The Best Little Museum

A visitor stands before a wall of memorabilia from throughout Dublin’s history at The Little Museum of Dublin, Ireland.

NOTICED

Today was our last day in Dublin. It was really more of a half day, since our flight to London left in the evening. We spent our morning and afternoon riding around on a tour bus, hopping off at certain tourist locations, like the Guinness Storehouse, the Natural History Museum (or what Dubliners call the Dead Zoo) and the Little Museum of Dublin, taking in every sight we possibly could before we left the city that evening.

During our five days in Dublin, we managed to cram in a lot of tourist attractions and especially Irish activities, including a Riverdance show, Temple Bar, the Guinness Storehouse, Ha’penny Bridge and O’Connell Street, Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green, Irish music and dancing, Phoenix Park, Dublin Castle, Trinity, Kilmainham Gaol and so much more. It was an exhausting few days, but it was so worth it. I loved being back in that city, and I already can’t wait to go back soon.

While we crammed a lot into our days, we still somehow mismanaged our time so that we were racing against the clock to get to the airport to make our flight. The bag drop desk closed just minutes before we got there, so I, the only one who had a bag to check, had to risk taking my big backpack through security and getting it on the plane as a carry-on. Luckily, my backpack went through security without any extra fees, though they did take some of my liquids, which meant I had to spend more money to replace them when I landed in London. Bad news for a budget traveler.Most importantly, however, we got to our seats about 10 minutes before the plane took off and then landed safely in London.

I mention that fiasco at the airport because it was yet another reminder that things hardly, if ever, go according to plan. I underestimated the amount of time it would take to do some last-minute sightseeing in the afternoon before our flight left in the evening. While it was a huge hassle to rush through the airport, miss checking in my bag and run to our gate, I have to remember that at least we made it–and that I should always overestimate on time when it comes to getting to the airport.

Asleep under O’Connell

A man sleeps under the angels of Daniel O’Connell’s statue at the top of O’Connell street, Dublin’s main street.

ANGELS IN THE ARCHITECTURE

My friend and I spent all day yesterday on the Hop-on, Hop-off Tour around all of Dublin. One of our stops was Kilmainham Gaol, where I encountered Peter and his Claddagh ring, and another of our stops was O’Connell Street, which is the largest street in the world at 150 meters wide. One of our tour drivers said the Champs-Élysées in Paris might be wider, but it’s technically an avenue, so there’s really no comparison.

The huge spire at the end of the street is the Millennium Spire, built to help bring Dublin into the 21st century, even though the sculpture was actually completed in 2003. It stands at three meters thick at the base and narrows to just 15 centimeters at the top. According to several tour guides, Dubliners don’t call the sculpture the Millennium Spire. Instead they call it, more fondly, the Stiletto in the Ghetto, the Rod to God, the Pole in the Hole, the Erection on the Intersection, the Stiffy on the Liffey, and others I can’t remember. One tour guide also said since it lights up at night, it acts more like a beacon to guide drunk people home from Temple Bar. I like that use better than any official purpose.

The Irish Claddagh Ring

My tour guide at Kilmainham Gaol points out his gold Claddagh wedding ring, describing that if the heart points inward, it means his heart is taken. If it point outward, his heart is available. He said his wife wears one, too.

SMALL WONDER

The Irish Claddagh ring is probably one of my favorite symbols of Ireland. I love the lore that surrounds it: the first one was designed by a man from Galway after the English king took him captive and demanded he design a wedding band. The king was so impressed with the Galway man’s design that he let him go, and the freed man produced his design all over Ireland after that. The heart symbolizes a commitment to each other, the two hands holding the heart symbolize loyalty and the crown atop the heart symbolizes the sanctity of marriage. The Claddagh ring must be worn a specific way, depending on one’s relationship status. If the tip of the heart points inward, toward the wearer’s heart, it means the wearer is taken. If the tip of the heart points outward, it means the wearer’s heart is available.

When I was here last year, I bought myself a Claddagh ring – some say that’s bad luck, but I don’t think so – but it was stolen from me only a few months after I got home. I bought myself another one just a few days ago. It’s my favorite souvenir of my trip so far.

The ring in the photo belongs to Peter, my tour guide at Kilmainham Gaol, the jail used during the potato famine and Ireland’s violent period of rebellions in the early 20th century. Its most famous prisoners include those who led the 1916 Easter Sunday rebellion that sparked the civil war six years later, which led to the formation of modern day Ireland, six counties of which belong to Northern Ireland, under British rule in the United Kingdom.

To Trinity and Beyond

A man hurries past the Trinity College bell tower, one of the most distinguishing landmarks of the university.

LOCATION NOTATIONS

Sorry for that title. I had to.

