So I didn't die in Dublin, despite not having written for five days now! It was the perfect whirlwind end to a great visit with my cousin. We spent the first few days here in Galway, which I talked about a little bit last post, and then headed out to the capitol of Ireland bright and early Saturday morning to celebrate the national holiday of this temporary home of mine.
We were staying in a hotel on the coast just outside of Dublin- about a half hour away from the actual city, but it was so much cheaper to get a real hotel out there than stay in a dingy hostel in the city center, since this was the weekend of all the tourists, and the bus stopped right out front! Everything was very convenient and it ended up being just the right decision for this trip- I took really long hot showers and didn't worry about locking up my stuff, we had the room to ourselves and coffee in the morning and the bed was big and soft. So that was great, and the actual shore was so beautiful too- a great look at the other end of Ireland. I'm still hoping to walk along down to Salthill in Galway soon, and will report back with pictures and memories when that goes down.
Since I'd been to Dublin already with my friends in January and seen loads of the historical sites, there wasn't too much on my agenda for this weekend besides seeing St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness Factory, and the parade of course! Those ended up being the three big highlights of our trip, and it all worked out very well without needing to rush about, though the crowd was insane and there were a few confusing points about finding the right bus back at the end of the day, but the Irish were their usual helpful selves even while mobbed with foreigners and repeatedly pointed us in the right direction.
Saturday featured the famous home of Guinness, a fitting visit for that weekend, where we were able to experience what seemed like a Disney World for grownups. While the whole building was basically a massive advertisement to their product, it was actually really informative about the process of making the drink, historically and in the present day, and included lots of little museum type exhibits about marketing and the stories of the company founders. They worked very hard to make Guinness seem legendary and irreplaceable, but I suppose in a way they've succeeded. I've never been the biggest fan of beer, but I could definitely appreciate the amount of work they put into the building and the passion the company exuded about being Guinness. In addition to touring the exhibits, we were granted a voucher that enabled us to learn how to 'pour a perfect pint', which was more complicated than one would expect. More than just pouring the drink, serving Guinness is a process or maybe they're just really picky about letting it sit, then topping off with foam at the end, and well, I think I did it pretty well! We also went up to the top floor and saw the 'gravity bar', basically a circular bar with big glass windows for walls that overlooked the entire city, which was a really cool view. There were also several stations throughout the building for 'free samples' of Guinness, which I thought was sort of silly, because I doubt anyone would really pay the admission fee to see a building all about a drink they'd never had or cared about.
The other major site I'd really wanted to check out but hadn't before was St. Patrick's cathedral, seemingly the perfect place to be on that weekend celebrating his existence in Ireland. The church itself was beautiful, and the architecture and design inside reminded me a lot of Westminster Abbey in London, except here, we could take pictures! Which was a nice change. We got in for free because we were there for mass, though the ticket guy was really skeptical and sort of mean about that, but it was true. However, we were both really surprised to hear that what we'd thought was a mass advertised that afternoon actually wasn't, it was an Anglican service- and St. Patrick's isn't a Catholic church. This was surprising because I'd known Christ Church Cathedral, the other major ecclesiastical landmark in Dublin, was protestant but given Dublin's history I'd assumed that this one was Catholic. It wasn't a huge issue and we did enjoy the service, with it's small but noticeable differences, and it was definitely still the right place to be for the holiday.
The major part of the actual St. Patrick's Day, then, we spent at the Dublin city parade! It was snowing when we woke up and stayed fairly freezing for most of the morning, which was a struggle since my St. Paddy's Day outfit included shamrock patterned tights under green shorts, which looked awesome but didn't do much for feet-warmth. After the parade I ran into a touristy store and bought Irish-flag socks that then saved me from frostbite and were well worth it. The parade had interesting floats and groups, some of which I couldn't really figure out what they were- and included one (fittingly with the weather) about the doomed Shackleton voyage! If anyone from HCHS class of 2010 is reading this you'll understand my very mixed feelings on seeing that icy ship and explorers, excitement on knowing what was going on and dread of ever needing to think about his 'wisdom' again in my life.
The streets of Dublin were positively mobbed all weekend, with your typically celebrating young adults but also families, some locals and loads of foreigners. Over the course of the weekend, we met a wonderful group of Canadians, countless Americans, some living abroad and some here just for the weekend, Germans, and of course Irish having the craic. We went to one small bar with traditional music and sang along as people tried to climb in the windows off the street once it was full, as well as the famous Temple Bar which played perfect songs one after another and contributed to a lot of rousing sing-a-longs with new friends.
At the end of the day, this weekend was one of those once in a lifetime experiences that will make all other St. Paddy's Days pale in comparison. Steph and I were talking about how we'll probably turn into that annoying person who brings it up every year as we strut our stuff in shamrock leggings, but it was incredibly worth it. I think I also got to know her so much better, too, as we were able to hang out as both cousins and friends, independent of any annual family function. I'm looking forward to way more of that in the future. :)
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