Day 2: Dublin Back to College!

After a quick breakfast at a cafe, Day 2 started at Trinity College. The guidebooks warned of dreadfully long tour lines, but happily, we only waited 10 minutes. 

 Our guide was a delightful young Irish woman who'd just graduated Trinity. She pointed out all sorts of wonderful things about the campus, such as the elaborate dining hall re-built four times because it kept sinking into the boggy land. (They finally shored it up on the last re-build.) She pointed out the two enormous oak trees in the quad, imported from Oregon, and asked if we knew why they grew so large here.

"Rain?" someone asked.

"Yes, Dublin does get a lot of rain, and the trees love all that rain," she answered, which made me think she didn't know much about Oregon's environment.

But the real answer was dead monks. 

"There are 400 monks buried here in the quad," she told us. "Which makes for very rich soil." 

The quad used to be a cemetery for the monks, but in Ireland, you can reclaim the land after 400 years. (Makes sense on a small island with a constant population.) Which is how the monk cemetery became the campus' main quad, complete with "Keep off the grass" signs.

That kind of freaked us out a bit, but explained the signs. (I was okay once I found out they were out of respect, and not just a snarky way to keep students from enjoying the beautiful grounds.)

The guide also described the dorms behind the quad, and how unlucky it was to live there. 

"There's no heat in that building," she said, as we all gasped, because that seems downright cruel during an Irish winter! (We had on fleece jackets in mid-summer--I could only imagine how cold winter is!) She also pointed out a bright blue exterior door. 

"And that's the bathroom," she explained. "Accessible only from outside the building. That's right, if you want to shower, you must leave the building and enter the bathroom from outside." 

That also seemed cruel on a cold, wintry night! (Or any night, actually.)

There was one last reason to live elsewhere--the building was haunted. Apparently, a curmudgeonly professor had once lived in the building, frequently yelling at students being loud outside (the original grumpy old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn!). In response, a couple inebriated students returned with shotguns to scare the professor, but wound up shooting and killing him instead. They were sons of wealthy men, so they didn't go to prison, although they were kicked out of school for breaking the window with the shotgun. The professor's spirit remained, haunting students to this day.

But ghosts and dead monks aside, there are some cool benefits of attending Trinity. If you pass all your second-year finals, tuition is free the last two years. They also have an amazing art loan program. As a student, you can borrow any piece of art that Trinity owns. Our guide told us of her friend who received a small Van Gogh, which hung inconspicuously on her dorm room wall for the school year. Way better than an unframed music poster, if you ask me!

Trinity College is also home to the Book of Kells and the Old Library. The Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript, contains the Four Gospels, and was illustrated by monks in painstaking detail. It's the most famous artifact in Ireland and is quite beautiful.

It's also the reason so many tourists visit Trinity College. So after our tour ended, we dutifully stood in line to see the Book. This line was longer, but moved fairly quickly, and there was some good people-watching opportunities while we waited.

Just inside the building was a very detailed exhibit explaining the Book, and its illustrations. I'm sure there was lots of great info, but there were also lots of people, so Amber and I made an executive decision, and skipped right past it all.

The Book was displayed in a big cabinet. You walk up to it, wait your turn/jostle your way in, and then look down on it. The pages were adorned with gilded pages and fancy writing with very detailed illustrations. However, it was a very tiny space filled with lots of people, so we took a good look, and moved on. 

We followed the signs to the next exhibit, the Old Library. The Book of Kells was cool, but the Old Library...man, that took my breath away! Literally. 

The Library was a long, narrow room with high ceilings and floor-to-wall windows that lit the room in a soft, dusky light. The walls, railings, and ceiling were carved of rich dark wood, and bookshelves lined every possible space. Ladders rested against the shelves, to reach the books at the very tippy-top. It all felt regal, mysterious, commanding quiet respect and hushed voices. It felt like we'd just stepped inside the Hogwarts library. 

The room was massive, yet warm and inviting, comforting; I wanted to live there, among the books and ethereal light, and spend the rest of my days reading. 

Amber and I spent a long time in there, slowly moving forward from the back of the library. We sat on the benches, pondering the room, and all the books. At the very front, on the second floor, we could see a man at a desk hard at work under a bright lamp. He was restoring the old books, cleaning their covers and preserving the pages. He worked at a furious pace, completely oblivious to the crowds below him.

