Voices Old and New

January 1, 2015

When I walked out the doors of the airport and finally lugged my 42 lb (they said pack light) bag down the three flights of stairs to the ground level (the escalator regulations did not allow over-sized baggage) it was about quarter to nine in the morning. The first things I noticed were the temperature, a balmy 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and the seagulls several of which I could see swooping overhead. It was surprising to me to see said fowl, since the closest we come to seagulls in the Cities, when not by a lake of course, are found inexplicably in the Target parking lot. Then I realized though, that this wasn't "Kansas" and I was actually quite close to the Irish Sea or Muir Éireann 

which explains the gulls. Thanks to some forethought (something I lacked in other areas) I had looked up the bus I needed to get to my hostel, having been warned about taking taxis. When I looked around I initially felt some anxiety as I couldn't see any sign designating a stop for the #16. I figured I could walk around aimlessly looking and end up missing the bus, or I could ask someone. (Sorry everyone who warned me not to talk to strangers, I've talked to about twenty :p ) The ticket salesman for one of the luxury coach buses directed me to "Zone 13" which was "a good stretch of the legs" from Terminal 2, in fact I'm pretty sure it was all the way over by Terminal 1, but I just kept walking and following the signs until I found where I was supposed to be. In a funny coincidence, I ended up standing at the bus stop with a  student from St. Thomas and her parents ( I noticed her dad's St. Thomas parent gear sweatshirt). I knew that there was one St. Thomas student in my program, so I asked her if she was part of the Arcadia program. It turned out that she and her parents were just in Dublin for New Year's before she went off to study in Rome. Even so, it was nice to hear some familiar voices. 

Besides the other Minnesotans, there were a few girls on the bus who I remembered seeing at the gate in Chicago. I was pretty sure they were study abroad students as well, whether in my program or not, but I'd used up my quota of "actively-start-a-conversation-with-a-stranger" juice for the time being so I didn't ask them. The couple behind me on the bus, two returning US students to Trinity, struck up a conversation with the girls though and so I second-handedly learned that they were only here for a two-week journalism program. The 45 minute bus ride passed uneventfully as we drove south through the suburbs and outer limits of Dublin. As we drew closer though, I began to feel a bit nervous as I realized that unlike the buses I was used to, the driver didn't call out each stop nor was there an electronic sign to signal where we were. This wouldn't have been an issue except that it was raining and the windows of the bus were impossible to see clearly out of. As we got closer to the city center, I ended up asking the two behind me when to expect my stop (D'Olier St.). They'd never heard of it, as I was pronouncing it wrong (my eyes kept mixing up letters and I didn't have wi-fi) but luckily I knew that it was the stop right after O'Connell Street. Even luckier, was the fact that I asked them right as we passed O'Connell Street, otherwise I would have  missed it. The only difficulty I had on that little jaunt was trying to extricate my duffel bag from beneath the heavy pile of other bags in the baggage carrier; some nice dude helped me though after he saw me struggling for  a few seconds. 

As I was getting off I got directions to College Street, where my hostel was located, and was off to the next destination. I ended up walking right past the hostel as a) I wasn't looking up above my head where the giant sign was and b) all my information on the place was locked unhelpfully but securely in my bag. As it was still raining, there was no place to really sit down, unlock the bag, and drag everything out. I ended up stopping outside a giant stone building around the corner, which I later found out was actually Trinity College, to look at my phone and try and get some information. Luckily even though I didn't have wi-fi, I could scroll through my emails and so found the address. When I turned around and went back the way I came, I could see giant sign that says The Times. 

I remembered reading that check-in wasn't until 2pm and it was only about 9:40 when I walked in the door, but I was hoping at the very least I could leave my bag in their luggage room. The woman at the front desk, she looked like she was in her mid-twenties  as did all the staff I saw, was very helpful and friendly. She even offered to let me hang out in their common room and use the wi-fi etc. until official check-in if I wanted to since the weather was so miserable. I told her that I was from the land of snow and ice and so I would actually prefer to walk around a bit. She laughed, handed me a map, and wished me good luck. 

I didn't really know where I was heading, all I knew was that it was beautifully warm from my point of view (many people were bundled with scarves and hats while I took my coat off and rolled up my sweater sleeves once the rain stopped) and that I wanted to see water. It didn't have to be open water, but we'd crossed the Liffey in the bus and I wanted to see it again. Plus I knew that using the river and O'Connell Street it would be hard for me to get lost (at least on the North side) as long as I didn't stray too far.

O'Connell Street is a wide boulevard on the north side of the river that had many shops and landmarks including the famous General Post Office which figured in the Easter Uprising of 1916. After walking up one side of O'Connell street, almost to Parnell Square, I walked down the other and of course stopped to say hi to James Joyce. It was cool seeing this statue again because I remember finding it the last time were were in Dublin (2009). 

I veered off O'Connell Street then, onto a random side street making sure that I knew were the river was in order to not get lost. I didn't have a plan of attack at this point, I was merely wandering to both get my bearings and to kill time until check-in. I also was leery about leaving the more populated streets even though it was only 10 in the morning. After I made it back to the river, I headed east thinking I'd visit the boats in the harbor. However there were less and less people about so I stopped before I got as far and headed back west. On the south side of the river, I walked past the hostel up toward Trinity College, intending to explore that area. I again had no plan, my decisions about what streets to take were primarily based on which WALK sign lit up first.

***On a side note, Dubliners seriously don't like to wait for the signals to flash which to typically take a significant amount of time to turn. On-coming traffic will be stopped at the light and the "walk" signal still won't turn. You can pretty much tell the native city folk apart from the foreigners by who stands and waits for the "green-light" as it were as opposed to those who just look for traffic and then walk across the street.***

Sweet Molly Malone

I also found the Molly Malone statue, but that was completely on accident. I saw what looked like an old church and gravitated toward the aged stone. When I turned the corner, there she was in all her glory. :) 

I ended up exploring Temple Bar, a trendy area with a lot of stores and and eateries, not to mention night clubs. At this point though my energy was waning severely. I was thirsty (I'd forgotten to fill my water bottle unfortunately) and weirdly craving a Coke. I bought one and then when my feet started dragging a little, I decided to go back to the hostel even though it was only about 11:45am. After the long day before with all the sitting, my legs were definitely starting to prickle with the unusual exercise. I ended up sitting in the kitchen/common room of the hostel watching Home Alone until check-in. They told me that my room was on the third floor and then helped me get my luggage. There was no elevator, so getting my bag up the stairs was a bit of an odyssey. Once I made it, I pretty much lay down to read for a bit and ended up falling asleep. I woke up again around 8pm and finished my book. 

What I took away from my first day was that there's a reason they tell you not to take a nap when you initially arrive at your destination no matter how tired you are. It's because you wake up at 3am and can't fall back asleep until after 6am, and all the while you're trying not to make too much noise as you shift around (or flash your phone screen in the wrong direction) so as not to wake up other girls in the room.