This weekend we made a trip to Dublin and it was definitely a trip worth taking. Dublin is by far the largest city in Ireland, which made our time there a huge contrast to our experiences in Dungarvan. We arrived in the big city early Friday afternoon. Immediately, it was made apparent to us that we'd have to make some adjustments in our expectations.
1. people don't stop driving J walkers
2. there are parts of the city that you should just stay away from at night
3. EVERYTHING is double the price that it should be; hence the reason why i finished a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread in 2 and half days
Day one was interesting. We immediately delved into activities, starting with a look at the Dublin Castle. The Dublin Castle was originally built to protect the city from invasion. Later, it served as the seat of British Rule in Ireland. In 1922, the Irish Free State was established, leaving the castle as a major Irish government building until present time. We did not get a chance to tour the inside, but from the outside the structure was quite impressive. The building is protected on all sides by strong walls, leaving a beautiful georgian courtyard in the middle. This is where we gathered for an explanation of its history and Tom Keith's thousandth group picture; which I made a whole- hearted attempt to escape from.
The next stop on our tour was the National Museum of Archeology. I know that museums may not be completely irregular to you, but you have to understand that this is a national museum, so it is enormous. Its collection includes early work in gold, church treasures, viking period and even displays items from Egypt, Cyprus and the Roman world. It was an outstanding exhibit with some fascinating displays, including recovered bodies from tombs and sarcophaguses. I enjoyed the tour very much, I was even able to sneak a picture or two.
As soon as we finished our tour of the museum, we continued our streak of tours with a visit to Parliament. The Irish Parliament House was brilliant. Today, it is used as the Bank of Ireland but its structure and design remain that of its 18th century design. This was another tour that I managed to covertly take pictures of from my coat pocket. Though the images were great, it was the history that took place within the building that was most fascinating. Cheers to the tour guide, he conquered my self-diagnosed ADD.
After all of the tours had finished I was famished. So a group of us went to a sandwich deli that we had passed earlier. It wasn't very filling, but topped with a PB&J , it did the trick. From dinner we rushed back to the hotel to get ready for the bars. Dublin, being more Americanized, had drinking areas that identified more with bars than the charming pubs of Dungarvan, regardless, we had a great night. With a limited budget in mind, we did some heavy drinking at the hotel before we left. By heavy drinking I mean shots of terribly cheap whiskey chased with hard cider. Needless to say, the night was interesting. It got most interesting at around 1:30. let me explain.
The part of the city, that we basically bar crawled in, was not the best. We were forewarned of just how bad it would get later in the night. Well, we didn't really take that warning to heart and experienced the discomfort that came with the realization of its truthfulness. Mix Dante's Inferno (the outer layer) with hookers and clowns and you'll get a hint of what we saw... Interesting but uncomfortable.
Needless to say, we did things differently on Saturday.
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