June 16th...
7:30pm...
Well I am sitting in the Temple Bar area outside of Haagan-Daaz, treating myself to two scoops of ice cream after what I just ate. One thing we were told to try here is the Traditional Irish Breakfast, complete with sausage, bacon, beans, tomato, fried egg, and black and white pudding. We came to find that the bacon is nearly raw and the black and white pudding is....animal blood. Yes. Animal blood. It was one of the most disgusting things I have ever tasted. I ate blood. End of story.
Today was a lovely day though! We walked along the River Liffey, which is actually the most polluted river in all of Ireland. We took the boardwalk down to Dublin 8, nearly all the way outside of the city. We stopped at the National Museum at Collins Barracks and then took a stroll through Phoenix Park. As we went looking for our next destination, we found ourselves in what would be considered Dublin's slums. Eventually we found the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Nearly an hour later we went to Killmainham Gaol, which was established in the 1700's. It was also the place where many of the men involved in the 1916 Easter Rising were executed. We took a tour, which led us through all the wings of the gaol. It was breathtaking in its own way and maybe one of my favorite places we've visited thus far. It was nearly epic, standing in the courtyard of the gaol, knowing how many men once lived exactly where I stood just 100 years
ago. When people arrived there, they received a blanket and a candle for warmth, and they lived 15 per cell. There was a Catholic chapel built by a 17-year old boy who was arrested for stealing a food cart, and eventually died there. It was such a solemn experience. The history is what makes this city so unique. There isn't anything about this city that modern architects or designers would consider beautiful. Walking along the city streets, the buildings are all cracked, the railings all have chipped and discolored paint, but to me it is absolutely charming. I admire and appreciate it because it shows that people have lived there. They have fought there. Standing on the steps of the General Post Office, the same steps Pearse read the Irish Proclamation - the first building to be seized in the Easter Rising. It still has bullet holes in the building. It hasn't been covered up. It's antiquated, and it shows. It gives the city a story and a sense of pride and character, which is what makes it truly beautiful.
7:30pm...
Well I am sitting in the Temple Bar area outside of Haagan-Daaz, treating myself to two scoops of ice cream after what I just ate. One thing we were told to try here is the Traditional Irish Breakfast, complete with sausage, bacon, beans, tomato, fried egg, and black and white pudding. We came to find that the bacon is nearly raw and the black and white pudding is....animal blood. Yes. Animal blood. It was one of the most disgusting things I have ever tasted. I ate blood. End of story.
Today was a lovely day though! We walked along the River Liffey, which is actually the most polluted river in all of Ireland. We took the boardwalk down to Dublin 8, nearly all the way outside of the city. We stopped at the National Museum at Collins Barracks and then took a stroll through Phoenix Park. As we went looking for our next destination, we found ourselves in what would be considered Dublin's slums. Eventually we found the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Nearly an hour later we went to Killmainham Gaol, which was established in the 1700's. It was also the place where many of the men involved in the 1916 Easter Rising were executed. We took a tour, which led us through all the wings of the gaol. It was breathtaking in its own way and maybe one of my favorite places we've visited thus far. It was nearly epic, standing in the courtyard of the gaol, knowing how many men once lived exactly where I stood just 100 years
ago. When people arrived there, they received a blanket and a candle for warmth, and they lived 15 per cell. There was a Catholic chapel built by a 17-year old boy who was arrested for stealing a food cart, and eventually died there. It was such a solemn experience. The history is what makes this city so unique. There isn't anything about this city that modern architects or designers would consider beautiful. Walking along the city streets, the buildings are all cracked, the railings all have chipped and discolored paint, but to me it is absolutely charming. I admire and appreciate it because it shows that people have lived there. They have fought there. Standing on the steps of the General Post Office, the same steps Pearse read the Irish Proclamation - the first building to be seized in the Easter Rising. It still has bullet holes in the building. It hasn't been covered up. It's antiquated, and it shows. It gives the city a story and a sense of pride and character, which is what makes it truly beautiful. 
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