4 hour bus ride from Cork, which, while long, is not terrible because it takes you through a lot of the lovely Irish countryside. We arrived there at about 4 pm on Friday. We stayed in a very nice hotel, which used to be the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin in the 1700's.

We went to dinner and then watched a play in the Abbey Theater, a theater described by the famous author James Joyce in his book Ulysses, if any of you have read it. Apparently, this isn't the actual theater becuase it was rebuilt or something. But anyway, here are a few pictures I took of the actual city of Dublin.






One of the pictures here is a picture of a cute little old man who was playing the Bodhran on the street and a picture of the famous Molly Malone or as they affectionately call her in Dublin "The night stroller", the "Tart with the cart" and the "Dish with the Fish."



While in Dublin we were given a pass that got us into any tourist attraction for free and a free bus pass for the double decker tour bus that went around the city. On Saturday we went to two famous cathedrals, Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We also went to the National Museum of Ireland. Several important people are buried inside these cathedrals including O'Carolin the famous blind Irish harper, whose music I have played before. I took a picture of his memorial also. We were even able to go underneathe the church into where they buried everyone. Here are some pictures of the cathedrals.








The weird picture of a cat and mouse is a picture of a mummified cat and mouse that was discovered inside the pipes of the huge church organ.








On Sunday, we went to the National Gallery of Ireland, which had many beautiful pieces of artwork, which, of course, I couldn't take a picture of, the Chester Beatty Library where we saw some of the oldest discovered fragments of Biblical texts. It was sooooo cool. And, of course, we visited the famouse Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. I was expecting just to see the one book, but the exhibit contains many beautifully ornate biblical texts transcribed hundreds of years ago. It was incredible to see, and I think this exhibit was my favorite part of my time in Dublin. Upstairs in what is called the "Long Hall" there are rows of extremely old books. It is a huge beautiful library full of important texts that of course, we can't take down and look at because they are so old, but it was amazing. Also on display is one of the oldest harps in the world. It was gorgeous!!! I couldn't take a picture of it, but they have postcards so I took a picture of a postcard and you can see it among the other pictures here. Alright, and finally, here are some pictures of the famous, beautiful Trinity College and also the Dublin Castle.

Okay for all who have asked here are my classes: Step dancing, Aspects of Irish Folklore, Theories of Counselling, Introduction to Irish History, Irish Language, and Introduction to Modern Irish Music. I like all of them so far.

Here are some pictures from Cork City Gaol. It's a very old prison that is now no longer in use. It was very cool. They give you a tape and headphones and you wander around the jail and it tells you stories about some of the inmates and has mannequins.

Kinsale

Alright, so we went to Kinsale on Sunday, and while we ended up not doing the harbor cruise, it was immensely fun. Instead of going on the cruise, we wandered around the actual town and went to an old battle fort which was fantastic. It's right on the coast and when you are at the top of it you can see all of Kinsale and the surrounding countryside, which, of course, is gorgeous. Here are some pictures.










Ok, well I've been told that I never actually disclosed which classes I am registered for here, I thought I had, but since I haven't, here they are. I am taking Irish Traditional Music, Modern Music in Ireland, Irish History, Celtic Literature, Intro to Modern Irish(Gaelic), Irish Harp, and Step Dancing. I would list Janelle's classes too, but I am not sure exactly what all of them are. I LOVE all my classes. In my traditional music class, my instructor actually plays alot of the Irish instruments, so she demonstrates them to us, which is fascinating to watch. She played the Uilean Pipes the other day, which are the Irish version of the bagpipes, invented during the time when the Irish weren't allowed to do anything Irish, including playing music, so they invented a version of the pipes that are alot quieter so they could play them indoors to hide it.

I really like my Irish language class too. Here is a sample of what I learned the first day. Is mise Jennifer, is as Oregon me. Translation: I am Jennifer, I am from Oregon. If you want to know how to pronounce it, I'll try and write it phonetically. Es misha Jennifer, es ahs Oregon meh. Hmm...what else? Oh, my harp class. I really like it so far, but I am struggling because in Ireland they play the harp differently, they position their hands much closer to the harp and do not move there arms as much, which is very awkward to me. I am having to unlearn everything my harp teacher taught me in the states and learn it a different way. But, it's alright, I suppose since I do have an Irish harp, I should learn to play it as the Irish do.

Well, that's all for now. I'll write again soon.

Update

It's been awhile since I posted a blog, so here is a new one. On Monday we start our third week of classes, which is really hard to believe. I love every one of my classes so this is going to be the best term ever! When I am not in class, I am either wandering around Cork or going out to the pubs with my other roommates. As far as pubs go, some are fun, and some are pretty much just bars, which are not so fun, since neither of us drink. Janelle and I have decided that we need to find more of the fun ones. Apparently there are many pubs in Cork with live music, so we are going to check those out sometime soon.

While wandering around Cork, we have found many cool things. There are many beautiful churches and old buildings, which I love to take pictures of



the English Market, where they sell fresh meat, fish, produce, pastries, etc., and Janelle and I even wandered part way into the country outside of Cork. We didn't go further because the road became very narrow and the sidewalk ended. We didn't want to get hit by a car so we turned around, although we have discovered that one of the city buses apparently goes out that direction, so when we figure out which one that is we will definitely take it.





Yesterday we went to a Rugby game. It was Munster against Cardiff, which basically means Western Ireland against some province of Wales. The game of Rugby itself makes absolutely no sense, but at least it is much more entertaining then American football, so we had a fun time. We even dressed in red to support Ireland, since that is Western Ireland's sports colors.




Tomorrow we are going to Kinsale, a coastal town about an hour from Cork and we are going to take a harbor cruise, which will be totally fun. I will post pictures of that sometime soon.