In my previous blog post I talked about how I had hastily made the decision to take off on a trip to Italy to attempt to quench both the monotony of daily life and my ever nagging travel bug. I teamed up with a fellow traveller and together we excitedly planned our week trip of three of Italy's main cities; Venice, Florence and Rome. The next number of blogs (the exact number will be determined by my 'at that very moment' level of nattering) will be relating to the above mentioned trip which I returned from last night and am now fighting severe depression as a result of (lack of Italian pastries and good carbonara will do that to you). They are mainly meant to be tips for travelling in these parts, but may be taken over by my massive love of describing Italian food. Beware, do not read on an empty stomach.
Firstly, before jetting off to explore Venetian canals, my travel buddy arrived from his home in Birmingham to meet me for a few days of exploring Dublin city. When we decided he would come over, I instantly felt the pressure to show him the tourist attractions and defend my home city against those of Europe. I originally thought this was practically impossible, as Dublin, in my local opinion, is as boring as it gets. Turns out, after my Mother raided a tourist leaflet stand, that Dublin has a lot more to offer than I thought.
We began our two day trip with a visit to one of Dublin's newest museums; The Little Museum of Dublin opposite St Stephens Green park. This place is fantastic! It has two main rooms filled with memorabilia of the city from the 1900's onwards, and the guide points out a few interesting ones before letting you off to explore the walls. There is everything here, from old newspaper cuttings from the rising, to James Joyce's death mask, to models of Wanderly Wagon. A perfect starting point to get a feel of the city and its little people throughout time.
From here we went down Grafton Street and headed into Trinity College where we got a tour of the grounds and the history of the college, and then moved on to see the book of Kells in one of the buildings. The book is impressive I have to say, but for myself and my friend, nothing beats the long library upstairs. This arched roof library holds thousands of old books and manuscripts, and smells of time and ink. It's got the serious wow factor and any book lover would find it hard to stop themselves from diving over the cordons to root and touch and marvel.
I then took a stroll down to the main street of the North inner city; O'Connell Street, where the famous 1916 uprising took place against the British forces who controlled Ireland at the time. Now just a normal working post office, the General Post Office building in the centre of the street was practically burned to the ground at Easter 1916, and the bullet holes left from fighting with British forces can still be seen in the outside walls and pillars. There is no tour or proper explanation for what went on, but any Irish person around can tell you the general gist.
For dinner, I took the two of us back up Grafton Street to Captain America's cookhouse and grill which does the most amazing food at student prices. The walls are filled with music memorabilia and the atmosphere is always light and easy. The cocktails there are also great! Always a good thing. From here, we headed to the famous tourist party area, Temple Bar, where any American in Dublin to learn about his 'great great grandaddy' can find traditional Irish music and dancers. For those who are a bit less optimistic about the existence of leprechauns, I suggest CopperFace Jacks (if you are quite hammered, left some personal dignity at the last bar, and want a serious student club night out), D2 on Harcourt Street for a little more club class, or The Porterhouse bar near Trinity for more types of beer than your head can handle.
Day two involved a trip up town a little to Christ Church Cathedral to see the Dublinia exhibition. This shows the settlements and social life in Ireland from the early Viking and medieval times. It basically involves a lot of life like dummies, which scare the bejaysus out of me, so I spent my time trying to breath while letting him wander and wonder. The things we do the entertain the visitors. Onwards and upwards, we went down the road to the Guinness storehouse, which to me is one of the best attractions of the city. Yes I know, typical Irish person to love the drink, but it shows a lot about the actual work that goes on and the social benefits of the factory in its early days and how they work the business today. You could easily spend two hours exploring the 7 floors, and the view from the sky bar at the top alone is worth the visit.
We left the city early enough to head back to my house to ready ourselves for our ridiculously early flight to Venice the next morning, and enjoyed an evening of home cooked food and a meet the parents show. I felt at the time that it was a good start to the holiday, and the amount of walking was a sign of what was to come over the next week, but nothing could have prepared us for what Italy had in store for us, but that is for tomorrow ....
Slán.
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