Dublin Days

This weekend I had my first Dublin experience!  Everyone in Ireland refers to it as going into "town" which I think is a little strange since Dublin is the capital city of the entire country and is much larger than a town!  Mercè and I caught the bus from Stamullen to Dublin on Friday night to meet up with some other au pair friends of hers she has met while being in Ireland.  We met at a pub, O'Neills, and watched the match between Germany and Greece.  For those of you that didn't know, the Euro Cup has been going on since I've been here.  Ireland is already out but its been fun watching the Euro Cup while being in Europe!  I met Mercè's friend Johanna, who is from Germany, and Belèn, who is from Spain.

My first trip into Dublin was exciting and overwhelming!  I was constantly looking around at everything and not really paying attention to street names.  Luckily Mercè was there to do all the navigating!  While Dublin itself is a large city, Dublin City Centre (or the downtown area) is not quite so big.  In a month or two I think I will be able to find my way around without any problem.  I already know where my bus stop is located and can get there by using some major landmarks in the city once I get close to it.  I think for right now the bus stop is the most important thing I should know!

On Saturday, I woke up around 8 am to go back into the city with Mercè to meet up with Johanna.  Johanna is also leaving very soon and she had one last "tourist" spot to see on her list.  We meet Johanna at Trinity College, which is the university in City Centre, and walked to Kilmainham Gaol. On the way we stopped briefly at Christ Church Cathedral, a beautiful church built in 1030.  I snapped a quick picture of the outside but I can't wait to go back and take a look inside.  Its still amazing to me that Ireland has history dating back to before America was even discovered!

Christ Church

Kilmainhaim is a jail that was built in 1796 and has a rich history.  Many political prisoners were housed at the Gaol from the Easter Rising in 1916.  Many men were executed at Kilmainham for their part in the rising and many in Ireland believe their execution led to enough support from the people of Ireland to start the long road to independence from the British.  The guide also told us about the Anglo-Irish treaty treaty in 1922 that granted the southern 26 counties independence but allowed the United Kingdom to continue to rule the northern 6 counties which is why Northern Ireland is a part of the UK today.

Entrance of the jail

Spiral Staircase!

Love letter from Joseph Plunkett asking his future wife Grace to marry him,  Grace and Joseph were married in the prison the night before Joseph was executed.

Spot where the 16 men who led the Easter Rising were executed.

After the visit to Kilmainham, we walked back to the City Centre and took a look around Temple Bar which has a food and vendor market every Saturday.  The food market was wonderful.  Vendors were set up selling olives, pastries, meat pies, quiche, bread, kabobs, pretty much anything you could imagine!  After getting a quick bite we walked over to St. Stephen's Green.  This area is a big commercial area with shopping and restaurants.  There is also a park that we walked through.  It was strange to go from being surrounded by all of the people and street performers in the shopping area and then walking into the park and feeling a sense of instant calm.

Seagull and ducks in the pond

St. Stephen's Green Park

Around 3:00 we met up with another of Johanna and Mercè's friends, Agnieszka, who is an au pair from Poland.  Agnieszka is finishing up her time with her host family as well but she has liked Ireland so much that she is trying to find a job to be able to stay here.  It was great meeting someone that I can stay in touch with and meet in Dublin on the weekends since Mercè is leaving in less than a week!  I will be sad to see her go since I see her everyday when I pick the girls up from school but I've been lucky to have her around this weekend to introduce me to Dublin for the first time!