So we're coming up on the end of my fourth week here in Dublin (third week of class). A great deal has happened so far. It's been a pretty good week. Got to play some jazz, have some Guinness, and explore some museums.
Monday was pretty normal with just going to class and coming back. Tuesday, on the other hand, was great. With no classes on Tuesday, I had a lot of time. My German roommate told me about a grocery store that was closer than the one to which I was going. So now I don't have to walk 3 miles round trip to get groceries! Then that night, I had a jazz society meeting. It was really just an introductory meeting/workshop, so everyone brought their instruments and one of the guys who has been with the society for a few years led a workshop. It was pretty introductory stuff, so learning to play the blues...which I learned to play in middle school/high school. So, while it was good to finally play some jazz in a group setting, the quality and musicianship was not quite up to my expectations. After the workshop, we went to the student bar where the music society was hosting an open mic night. There I performed Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon" and "Watermelon Man" with the jazz society.
Wednesday was pretty similar to Monday, except for a few small things. First, near the end of my sociology lecture, a guy in a gorilla costume and mask came into the lecture theatre handing out flyers for a club, then proceeded to sit in the front row as the professor just kept lecturing and eventually chastised him for being 45 minutes late to lecture. It was pretty funny. I think if that happened at UIC the professor would throw the guy out. Then that night, I made myself a veggie burger, which was nice, since I hadn't had one in a while.
Yesterday is when things got really interesting. Thursday of this week, was Arthur's Day in Ireland. Basically it's a day where the entire country pays tribute to Arthur Guinness, the founder and creator of the Irish lifeblood. It's essentially a day where the entire country goes out and drinks Guinness. The main thing you're supposed to do is toast "To Arthur" at 5:59, because he started brewing in 1759, which is 5:59 on the 24 hour clock system. I unfortunately missed this because of a jazz society meeting, which while being the "advanced workshop" was still not quite advanced. But I digress...So because of my late classes and jazz society meeting, I missed the toast. But I still had a great time. We got a big group together at a friend's apartment. Then we went to a nightclub called D2 (it stands for the area of Dublin it is in, known as Dublin 2). There I had my obligatory pint of Guinness, and then we had good craic dancing. It was grand, as the Irish say. After the club we stopped at a Burger King for some late night food, and I had myself two veggie burgers.
I don't have class on Friday either, so after all the walking and dancing of last night, I stayed in today...NOT! Instead, I got a group of people together, a friend from Syracuse, along with my friend from high school and her friends from Notre Dame, and we went back into the city centre. We went to the National Museum of Ireland's Archeology building. There we explored exhibits of Prehistoric Ireland, Ireland's Gold, Viking Ireland, Medieval Ireland, etc. It was pretty cool. Saw some cool jewelry from ancient Ireland, as well as a really long canoe used in prehistoric Ireland. There were also some really cool metal works of art. On top of that, most of the artifacts were from before 1000 A.D. It amazed me that these early humans had the desire and time to make such beautiful pieces. It seems to me that their time would be better spent surviving, but it was very impressive. The craftsmanship was incredible. Then after the museum we went to a restaurant called KC Peaches for some lunch. They had this cool deal where you get a small box and stuff it with whatever food you want, then get a drink and a cookie for 6 euro. Needless to say, I overstuffed the box to get my money's worth, and it was grand. Then I saw the cookie, and it was enormous. Basically that place is my new favorite. We then took our lunch to Trinity College and ate on the grass playing fields.
Now, this is where today got really cool. My friend from high school is here in Dublin with about 40 other Notre Dame students, some of whom go to Trinity. Now, Trinity is well known as the home of the Book of Kells, an ancient Irish illuminated manuscript. Normally you have to pay about 8 or 9 euro to go see it, but if a Trinity student brings you in, it's...FREE! So we had my friend's friends bring us in for free! It was quite simply, the greatest thing for someone as cheap as me. So we got to see the Book of Kells, and the Trinity Library's Long Room. Personally for me, while the book was interesting, it was the Long Room that got me. It was simply magnificent...actually no...words cannot properly describe it. But maybe these pictures can...(note: keep an eye out for some links in the captions)
Monday was pretty normal with just going to class and coming back. Tuesday, on the other hand, was great. With no classes on Tuesday, I had a lot of time. My German roommate told me about a grocery store that was closer than the one to which I was going. So now I don't have to walk 3 miles round trip to get groceries! Then that night, I had a jazz society meeting. It was really just an introductory meeting/workshop, so everyone brought their instruments and one of the guys who has been with the society for a few years led a workshop. It was pretty introductory stuff, so learning to play the blues...which I learned to play in middle school/high school. So, while it was good to finally play some jazz in a group setting, the quality and musicianship was not quite up to my expectations. After the workshop, we went to the student bar where the music society was hosting an open mic night. There I performed Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon" and "Watermelon Man" with the jazz society.
