The past few days have been a conglomeration of random happenings in and around Dublin.
On Thursday we left Dublin to spend the afternoon in the teeny tiny town of Dalkey, home of U2 frontman Bono. We ventured out to Dalkey to visit Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre which was an interesting experience to say the least. Dalkey Castle is comprised of a fortified town house/ small castle structure, along with an early Christian Church & Graveyard. The tour included a Living History Live Performance with costumed characters who portrayed Dalkey’s Medieval and Tudor past. We were all surprised at how into their characters each performer was. For example, when we were greeted by a man dressed as an archer he responded, “Oh Texas, I’ve never heard of that kingdom. You must have had to travel on horseback for many days to get here” after asking where we were from. Then the archer proceeded to have different members of our group test their strength on the Longbow. Then we had to guess which arrow heads went through chainmail and which were used to kill animals-like I said interesting. But things got even weirder when we were led inside to meet the lady of the castle who for the day also acted as a Barber-Surgeon? She began her monologue by explaining to us her duties when preparing to host a dinner party in honor of the king’s birthday, but then she did a whole 180 and began talking about medieval medical practices. Said practices included things like pulling teeth and balancing the four humors – it was very odd.
Although I will admit towards the end of the tour when the costumed “cook” actor guided us up to the battlements we had a magnificent views of sea and mountains.
After the tour we decided to eat a late lunch at a little place in Dalkey called The Tramyard, and as expected, it was delicious. My friend Ryan even ate dessert for lunch and had no qualms about it. After finishing up in Dalkey we stopped in Dun Laoghaire briefly just to poke our heads around. Unfortunately when we got to the coastal town it was just a little after 5 so most local businesses had already closed up shop for the day.
On Friday morning a group of us took the bus to The National Museum of Ireland to see the infamous “Bog Bodies” Garbhan told us about when we first toured Dublin. A bog body is a human cadaver that has been naturally mummified in a peat bog. Unlike most ancient human remains, bog bodies have retained their skin and internal organs due to the unusual conditions of the surrounding area. These conditions include highly acidic water, low temperature, and a lack of oxygen, and combine to preserve but severely tan their skin. While the skin is well-preserved, the bones are generally not, due to the acid in the peat having dissolved the calcium phosphate of bone. So as you can guess, the exhibits were a bit frightening and hard to look at, but intriguing none the less. I’m pretty sure the Kingship & Sacrifice exhibit (where the bog bodies were displayed) induced nightmares for a number of the school children who were visiting when we were.
To put our stomaches at ease we all went out for lunch at a place we were dying to try, Elephant and Castle. We all had high expectations going in, and it exceeded all of them. Interestingly, out of all the things on the menu I decided to order buffalo wings. Because when we walked the restaurant in literally every single table had at least one order of wings on their table. When I tasted the wings it was easy to see why they were such a hit! They were flavorful, yet not too spicy, and blew anything I’ve ever had at Plucker’s out of the water. We can’t wait to go back for more.
Then on Friday evening Brad took us Comhaltas for dinner and an Irish Dancing Experience. For dinner we had a wonderful Asian Chicken Dish and then since we had a few minutes before our dance lessons began we took a stroll down to the pier. Our jaws dropped we saw people of all ages casually swimming in the frigid water. We shuddered at the thought of jumping into the ocean since most of us can barely handle swimming in Barton Springs which is usually only around a low 70 degrees.
When we returned back to Comhaltas we were led into Irish Dancing Bootcamp. What is Irish dancing you ask? Well it’s something like this, except we did it very very badly. We learned five dances, but for some reason the I can only remember the proper name for one of the dances. Therefore I can tell you for certain that I learned how to dance the “Peeler & The Goat.” We danced for around 2 hours and by the end of the night we were sweaty, exhausted, and our feet ached because what we weren’t told is that Irish dancing is comprised of a lot of hoping and spinning. Even though we were all absolutely drained, it was a very cool experience to dance along to a traditional Irish band as they played.
Today, Meredith, Rohan, and I woke up early to beat the crowds to tour Kilmainham Gaol. Dublin’s Kilmainham Gaol held some of the most famous political and military leaders in Irish history such as Robert Emmet, Charles Stewart Parnell, the 1916 Rising leaders and Eamon de Valera. The tour was remarkable because it gave us dramatic and realistic insight into what is was like to have been confined in one of these forbidding bastions of punishment and correction between 1796 when it opened and 1924 when it closed. Our tour guide offered panoramic insight into some of the most profound, disturbing and inspirational themes of modern Irish history. Leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 were detained here, and the infamous James Connolly was transported here to be executed. Plus as you can guess, it’s known to be one of the most haunted spots in Dublin.
This afternoon we visited the Dublin Farmer’s Market in the Temple Bar area where I ate, what number of us agreed to be, the best Pad Thai ever. According to our professor, the local stand has been there every weekend for as long as he can remember. Perusing the local artisans stands and enjoying locally sourced treats was the perfect way to spend a (rare) sunny afternoon.
This evening we donned our Ireland vs. Scotland Football Scarves we picked up from street vendors and cheered for The Republic of Ireland at The Auld Dubliner Pub in Temple Bar. Since the match was being played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin we learned that Scotland fans are loyal and it can be expected that a number of their fans will make the journey to different places to support the team. Thus, why I titled this post “When Men in Kilts Invaded Dublin” because I’ve never seen so many kilts paired with football jerseys in my life…nor am I dying to see that phenomenon again. Before the match we met up with a few of our classmates in Temple Bar and met some friendly Scots. In the pub they taught us the “Doe A Deer” chant and we taught them the words to Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. Unfortunately Ireland and Scotland tied 1-1, which meant Scotland is moving onto the next round. Maybe next time Ireland.
RocknRove 