Ireland: Dublin! Jail and Church

Tuesday! A Dublin day.
We first went on a tour of the Kilmainham Gaol jail (now museum) as a group, where numerous important political prisoners were held during the 1916 Uprising, or Easter Rising, as it was called. The Uprising also contributed to the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921). Of course, the prison had quite a history before then: it was built in the late 1700s. It had its share of hangings, and executions in general, and kind-of chronicles the shift in humanistic viewpoints (what are the limits for ethical treatment of prisoners) over a few decades, not to mention the amount and caliber of people imprisoned. Some were simply kept in cells with open windows to the cold, others (with money) practically had their own suites. (fireplace and everything) Of course, the former were more numerous.
One of the famous stories was of one of the Easter Uprising leaders about to get married when he was imprisoned. The story got out before the execution, so they were allowed to get married before he was killed. Supposedly~

(I convinced Sashah not to try to climb any walls~ XD)
Then we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral! Got to look around at some gorgeous architecture~ <3 (And Jonathan Swift's tomb. Sort-of.)

There was a beautiful memorial for those affected by wars, as well. A metal tree, void of leaves. There was a basin beside it, at a more or less hand height, with paper leaves and pens. A plaque said "Leave a message for a loved one who has been affected by war." The paper leaves that were written on were then scattered beneath the tree. It was really poignant.

Also, a copy of Handel's 'The Messiah.' :3
Then we got to wander Dublin on our own, with friends or what-not~ It was fun! I will detail those adventures in the next post, though. More pictures! XD

Ireland: Castles and Food

On to Monday~ In Ireland, that is! We went to The Rock of Cashel, a stronghold that got burned. Well, as much as stone and wood can burn. So uninhabitable, but still standing! And they were doing reconstruction on a portion of it, so that will be pretty epic when it's finished. Of course, it was pretty epic when we saw it! Albeit, it was really quite cold, and the winds were high so that didn't help, but coats are great! As are the large stone walls still standing. It was wet and cold, but still very beautiful~

That last one is a small reconstruction of what the inside would have looked like possibly before the fires~
Then we went to Blarney Castle! Sands, it was gorgeous. There are extensive grounds also kept up around the place, and there are gardens galore, a cave, a little river/creek, I heard there was a waterfall somewhere...

I mean, look at that grass! It's a carpet! Seriously!
We didn't have time to stay for terribly long, unfortunately, but I got to climb around and explore the castle with some friends~ And, of course, kissed the stone~ (not that I need it, apparently. XD)

That's the North Wall, opposite where the stone was located~ One of the more imposing sights.

The people over there are at the stone. You've got to lay down and reach at it upside-down, and it's open beneath. Don't drop anything, it's a long way down! (hence I took my glasses off)

After Blarney, we went to Cork, to a fantastic open market. It was inside a building, but it was like a mini-mall because there were 'stalls', but they had countertops and an amazing array of fresh foods... Ate lunch there, at a pretty good price, as well as dessert! Wanted to buy some cheese, or spices or something, but there was just too much wonderfulness and I didn't really need much of it. *sigh*

Also got gelato for the first time~ (in Ireland, yes) Soooo good! <3
Long, fun trip back. Had free time, and wandered Temple Bar Square again with Anna~ We stopped at this little cafe, and they had 20 different kinds of hot chocolate. D8 I didn't even know that was possible! I just got one, a cup of dark chocolate with hints of orange and cinnamon. I honestly really only tasted the chocolate, but that was fine by me. WOW. Liquid chocolate has new meaning to me now. It was... wow. Probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had. Just... Yeah. Somehow, life in general makes more sense now. XD

We had noodles at this place called Stir Crazy afterwards. Affordable, and great food. Seriously. Loooove. <3

<3 <3 <3 <3
Hence, Monday was spent~

Ireland: A Bit of Dublin

Day two~ A Sunday. We got to go to an LDS meeting across Dublin, and took a buss since it was a little ways away. On the bus ride, I saw Mario playing piano. <w< Turns out we showed up for stake conference! Unfortunately, we had to leave before the whole session was done, but it was great to be there~ Not many of the speakers had accents, but it wasn't like we weren't getting that everywhere else anyway. XD The sign is first in Gaelic, and then in English~

We left so we could attend Evensong at Christ's Church Cathedral, the one by our hostel. It was my first time attending anything religious in a real cathedral. It was... amazing. Here's some of my notes:
"Just... Wow. I love this. I... didn't realize all this echoing is real; it's... glorious. No other word for it, except perhaps heavenly. Truly."
Later, we went to Brazen Head for food, Ireland's oldest established pub! (1158)(yeah really)
They were going to have storytelling nights the following week. I was soooo tempted to just stick around for that, but I figured people might notice my absence on the plane. XD' But the food was great! As was the service. And the waitresses even complimented our group in general, it was really nice. (this is just the table I sat at, we filled three if I recall correctly)

 

The door was at one of the back portions of Christ's Church Cathedral, which we passed while walking back from the pub. Anna and I then went around and got some shwarma! Twas quite good, actually~

That was basically the entirety of Sunday. It was a lot of fun, and investigated Temple Bar/Square area. :3 Lots of stores, pubs, music, shopping of sorts. It's more a touristy area, but still fun~

Side Note

Hello, just wanted to apologize right quick for my sporadic updates! Especially with the epicness of Ireland. It's amazing. The only excuse I have is that my health has been rather variant, and coinciding with attempting to find a job (or two or three) that makes other things a bit difficult. However, I know that is just an excuse, and again I apologize for letting that get in the way of sharing my adventures with you, both who helped fund me and who just want to keep updated~ I will strive to be better!
(note: I do have some part-time work now, from a few places, so that is helping.)

Here are a few pictures from my adventures locally within the past month~ :3

 

(local library, which I now live right across from~ <3)

 

It's finally getting cooler, and I got a new scarf from a dear friend! Great combo~

I'll be updating more Ireland soon~

Ireland - Christ Church

Day one, part two! We went from Trinity to Dublin's Archeological Museum, right next to the library~ Both gorgeous places, inside and out, of course! But by that time I was too worn out to really appreciate everything, so I just kind-of sat in the museum for a while, trying not to fall asleep. XD' Then we went back to the hostel and I rested a bit, though didn't fall asleep. Our hostel rooms had awesome multi-colored wall art too. Then, all together, we went to the Church of Christ cathedral, right across the street from our hostel~ That third picture is Kristen, one of our leaders, pointing things out to Shelby and Lucy. I saw the opportunity to get a picture of two of our red-heads at once and had to take it. XD Sashah came along as well, of course. And look! Even the floors are incredibly detailed! :0

Strongbow was one of the most famous Norsemen in Ireland. After looking around there, most of the group went off to see a hurling match. I wasn't up for it, so a few friends who also stayed behind and I walked around Dublin and got some food. Also stopped at an open air art bazaar! Almost got a really cool hat, but I wanted to save my euro for the entire trip, not just the first day. X3' If I knew I could get it home safely, I might have bought some of the art pieces I saw, honestly, but I just didn't know how that would work out. Awesome talent though!

Eventually got to sleep, finally.  And that was the end of day one!
Dublin was great. Even though we were pretty much in the heart of town, and right on the street, of course, I didn't really have problems with sleeping due to noise. In fact, I don't remember much... Of course, some of that may have been how tired I made myself every day. XD
<3