Wednesday was pretty similar to Monday, except for a few small things. First, near the end of my sociology lecture, a guy in a gorilla costume and mask came into the lecture theatre handing out flyers for a club, then proceeded to sit in the front row as the professor just kept lecturing and eventually chastised him for being 45 minutes late to lecture. It was pretty funny. I think if that happened at UIC the professor would throw the guy out. Then that night, I made myself a veggie burger, which was nice, since I hadn't had one in a while.
Yesterday is when things got really interesting. Thursday of this week, was Arthur's Day in Ireland. Basically it's a day where the entire country pays tribute to Arthur Guinness, the founder and creator of the Irish lifeblood. It's essentially a day where the entire country goes out and drinks Guinness. The main thing you're supposed to do is toast "To Arthur" at 5:59, because he started brewing in 1759, which is 5:59 on the 24 hour clock system. I unfortunately missed this because of a jazz society meeting, which while being the "advanced workshop" was still not quite advanced. But I digress...So because of my late classes and jazz society meeting, I missed the toast. But I still had a great time. We got a big group together at a friend's apartment. Then we went to a nightclub called D2 (it stands for the area of Dublin it is in, known as Dublin 2). There I had my obligatory pint of Guinness, and then we had good craic dancing. It was grand, as the Irish say. After the club we stopped at a Burger King for some late night food, and I had myself two veggie burgers.
I don't have class on Friday either, so after all the walking and dancing of last night, I stayed in today...NOT! Instead, I got a group of people together, a friend from Syracuse, along with my friend from high school and her friends from Notre Dame, and we went back into the city centre. We went to the National Museum of Ireland's Archeology building. There we explored exhibits of Prehistoric Ireland, Ireland's Gold, Viking Ireland, Medieval Ireland, etc. It was pretty cool. Saw some cool jewelry from ancient Ireland, as well as a really long canoe used in prehistoric Ireland. There were also some really cool metal works of art. On top of that, most of the artifacts were from before 1000 A.D. It amazed me that these early humans had the desire and time to make such beautiful pieces. It seems to me that their time would be better spent surviving, but it was very impressive. The craftsmanship was incredible. Then after the museum we went to a restaurant called KC Peaches for some lunch. They had this cool deal where you get a small box and stuff it with whatever food you want, then get a drink and a cookie for 6 euro. Needless to say, I overstuffed the box to get my money's worth, and it was grand. Then I saw the cookie, and it was enormous. Basically that place is my new favorite. We then took our lunch to Trinity College and ate on the grass playing fields.
Now, this is where today got really cool. My friend from high school is here in Dublin with about 40 other Notre Dame students, some of whom go to Trinity. Now, Trinity is well known as the home of the Book of Kells, an ancient Irish illuminated manuscript. Normally you have to pay about 8 or 9 euro to go see it, but if a Trinity student brings you in, it's...FREE! So we had my friend's friends bring us in for free! It was quite simply, the greatest thing for someone as cheap as me. So we got to see the Book of Kells, and the Trinity Library's Long Room. Personally for me, while the book was interesting, it was the Long Room that got me. It was simply magnificent...actually no...words cannot properly describe it. But maybe these pictures can...(note: keep an eye out for some links in the captions)
The Idea Commons has nothing on the Long Room!
I mean...wow!
Kind of hard to see, but it's the Proclamation of the Irish Republic
My picture with my main man William Rowan Hamilton, known for the Cayley-Hamilton Theorem of linear algebra
Two stories of bookshelves that are CRAZY tall
So then after the Long Room, my Syracuse friend and I split from the Notre Dame kids and went to Trinity's Science Gallery. There they had an exhibit on illusions. It was a little bit smaller than I expected, but most of the illusions were still pretty cool. There was a really cool one where you put on headphones and experienced an appointment in a barbershop (I know that doesn't sound like much, but it was one of those "you had to be there" things). The only problem I had with the exhibit was that my friend and I, being of scientific disciplines (math and biomedical engineering) could pretty easily figure out the illusions. It was still really fun though.
After the science gallery, we just wandered around the city centre for a bit until we found the bus stop to take us back to UCD. We even just happened to bump back into the Notre Dame friends on the bus. So all in all, it was a pretty eventful week. Now my feet are killing me after all the dancing and walking. I think it's time for dinner, figuring out what else to do with the weekend, and then some much needed sleeping.
I'm glad to take note of the fact that you have been getting out there and experiencing so many new things! It amazes me to see that you still aren't taking many "breaks." Being busy has always been a huge thing for you. Keep up the blogs Sir.
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