Ireland: Continued Roaming Dublin

Continuing Tuesday: Dublin! We were asked to keep to groups, but let free to do our own thing.
Anna, Shelby, and I explored. There was a garden I'd researched online before coming on the trip that I really wanted to go and see, called the Garden of Remembrance. It's a little spot in Dublin that's got some reflection pools and a giant statue dedicated to those who fell in the Easter Uprising, and for Ireland's freedom in general. The statue is of the Children of Lir, an Irish legend about royal siblings who were turned into swans by their witch of a stepmother. Long story short, they were cursed to wander across lakes/lochs of Ireland for 900 years, although they kept their human speech. They retold their tale and the tales of Ireland across the centuries, and at the end, most versions say they were turned back into humans by a marriage between a North woman and a South man? It's been a few months since I read like three versions of the tale. Point being, they landed in a Christian monastery at the end of 900 years and were blessed/baptized by a monk, then turned to dust. During the whole time, the older sister Fionnuala helped care for and protect her younger brothers.
They represent a looot of Irish heritage and pride. I mean, the national bird is a swan. So yes.
It took a bit of planning to find, and we had to ask for some help with directions, but thankfully people in Ireland are fantastic and generally friendly and helpful, including bus drivers. :D

The mosaics in the reflection pools were pretty great too, obviously. We had a peaceful and beautiful lunch there, it was great. Everything written was both in both Gaelic and English, too; it was nice~ (the plaque also had a French translation to the side)
There was a writers' museum right next door, but we didn't really have the time to explore, since we'd already spent time there for a while just hanging out. It seemed a somewhat popular place to do that. It wasn't overflowing or anything, but it was never empty. And people generally seemed pretty chill. It was fantastic~

You can almost see the Irish flag behind the statue there with Sashah~

... Never really did find out what this was about. It was just there one day, we'd passed by the place before and it wasn't. It's near a bank, so maaybe some sort of publicity stunt? I don't know, we didn't really get answers when we asked. :/
Anyway, then Shelby and I met the Jonses at St Michan's Church, Dublin's oldest north side parish. They've got some catacombs that you can go down into, and see some naturally preserved mummies! Seriously, the conditions down there are great for it: limestone, cool, I think some methane... or some sort of gas that helps. I can't remember exactly. Kristen and Shelby were so very excited~ And our guide was great. XD Fantastic place. No pictures allowed down there, but I got some in the church itself. Small, pretty~

Then Shelby & I went to the Museum of Natural History. Got to look around, learn about the past, see some bog bodies...
Yup. Apparently peat bogs are great places to dump bodies, no matter what era you live in. And they preserve! I mean, the skin, sometimes hair... occasionally fingerprints even. :0 But they had cool exhibits that gave details about the life the individual probably led, and even possibly the reason for their death. (physical and sometimes political)

I mean look at that! Wow.
And literally right next door to the Museum is the Library. And I couldn't go to Ireland and not go to the library, right? I mean, sure I'd been in Trinity's library, but still!
Gorgeous. There was an exhibit going on but I only had a short time since Anna was waiting on me. (literally I just asked if I could pop in and look around X3) Also had a pleasant conversation with a man in the coat/locker closet. (yes it's a room just for your coats and stuff, in lockers even. Fancyyyy~) He'd apparently been to Virginia once or twice on holiday, and said that the Shenandoah Valley area was the closest you could get to Ireland green in the U.S. Which made me pretty happy. <3

Stopped by a chocolate store while wandering some more, seriously hot chocolate and just chocolate overseas is a whole new experience. *sighs contentedly* Aaaand we found a bookstore. :D Shelby, Anna, and I spent the rest of the day there. Three floors! Three whole floors! Of books! It was gorgeous. Hodges Figgis. Love.

Honestly. Tables, bookshelves, floors... And sales! And beautiful books! And... It was amazing. I got like nine books. XD (some were really small so they would fit nicely)
We checked out at the main floor literally as they were closing up. Worth it. I didn't even get to go through all of the floors thoroughly. Agh. <3 </3
But I am very happy with all I did get! And they are wonderful~ X3
Then we went back to the hostel, and while most of everyone else ran off to a rugby game, we chatted and rested, gave each other massages. Great choice, honestly. XD
Thus ended Tuesday!

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~