Dublin

We went into Dublin yesterday. Don and Brian took us all on a tour of the city. We saw Trinity college, which is right in the heart of the city. It is a beautiful old campus. Calling Dublin City University in Dublin, is more like saying BC is in Boston, just to give you an idea of where I am staying. In Suburbia. The city is very interesting on the government side. The buildings are all in old Georgian style which means the windows at the top are smaller and that is where the nursery would be, then there is a slightly larger set of windows where the sleep quarters are. The main two levels have the largest and most grandest windows with the first set being the entertaining quarters and then below them the dining area. The basement would be where the kitchen and servants were housed. Back during the early 1900s and late 1800s since Dublin is such a rainy city there was always a lot of mud, so there are mud scrapers outside all of the doors. I am pretty sure Mom has one too. An antique purchase, I am sure.

While that part of the city was nice, there is an overwhelming sense of Americanization in the main parts of the city. McDonalds on most corners, subway, quiznos, Burger King, Starbucks, H&M. It kind of ruins the effects of a historic city where you think it will be so different. It is like the opposite of culture shock. We did manage to find what they call a "deli" for lunch. Really what it is, is you can choose from 2 different sandwiches of the day, 3 soups, 4 salads, a quiche, and a pizza. It was inexpensive and tasty. I had the quiche with a small salad.

We then went around and say a where most of the national museums and galleries were located, which was great because anything with "National" in the title is free. We poked around the National History Museum for a bit, but by the end of walking around Dublin for five hours, I think we were all a little bit exhausted and decided to head back to Campus. I am going to need to get back into the city to explore more and figure out of the streets. As the streets continue they have a tendency to just change names, so you need to memorize landmarks as supposed to actual names. All the streets are windy and curving, but this is also a Boston specialty, so I am sure I will survive just fine.

Here is the group outside the museum!