Honestly, we could've stayed there all day, but we had a full schedule and only a few days to see it all. Reluctantly, we bid the library farewell, and went on to the next activity. 

Which was...ice cream! And not just any old ice cream, but Murphy's ice cream! My friend Mary Ann insisted we go to as many Murphy's as we could (there are three), and swore we'd thank her forever after. We certainly did.

One of the other Trinity guides directed us toward Murphy's and told us to try a really unusual flavor--salt! He said it paired amazingly well with other traditional flavors, such as chocolate or caramel. We didn't get that creative, opting instead to go with our adorable server's suggestion--a Caramel Mingle, with honeycomb and butterscotch ice cream, butterscotch sauce, and a salted caramel cream.

Un. Be. Lieve. Able!!!! And soooooo good. Mary Ann definitely steered us in the right on Murphy's!

With a good sugar buzz going, Amber and I walked toward Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library (yes, it was a library kind of day). We wandered around the giant maze on the lawn, and photographed the gorgeous garden.

Chester Beatty is on the castle grounds, so we started there. All the guidebooks said it is an amazing museum, possibly the best in all of Europe. We climbed the stairs to the second floor, and as we approached, the double doors slid open automatically, giving us quite a grand entrance.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" I sang, arms wide open, waiting for angels to appear. Yeah, it was that kind of moment!

A lady sitting on a nearby bench giggled at us. 

"It's spectacular," she said, nodding toward the exhibit. "You're going to LOVE it. It will change your life." 

And so we entered, all big expectations and excitement. But what we found was a little disappointing. I mean, the artwork was great and all, but it was our second day in Ireland, and we were falling seriously in love with everything Irish--the people, the music, the ice cream, the brogues, the sights. And then suddenly--180 degree turn--we're smack dab in the middle of a whole museum filled with Asian art. Which was very nice, even downright gorgeous, but...our mindset was stuck on Ireland right then, not Asia or the Middle East.

"I'm okay leaving after this," Amber whispered to me 15 minutes in.

"Me too," I said, gratefully. "Except...we have to make sure that lady is gone first!" 

This exhibit changed her life...we couldn't possible exit past her so quickly! Luckily, when we peeked out the door, she was gone.

We ambled over to Dublin Castle next, stopping to take about a trillion photos of the chapel. Just as we were walking past the front door, a tour appeared. The guide unlocked the door, ushering them in, and I nudged Amber.

"Let's go!" I said, curious to see inside.

It was equally gorgeous on the inside. We sat in the back, admiring the ornate pews and fancy ceilings, as the guide told us all about the chapel. The tourists all around us spoke German, so I was just thankful the guide did not. 

We left with the tour group, and headed up toward the castle courtyard and front entrance. It was jammed with people. Amber and I decided to skip the tour and focus on something more important--lunch at the Hairy Lemon. It was every bit as good as the name was silly. 

Then it was back to sightseeing! We boarded our personal limo (the HOHO bus) and returned to the Guinness Storehouse. We'd only made it through the first two floors yesterday, so we started on the third floor, which had a great exhibit of Guinness ads. We took a million goofy photos, except in the digital photo booth--we were too short for the camera! (Apparently, everything in Ireland was built by tall men with no regard for short women. We found this with all the bar tables, bathroom mirrors, sinks, etc. I was too short to reach anything--including the floor from my bar stools!--in Ireland.)

Each trip to the Storehouse comes with a free pint, which we sampled yesterday in the Gravity Bar. Today, we worked for our beer. Amber and I attended the Guinness Academy, where we learned to pull the perfect pint. So if you ever have a party (and a keg of Guinness), you should definitely invite Amber and I, as we're certified in the art of pulling pints. 

We spent so much time at the Storehouse that we had to cab it back to the hotel for our next activity--dinner with Amber's Irish friend Eimear! 

Eimear was great. She and Amber hadn't seen each other since college, but fell easily into catching up. We strolled the streets of Dublin in search of dinner, and Eimear was clearly feeling a lot of pressure to pick just the right place.  

"Where would you go with your friends?" Amber asked. "If you all met up for dinner, where would you eat?"

