The Ireland report

I'm back at school after four days in Ireland. The trip was nice and relatively slow paced, thankfully lacking students and lessons, which I fully appreciated. I saw a bunch of historical stuff this time but also made room for some pints and a particularly powerful vodka martini.

Thanksgiving was spent examining the Book of Kells, wandering through the National Gallery of Art and the Natural History museum, where I discovered that cute little thing posted below. The art gallery was actually quite nice and I discovered a set of paintings by Gabriel Metsu there that I had studied while I was in the Netherlands. I love coming across a painting that I learned about but never saw in person. It makes me feel smart and worldly. Each of these museums was small (at least to the girl who measures all museums against that Smithsonians or the Met), which means they were easy to go through--not too overwhelming or packed. We stopped off for a coffee and I saw someone I knew...well, sort of. This couple had been on the flight with me from Vienna, and while I didn't talk to them while waiting to board, they sat across from me and I kept watching them because the guy had an iPod nano and I was fascinated by how small it was. Anyway, so Ken and I are sitting in the window of this coffee shop by Trinity College and all of a sudden I notice this same couple leaving the coffee shop. The guy literally stopped on the sidewalk and stared at me as though he knew me from somewhere but couldn't quite put his finger on where from. I'm not sure if he ever figured it out.

Friday we went to the Botanical Gardens and the Glasnevin Cemetary, which is the largest in Ireland. It was cold and snowing a bit, as I mentioned in my post from that day. Again, everything was small and easy to manage. There were these massive rhubarb-esque plants growing in the little creek that ran through the gardens--the leaves must have been three to four feet long and the whole plant was the size of a Hummer. Who knew that Ireland was the land of giant plants and massive deer? There was also a crew filming some Indian themed film there--the poor actress was out there in the wind wearing her belly baring costume. In the cemetary Ken and I entertained ourselves by counting the Marys and Johns, of which there were overwhelming numbers. Jameses as well. Sadly the day's cemetary tour had been cancelled, otherwise I might have had more to write about it. Friday night we attempted to go dancing, but the club that I picked out of the guide book was closed! I don't know if it was officially closed for ever and ever, or if it was just that night or what, but we were foiled. So we found another place quite accidentally and stayed there the whole night. It had the potential to be cool but there weren't quite enough people and it was slightly too bright to fuel a dance club mood. Still, the cocktails were two for one, so we enjoyed a lovely vodka martini served in...a brandy snifter. Random huh?

Saturday we went to Kilmainham Gaol (yeah, I'm still not sure how to pronounce that), which is the prison where the leaders of Ireland's many rebellions against English rule were imprisoned and executed. It was actually interesting and I learned quite a bit more about Irish history. There was no heat in that place until about 70 years after it opened for business, which would have been horrible. According to the guide a lot of children ended up in there for stealing bread or flowers or whatever, and they were simply thrown in with the adult prisoners. Not exactly the picture of penal reform. We then trekked over to the Guinness brewery, but didn't end up going in because the line was really long. So we went to Dublin Castle instead and checked out the Chester Beatty Library, which had an impressive set of Dürer prints on display. Afterward Ken was dying for some coffee and I for some cake, so we found a cafe with both (which took longer than it would have in Vienna). My carrot cake was divine and Ken's chocolate cake was seriously sinful. Saturday night was pretty calm with dinner and a few pints at a pub where Ken ended up embroiled in a political discussion with a couple older Irishmen.

Sunday I went to church quite accidentally--after Ken left for the airport at 10am, I went wandering up the street to check out one of the churches, which was only open for the service at the time, so I went. They had a really excellent choir and the message was appropriate for the beginning of Advent. After church I was able to get a seat in the Queen of Tarts, a little seven table cafe that focuses on, you guessed it, tarts. So I had an apple crumble tart and read before heading to the airport.

I was really struck this time by how small Dublin seemed. This city has over 1 million inhabitants (over half of which are under 30, if you can believe that) but it still felt small. It is also a very short city, with only a few buildings over eight or nine stories tall. It is worth a visit--perhaps maybe in a warmer month? I bet the Liffey is a fun place to hang out when the weather is nice, or St. Stephen's Green. At any rate, the Irish are ultra friendly, which helps when the weather isn't.