Bijou

One of the past field trips we went on two weeks ago, was to Dublin.  Dublin is on the east side of Ireland(opposite side of where we are studying).  We left on a Tuesday morning and stopped at a monastery that is inland.  It had beautiful stone structures and intricate head stones by the graves. The crosses detail was however, faded from acid rain.  It was definitely a beautiful day as the sky was a vibrant blue and the clouds popped out.  The pope visited this monastery about ten years ago and over couple thousand people showed up.  There were other structures just randomly placed here, which added to the beautiful day even more.  While walking, our feet sunk into the damp grass and we would occasionally come across an old stone with an old Irish name written upon it. 


After leaving the monastery, we soon arrived in the beautiful yet unique city of Dublin.  You soon felt small.  As though you were just an ant going along your daily business just like the other hundreds of ants.  We got off the bus and entered the Kilmane Jail.  It was owned by the British back during the war in the 20th century.

Kilmane Prison

 It was a very fascinating Jail.  The walls and ceiling towered over you in a very intimidating manner.  The lights were harsh, the walls were cold and it was damp and uncomfortable.   The cells were cramped with chalky, white, speckled walls.  Our tour guide was very friendly in a very dramatic way.  He was tall and kind of lanky. He soon led us to a huge room with three floors of cells in a huge dome.  You almost felt slightly uncomfortable knowing how many historical figures stayed in those cells and never left.

P.S. I Love You filming spot

We were then let lose in the City of Dublin, with not even a map in hand, and the river as our only guiding point, we hopped on a tram and landed in the center of the City.

Museum of ModernArt

The next couple of days we split off and walked about 10-20 miles total.  We visited the Art museum of  Modern Art.  It definitely was modern, and I definitely racked my brain trying to understand it.  Still occasionally do.  After this we walked to Dublin Castle, and we found the pub, Whaelens, where "P.S. I love you" was filmed.  The City is so Historic and has beautiful historic buildings.  



Long Room

 We also visited Trinity college and saw the Book of Cells which was in the Long Room.   This room was the big room, with thousands of books that smelled like years and years of knowledge, use and dust.  Trinity College is the Harvard of Ireland.

Hostel Stair case

Dublin at night

My favorite part of Dublin however, was the English feel of the people.  Very much different than the rural Ireland that we have been so immersed in.  I also love how most cities here are based on a river.  The colorful buildings catch the reflection on the water creating a real life painting. 
 
Also, the bridges at night are one sight to see.  The water moves in a slow tiresome, wave like motion causing the reflection of the light to slowly move with the river, but still keeping the image in tact.  Our hostel was very nice.   I was on the very top floor which was three flights of a beautiful old almost Victorian spiral stair case.  as you looked up at the gap in between the stairs, your gaze got lost in the continuous pattern of stairs going round and round and round.  As soon as I made it to the top of the stairs, and caught my breath a couple times, I walked into my room that was shared with 5 others from our program.  The window view was my favorite.  You over looked the City at night and saw one of the important buildings right in front, with the spotlights highlighting its importance. 

The next morning we walked not even a half mile from the hostel to have Irish pancakes with Chocolate (melted nutella), bananas, and ice cream.  We then hopped on a bus and headed to the Irish Parliament.  This building was absolutely beautiful, but surprisingly much smaller than our capital building in Washington D.C.  I most definitely enjoyed Dublin and would definitely go back!

looking over the castle

On our way back we visited a castle.  It was called Trim Castle.  It was where the movie brave heart was filmed.  We went to the top of the three story castle and from the top I could see beautiful rolling hills, church steeples reaching for the sky, rivers weaving in and out of hills, smoke from chimneys and old ruins of ancient buildings. 

This was a very memorable field trip and will definitely want to make it back to these places.

Looking over the castle

Art Museum