That immediately took the pressure off. "Oh!" Eimear said. "This place is really good."

And that's how we ended up in an Italian restaurant for dinner. With an Irish girl. Who ordered a hamburger. ;-) (They also had fish and chips on the menu!)

"I don't like Irish food," Eimear admitted later. "Or Guinness."

"What!" Amber and I cried. But hey, I'm half Mexican and don't like Mexican food, so who am I to judge? I realized I'd found my European counterpart!

Dinner was great. We quizzed Eimear on everything Irish, and she was a good sport about it. Afterward, we strolled the streets of Dublin, walking Eimear to her bus stop. She told us stories about all the different shops and streets, and about Irish life. It was great to spend time with a local person, and learn about the country through her perspective.

We left Eimear at her stop, and walked toward our hotel. It was late, around 10:30, and we'd had a busy, busy day. We were a bit tired, but not sure we were ready for bed just yet. What I love about Amber is that, like me, she hates to miss out an anything. She doesn't want to miss a party, a sight, any place that seems interesting. It's why we had so much fun on our trip, and why we came back absolutely exhausted. Sometimes you need a person who says, "Enough! We need to rest!" 

However, Amber and I are NOT those people! We only had one more day in Dublin, and we weren't going to miss anything. So we turned back into Temple Bar, found a pub with live music, and drank beer until they closed around midnight. 

We'd only been in town about 36 hours, but man, we'd already seen a lot! And we still had more (much more!) to see...

How I Found Myself in Ireland, Courtesy of Mark

"I want to go to summer camp for TWO weeks!" Mark told me earlier this year. 

My heart dropped. Mommy Camp (what I call the time while he's gone) is usually only a week--a busy, fun-filled week that keeps me occupied so I don't miss my little rugrat while he's gone.

He did a two-week camp a couple years ago, and it was too much--for me. The first week was a blast, but the second week was hard. I found myself lingering at his bedroom door, surprised that the room was still clean, staring sadly at his empty bed. I realized if he was going away for two weeks, then I was, too.

And that was how I found myself in Boston Airport, anxiously scanning the security lines for my friend Amber. We were off on an adventure to Ireland while Mark was gone, and I couldn't wait!

After a long dinner together, and an even longer red-eye flight, we awoke in Ireland. The Emerald Isle was gorgeous--a giant ocean with an island in the middle of it! The land was green, all of it, everywhere. I was in love with this place before we even landed!

We boarded a bus into Dublin, and gasped as the scenery rolled by, lush open fields and row houses with colorful doors. As the bus changed lanes and entered the highway from the opposite side of the road, we congratulated ourselves on a wise decision NOT to drive in Ireland! (I can't speak for Amber, but I'd have crashed the car in the first five minutes!)

The bus driver dropped us off in Temple Bar, the hectic tourist area filled with about a bazillion pubs, restaurants and souvenir shops. He promised a quick 10 minute walk to the hotel. It probably was, but we were jet-lagged, sleep-deprived and a little disoriented, so it took a lot longer to find the place. We got a nice tour of the area, though, and it was the only time we ever saw the streets of Temple Bar empty. Apparently, only the beer truck drivers are awake that early in Temple Bar.

Our hotel was great, right on the banks of the Liffy River. Amber and I excitedly crossed over the Ha' Penny Bridge and stepped into the hotel, crossing our fingers they'd have a room ready. (We were desperate for a shower and maybe a quick nap.) No rooms were available, but they offered to keep our bags, so off we went, ready for our first foray into Dublin.

My first impression was that it was busy. The tour buses were out now, and mobs of tourists, all of them crowding the tiny sidewalks and spilling into the streets. The streets were busy, too, filled to capacity with jaywalking pedestrians, speeding cars and city buses, all intent on running us over. I just hoped we'd make it through our first day alive!

In search of a SIM card for my phone, we somehow ended up on Grafton Street, purely by mistake. Grafton, a shopping street, is closed off to traffic, which was perfect, since we hadn't quite figured out which direction the cars were coming. 

It was filled with street performers and musicians, all desperately trying to grab the tourists' attention. Amber and I were enthralled by it.

