Yikes, I really just wanted to quit blogging about the rest of my trip since I got so behind, but I did the same thing when I went to Germany last winter and now I really wish I had kept a blog or a journal or something so I wouldn’t forget all the details of the end of that trip!
About two weeks ago Elizabeth’s boyfriend Kyle and his friend James came and visited us in Dublin after the end of their study abroad program. We had just arrived from Belgium and it was a Sunday (i.e. everything is closed in Dublin) but luckily the 2011 Street Performer World Championship was in Merrion Square Park near the city centre.
There were loads of people, especially children, and loads of food and candy stands. The only performer we watched was “The Space Cowboy.” At first he fumbled a bit with his juggling and made me rather nervous, but he kept promising bigger and more elaborate tricks so we couldn’t give up our viewing spots. By the end of the show he was juggling knives and machetes on top of a unicycle…blindfolded. Brilliant. And as we found out the next day, he ended up winning the entire competition!
The following Monday Kyle and James were still in town so after class Elizabeth, Cami, Michelle, and I brought them on a tour of the Jameson Distillery. It was a rainy day in Dublin and our bad luck didn’t end there. We’ve ridden the bus countless times and never had a problem using our bus cards we purchased at the Centra store on campus. They sold us student cards (and we didn’t think anything of it since we’re STUDENTS), but apparently, we weren’t technically allowed to use them without student travel cards given only to resident Dublin students. This if course was all according to the ticket checker that came on to our bus and threatened to fine us all 50 euro. He didn’t and we risked using our cards until the end of the trip, but it made some bus rides a bit anxious!
The tour of the Jameson Distillery was guided (unlike the Guinness Storehouse tour) and it was interesting knowing that this whiskey company was established just four years after the Declaration of Independence. So the Irish have been drinking Jameson for about as long as America has been a country! At the end of the tour we each got a free Jameson drink and they had selected a few volunteers to participate in a taste test. Of all the people on the tour, Elizabeth and I got chosen as two of the girls. We had to compare a Scotch whiskey (Johnnie Walker Black Label), an Irish whiskey (Jameson), and an American whiskey (Jack Daniels). It wasn’t the most enjoyable taste test for me personally and at the end they had everyone declare in front of the tour group which whiskey was their favorite. Everyone of course said Jameson and even though mine was secretly the Jack Daniels…I lied. Woops. I had to. Peer Pressure.
After the tour it was still raining, but we had dinner in the Temple Bar area and walked to O’Shea’s Merchant where they were supposed to be having Irish set dance lessons. There weren’t lessons though and it ended up being old Irish couples showing off their immense set dance knowledge and skill. We jumped in for a dance or two even though we didn’t really know the correct steps and it was still loads of entertainment.
The next day Kyle and James flew back to Texas and after class we were invited to a tour of the Dáile (pronounced like doyle) which is the Irish Parliament. The tour was led by Senator Mark Daly and I thought it was really special and interesting that a senator led public tours of the building. Something tells me that doesn’t happen in the States. Senator Daly is also a member of the political party, Fianna Fail (pronounced feena foil). Fianna Fail is the Republican Party which was in power during the financial crash in Ireland in 2008. They are also the party which opposes the 1921 Treaty made with Great Britain which allowed 26 counties of Ireland to become the Irish free state and kept 6 counties in Northern Ireland as part of the UK. All the tales about the political history of Ireland tied in well with our previous tours of Kilmainham Gaol and it made me appreciate even more the Irish spirit- a mix of rowdiness, bitterness, pride and perseverance.
After the tour we made our way back to campus where a dinner and party were being held by UCD for all the study abroad students and the dozens of national field hockey teams that were on campus for a tournament. Free food, drinks, Irish dancing, singing and a DJ. Can’t beat that- the Irish know how to throw a party, even if it is on campus!
Still need to blog about our trip to Belfast and our last week in Dublin, but that will come later!
Until then, Pristine
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