A Weekend in Dublin's Fair City

Hello folks - I apologize for the lack of updates this last week! I have been fighting off a cold (which stubbornly is hanging on in the form of an obnoxious cough), and have been spending more time sleeping than doing anything else. But I am here with a blog update!

My previous blog entry left off with an exciting trip to the Cadbury chocolate factory in Birmingham. The following day, I went to the Tower of London with Corinne and had a blast running around the tower and hearing bloody stories of execution and betrayal and all that exciting jazz. That evening, Corinne and I had dinner at a delightful Irish pub near King's Cross, and then we met up with my friend Hilary and her friend Stephanie, and we went to a club called The Hamlet, where we saw a band from Boston play. It was a blast.

But it was the following weekend that was really fascinating, and the meat of this blog will focus on the juicy details of this weekend!

First, Tuesday night the class went to see a play called London Assurance. The show was very much fun, and it featured two actors who are pretty big theatre stars here in London. Not so well-known in the US, but they were good and the entire production was very enjoyable.
Wednesday night, the class went to see Benjamin Britten's opera, A Midsummer Night's Dream. The director made some choices that disappointed me, but there were certainly some fascinating elements about the production and I am very glad that we went. To sum up this show, I have this to say: Oberon was a castrated Billy Idol, Puck was in bondage for some unknown reason, and Bottom did not only have an ass head, but a rather large appendage accompanying it. The Brits really like raunchy shows, I guess.

Thursday, Sasha, Annie and I had tickets to see The Misanthrope starring Keira Knightley (from Pirates of the Caribbean) and Damian Lewis (star of Life on NBC). On our way to the theatre, we passed through a giant crowd in the middle of Leicester Square. Turns out, we had wandered into the middle of the premiere for Bounty Hunter, starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. What's more, we had somehow arrived just as the aforementioned stars were arriving themselves. So we saw Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler on the big screen as the crowd was going wild. It was very exciting and a bit dazing.

We continued our fight through the crowd, and made it to The Misanthrope. The show was absolutely delightful, and Damian Lewis was utterly amazing. Keira Knightley with an American accent sounds just wrong, though. After the show, we got Damian's autograph. He was so sweet and friendly! I also took some pictures of him. I was ready to die happy.

After the night's excitement, Sasha, Annie and I made our way to the airport, where we spent the night before catching our flight to Ireland. None of us really got any sleep, but we certainly attempted. Finally, 5:00 AM rolled around and we were able to check in and catch our flight to Dublin.

Dublin was utterly amazing. The city is gorgeous and easy to get around, the Irish are so friendly and helpful, and the Guinness is absolutely delicious!

Friday, we arrived at 8:00 AM in Dublin. Our hotel room wasn't ready yet, so we stored our luggage and then went to breakfast. After breakfast, we explored the Dublin Castle a little bit, and then we returned to the hotel where we checked in and took naps for two hours. After nap time, we went to the Guinness Storehouse, where we learned the history of Guinness (Arthur Guinness signed a 9000 year lease on the Guinness factory in 1759), how beer is brewed, the difference between a stout (such as Guinness) and regular beer, you get a taster of Guinness, and then at the top of the storehouse you get a complimentary pint while overlooking Dublin! That pint was the best pint of Guinness I have ever tasted; it was scrumptious.

That evening, we had a quiet evening in our hotel room. We attempted to go to bed early, but that proved impossible, as the hotel was hosting karaoke that night, and it was taking place directly below us. So we spent the night listening to the karaoke from our room. It steadily got worse as the night got later and the singers got progressively worse.

Saturday morning, we took a tour around Dublin and Wicklow. The tour guide/driver asked me to be his co-captain, as I was sitting by myself and most other people on the tour were in pairs. This meant that I sat up in front of the bus, had to answer his questions and try to pronounce Gaelic words. He also threatened to leave me on the side of the road, or to make me go play ding-dong-ditch at Bono's house. For the record, I was more than okay with the Bono plan. During the tour, everyone had a shot of Jamieson's whiskey while looking down at Guinness Lake. Stephen, our tour guide (who, side note, was born on St. Stephen's day, which is three days before my birthday), also poured some Jamieson's into my mocha after a coffee stop at Avoca. That was surprisingly tasty.

After the tour, we returned to Dublin where the Irish were celebrating their recent Rugby triumph over Wales. The Welsh were also in Dublin, but they were all moping in the pubs. We went out to a pub for dinner and drinks. One person among us (I won't name who, but it was not me) turned to a man wearing a red jersey and a Welsh flag on his back and said "I bet you're excited about today!" Fortunately, her little blunder was forgiven and she made friends with the Welsh gentleman.

Later, we went to a second pub, where we made more Welsh friends and watched a bunch of drunk old people dance. It was very entertaining, and we enjoyed ourselves down there until 1:00 AM, when we went back to our hotel room and called it a night.

Sunday was our final day in Dublin, but we had some time to spare before we had to get to the airport. We checked out of the hotel and headed towards a street fair. On our way, we stopped at a grocery store for breakfast. Here, we met an Irish lady who chatted with us about Ireland, Shakespeare, and school. She was very friendly and sweet and offered advice for any future trips to Ireland we may make.

We passed by the street fair but were a smidge disappointed; so we continued on, where we found Oscar Wilde's old house and a statue honoring him in the nearby park. Then we went to Trinity College, where we saw the Book of Kells, and some other ancient bibles. After seeing the Book of Kells, we went in to the Long Hall, which is full of interesting history about Dublin and Trinity College. I was looking at pictures and news articles from 1911, when Ireland gained independence from Britain.

We wandered around Dublin a little bit longer, found a street band that we really liked (Annie bought a CD), and simply enjoyed ourselves in the beautiful city of Dublin. We even found a leprechaun! Then we headed off to the airport and returned to London. The weekend was magical, and none of us wanted to leave. I fell in love with Ireland in a way I have only felt before for home and Savannah, Georgia. It was incredible.

This week it's been back to classes; we saw a modern adaptation of Measure for Measure last night, which was very interesting. Tomorrow it's off to Stone Henge and Bath. I'll watch out for midgets dancing around Stone Henge while I'm there.