Today, my friend and I took a three-hour walking tour of the city, which started at Dublin Castle and ended at St. Stephen’s Green in the city center. Visiting such sites as Christ Church Cathedral, Johnathan Swift’s house, Trinity College, the Wolfe Tone statue and Temple Bar, we learned a lot about the history of the city, including its Viking origins, its many famous writers and the devastating potato famine in the 19th century. This free tour by Sandeman’s was probably the best way to see a lot of the major tourist attractions in the city center. It might be three hours long, but it actually does not involve a lot of walking. It’s a lot of standing or sitting and listening to a wonderfully entertaining tour guide paint vivid pictures of Irish history. It’s wonderful; it really is.

Our tour guide was quite funny, but not exactly because he meant to be. He said he’d done the pub crawl his tour company offers one too many nights in a row, so he was having trouble forming words and sentences because he was speaking so quickly. He was very animated and gave a lot of information, connecting a lot of dots throughout Irish history, and his speech didn’t get bad until the tail end of the tour, after he’d been talking for three hours straight with no water. He could not string two words together and kept mispronouncing things because his throat was so dry, and he tried valiantly to continue, but I lost it. I was laughing so hard–as was he and other tour members–that I was crying. Our guide ended the tour right then and there, a few minutes early, sending everyone away laughing. That was probably the best part of the whole tour.

My friend and I ended the day by taking in a Riverdance show at the Gaiety Theater. We sat in the nosebleed seats way up high, but the show was worth every penny, with its stunning production that included Irish dancing, tap dancing, singing and a lot of Irish music. It’s like Braveheart the musical (even though Braveheart was technically set in Scotland). All around superb.

Temple Bar in Temple Bar

A woman smokes a cigarette outside the famous Temple Bar in the Temple Bar district in central Dublin.

SMALL WONDER

Today was another day full of fun exploring Dublin. My friend and I headed on a tour of the coast north of Dublin, including Howth and Malahide Castle. It was an interesting tour to do because when I was here last year, I never got up north to see Malahide Castle, which is really quite lovely. It’s a small castle, but it’s beautiful, inside and out. The estate began in 1185, and the Talbot family lived in it for centuries, for 791 years, until the last living Talbot sold it to the Irish state to pay off her inheritance taxes in the 1970s.

The tour also took us to Howth (pronounced “Hoe-th), which I did visit last year. The little city is a charming harbor just 30 minutes north of Dublin, with small sailboats bobbing in the water, a long coastal walk that leads to a quaint lighthouse and a bustling farmer’s market in the city center. We ended the tour in the middle of the afternoon back in Dublin and spent the rest of the day wandering, eventually finding our way to the Temple Bar district just behind our hostel on the River Liffey. The Temple Bar district is a lively area, with bars, pubs, nightclubs, restaurants and arcades around every corner, but it is touristy, so it’s unlikely we’ll meet any locals there. But it’s still quite fun, especially when the Irish music starts up after the beer’s been flowing pretty generously!

Me?

A man holds two ice cream servings on Grafton Street, one of the two major shopping streets in Dublin’s city center.

WEEKEND MISER

It’s our first full day in Dublin, and I really just wanted to explore my favorite places. I wandered all up and down Grafton Street, one of Dublin’s major shopping streets, just photographing people walking through the area. This pedestrian area is so busy that it’s really hard to maneuver through the hordes of people, mostly tourists, at times. But it’s a street that’s full of life, with musicians belting their hearts out, bubble magicians casting glistening soapy orbs through the air, and some strange buskers, like men dressed as leprechauns for the tourists.

I also went to Butler’s Chocolate Café at the top of the street, where you can get a free chocolate with the order of a hot drink. I think their dark hot chocolate is the best I’ve ever had. I enjoyed my drink while sitting on the cool green grass at St. Stephen’s Green, the big, perfectly manicured park in the city center. It was a full day of walking around, but I got to see some of my favorite places again, so I really can’t complain.

 

Bird Man

A man hangs out with his bird friends, including pigeons and a large swan, feeding them bread crumbs from his bag.

NOTICED

I’m finally back in Dublin! Yesterday was my last day in Prague, and while it was hard to say goodbye to such a beautiful, enchanting city and all my wonderful classmates and program coordinators, it feels sooooo good to be back in Dublin. I was here for a month-long study abroad program last summer, and I immediately fell in love with the city. So much so, in fact, that I decided to move here when I got home last summer. I’m still intent on moving here on a working holiday visa in 2016. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

After the hassle that is flying Ryanair, Europe’s budget airline, my friend (who met me in Prague to travel with me for the summer) and I finally made it to Dublin. We checked into the hostel on the River Liffey, and I immediately dragged her out to some of my favorite spots, including Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green–a lovely park in the city center–and The Counter, a great burger joint. We ended the night at O’Neill’s pub on Suffolk Street, which is probably my favorite place in all of Dublin. The pub is so homy and laid back, with tables and chairs tucked into nooks and crannies all over both floors. It was there at O’Neill’s that I discovered my favorite beer, Smithwick’s, and my favorite cider, Bulmer’s, last year. I can’t believe I’m only here for five days. I need more time!

But then it’s on to more exciting adventures in London.