"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" ~ Oscar Wilde

January 2-3

Grafton Street

Being that I wasn't able to fall asleep again until the wee hours, though I'm not sure 6am constitutes as "wee", my plan to be up and about by 8am so as to get an early start was thwarted. In the end it was the rustling and whispering of my dorm mates that woke me up around 9:30ish. I finally left my room around 10 and after filling my water bottle (I'd learned my lesson) headed out. This time around I had a plan, or half a plan at least. The two main objectives on my list were to visit St. Stephen's Green, a famous Dublin park which also figured in the Easter Uprising. The park is located at the end of Grafton Street which is the main shopping street for the south side of Dublin and is situated about a block from where I was staying. It was strange while walking down Grafton Street to see so many companies I recognized. There was a Swarovski store, a Disney store, many high-end clothing stores I've seen at the Mall of America. and even a LUSH, not to mention the swankiest Burger King and McDonald's I've ever seen. (Both had at least two stories with window seating and what looked like armchairs in one spot).
When I walked through the arch leading into St. Stephen's Green I was taken completely by surprise. Given the name I expected simply a large meadow, or perhaps a lawn is more precise a word. Imagine my surprise then, when this was the view that greeted me:

Pond in St. Stephen's Green

Needless to say I was very confused. 

In the park there is a large pond and many paths throughout. I was gratified to see many park benches, which I noticed are lacking elsewhere in the city. I sat and wrote for a little bit, but in the shade it was a little too cool to sit still. In a previous post I talked about the ever-present seagulls in Dublin. Paddling on the pond in St. Stephen's Green were the biggest seagulls I'd ever seen, bigger than any down by the river. These birds were honestly the size of chickens and looked like they ate pigeons for breakfast. I also saw many of these little guys, I have no idea what they are, but I found out that apparently they have a cousin that's part duck. It's like a mix of Tweety, Sylvester, and Daffy Duck.

.It's kind of hard to see, but the  bird above has creepy yellow eyes; I'm talking about bright matte yellow that looked like a bead. It was eerily stuffed-animal-like. Also in the pond were swimming plain old mallard ducks.I never knew how reassuring it could be to see a familiar duck. There were also some giant swans which were gracefully paddling as the tourists snapped fifty photos apiece. After walking down a path a piece I found a sculpture dedicated to W.B. Yeats. I only took of the pedestal because the sculpture itself was abstract; frankly, I wasn't really a fan. It turns out that there were memorial sculptures and statues all over the park. I took pictures of the few I thought were most important or intriguing.

W.B. Yeats Sculpture

Potato Famine Memorial Sculpture

                                                                    Theobald Wolfe Tone (Irish Revolutionary)

After walking the paths at the edge of the park, I turned off onto a side path toward the center and found the "green". 

All the maps in the park designate this as the "Victorian Design" for the way the layout reflects a Victorian garden. The fountain in the middle is quite pretty. 

Once it started to get more crowded, three tour buses showed up at once, I headed back down Grafton Street with the intention of visiting the Dublin Writers Museum on the north side of the river. At the end of O'Connell Street is a stature of Charles Stewart Parnell who was an Irish nationalist in the late nineteenth century. It was an important landmark for me at this point in time because I needed to find Parnell Square where the museum is located. 

Even though I found him though, I still had to pull my map out to locate myself. I must have looked really confused, because a nice Irish gentleman offered to help me find whatever I was looking for. He told me the museum was just further up the street and that I should be sure to stop at the Garden of Remembrance on my way, before heading on his way,

Look what I found on the way ;)

The Garden of Remembrance, I discovered, is a beautiful memorial dedicated to those who fought for Irish independence. From the entrance the park layout is a long reflecting pool at the head of which is a memorial sculpture. There is a path that runs around the edge of the pool with many small pictures for people to rest and reflect :P. The floor of the pool has gorgeous designs in tile. 

It wasn't until I was standing next to the sculpture at the opposite end of the pool that I realized it was in the shape of a giant cross. Even though it wasn't so surprising when I thought about it, it made a strong impact on the atmosphere. The sculpture, depicting children transforming into swans, represents the Irish folktale "The Children of Lir" in which the king's children are turned into swans by their jealous stepmother. After centuries as swans, the children were released from their form and became human once again. 

I looked the statue up on Wikipedia (an perfectly accurate source, don't ya know) and the article said that the statue is meant to represent the rebirth of Ireland after centuries under British tyranny. The Irish flag flying behind the sculpture was especially striking for me. I have a weird relationship with the Irish tri-color. Given my slightly brainwashed upbringing, every time I see an Irish flag flying at home I get a happy, connected feeling. So to see the flag here, waving against a beautiful blue sky, utterly took my breath away. I stayed in this spot to write for awhile but then I walked across the street (and then down a block and back again when I realized I was lost) to the museum. 

The museum itself covered writers in Ireland from the 16th to the 20th centuries, with artifacts belonging to some of them as well as many first editions (over which I of course drooled extensively). The exhibit was only two room, but there was a ton of information. So much so, that it took me over two hours to finish! Unfortunately I have the obnoxious need to read every single sign and info card posted, so as not to miss out, which accounts for the length.

When I left the museum the sun was starting to set, so I hit up McDonald's and headed to the boardwalk to watch the sunset over the Liffey. Jet-lag must have seriously addled my brains because I initially sat facing eastward, convinced that this direction was the one in which the sun set. Go figure. Realizing that the west had no view of the the sunset, I just headed back to the hostel. Once there I did some work on my computer and then hung out in the common room with a bunch of the other people watching a movie. My position in the common room was not just a matter of boredom, but rather intentional as I had heard a rumor of free mulled wine and I didn't want to miss out if I went back to my room. (Each evening the hostel has free events for the residents such as free beer night etc.) My hopes were not disappointed and later in the evening the staff offered us some free delicious sangria. :D

Saturday was my laziest day so far. After checking out of the hostel, and dragging my giant duffel half a mile to the Harding Hotel, I spent the day in my room pleasantly reading. I knew I should go out and enjoy my last day before orientation started, but the bed was too comfortable and the books (I finished one and started another; thank God for the Kindle app!!) were too good. I did go out once, to get a sandwich and some fruit at the nearby convenience store, but that was it. 

A painted electrical box I found on my walk

That evening I experienced what night life in Temple Bar is like without leaving the hotel. My room was right above two different pubs, and the music started as early as 6pm. First it was traditional Irish music, which I heartily sang along with to an empty room, and then around 10 I swear whichever bar it was turned into a combination 90s/Disco dance club. 

I could hear loud music coming from a couple blocks away too, so I knew where the night clubs were. I was fairly confused at one point when I realized that some REALLY loud music, which drowned out the Irish music from below, was coming from across the street. I was sure that across the street was a cathedral and therefore had no idea why a bunch of people that looked 18-20ish were gathering outside playing loud music. As it turned out, my geography was a little off and they were standing in the courtyard of an office building, it still didn't make sense. After about half an hour, they started to process down the street in front of my window, the leader carrying a huge boombox or speaker or something on her shoulder. I felt like I'd been shipped back to the nineties!

I guess overall I learned that Temple Bar can be a great place, but maybe not the best place to sleep. This was reinforced at 3 am when I heard people yelling at one another (drunkenly I presumed) a block away. Ironically though, once I finally went to sleep around 1 am, it was the best night of sleep I had in Dublin.