Somehow we made it off of Grafton, and back into the Temple Bar area. We pored over our map, where the hotel receptionist had marked off some restaurant recommendations. Still a bit disoriented, we couldn't quite find our bearings, but eventually ended up at the iconic red Temple Bar pub, where we enjoyed an amazing lunch and our first pub music. It was awesome!

Luckily, our room was ready after lunch, so we returned for showers and naps. Then it was time to see some more of the city! We opted for the green Hop On/Hop Off bus (the HOHO), which took us a couple miles away to the most popular tourist destination in Ireland--the Guinness Storehouse!

That's right, our first "museum" was a brewery (are you really surprised??). Arriving just before 6 pm, our timing was perfect--the whole place was empty! We strolled through the museum part, running our hands through the vast display of hops, watching videos of how Guinness is brewed, learning the history of both the beer and the brewer. We joined the tasting tour, breathing in the four different brewing components--my favorite smelled like roasted coffee beans. We downed tiny glasses of Guinness, as our hilarious guide Sean taught us to smell, taste and savor it. It was all great fun.

The tour also included a pint of "the black stuff," and boy, were we ready for it! The elevator took us to the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor. It was awesome, 360 degrees of glass, and the sun was fully shining, providing spectacular views of Dublin and beyond. We could see all the way to the port in one direction, and the Wicklow Mountains in another.

The bartender poured us a pint, and this is where we learned that the most important ingredient for Guinness is patience. This is not a quick process--you don't just pop off the bottle cap and fill up a glass. Oh, no. Pouring the perfect pint takes time--you slooooooowly pull the tap to fill the glass about 70% full, and then you wait. You wait for the foam to subside, which takes a good three to five minutes, but get a good bartender like we did, and you won't even notice. He set our glasses down the bar, and shared his stories about his previous life, working with computers. He pointed out the different views outside, and he recommended places to visit. This was the good craic (fun) Ireland is famous for. We had such a nice long conversation, we didn't even notice the beers had finally stopped foaming until he picked them up, and topped them off. 

"Enjoy!" he told us, handing us each a perfect Guinness. 

Amber and I found a window seat, clinked glasses, and cheered "Slainte!" We were only hours into the trip, and it was the best vacation ever already!

We did have to hurry a little bit, though, to catch the last HOHO bus back to the city center. It was an 8 o'clock bus, but you'd never know it by the light outside--apparently, Dublin is on the same latitude as Fairbanks, Alaska, so the summer sun doesn't set until well past 10 pm. (More time to sight see!)

The HOHO bus drove us past sights we'd see in the upcoming days--Kilmainham Gaol, Heuston train station. It drove into Phoenix Park, a huge public area filled with runners, bikers, and people playing cricket. We saw the zoo, the President of Ireland's house, 
and the U.S. Ambassador's house, in a prime location, surrounded by acres and acres of parklands. The wind blew through our hair atop the double-decker bus, and the light softened as dusk approached, making the park even prettier with each passing moment.

We drove along the River Liffy, taking in all the sights of downtown Dublin. I couldn't believe I was really here, 5,000 miles from home, in Ireland. It was so surreal, and exciting, and I'll admit, I got a little emotional about it.

The HOHO dropped us off in front of our hotel. We crossed over the bridge back into Temple Bar, which was teeming with people. The shops and pubs were packed, as were the streets, filled with musicians playing. I dug all the live music, everywhere you turned. With so much going on in every direction, Amber and I were a little overwhelmed. We finally picked a pub for dinner simply because it was in front of us.

It was a pub (surprise!). We followed the hostess downstairs, which was filled with people drinking beer. Two guys onstage sang, one strumming a guitar while the other coaxed a sad tune from his fiddle. The waitress brought us big beers (real 16 ounce pints, not those measly American 12 ounce "pints"!), and then some good hearty Irish food. I dipped piece after piece of thick soda bread into the most amazing seafood chowder, and I realized I was gonna like it here. 

Because we ate dinner so late (9 pm), the music ended early. We debated finding another pub, but realized we'd put in a very full day already, especially since we arrived early in the morning, with little sleep, and immediately hit the ground running. So, exhausted but happy, we slowly returned to the hotel with full stomachs and full hearts, and plans for an equally exciting second day.