If there is one thing that Ireland is not known for, it is beautiful, sunny days, but this was the weather in Dublin on Thursday. Our first stop was St. Stephen's Green, which is basically a giant quad in the middle of Dublin. The park was packed with people laying on the grass, playing soccer (excuse me, football) and rugby, and generally enjoying the wonderful weather.
From the green, we made our way up Grafton Street. This street is only for foot traffic and is the central shopping center in Dublin. Most intriguing, this street is popular for street performers. There were guitarists, living statues, an acrobat/limbo artist, and even a full band. The acrobat/limbo guy was my favorite. He had two hoops stacked on top of each other, and he would dive through them and then roll. The highlight of his show was the limbo bar. He wrapped it in some cloth and lit it on fire. He kept moving it lower and lower, until it was resting on top of two wine bottles. After reminding us to put some money in his bucket, he managed to inch his way under the flaming bar!
After making our way through Grafton Street, we went to the Trinity College library to see the Book of Kells. This book is a lavishly decorated 8th or 9th century copy of the four gospels. The detail and artistry on the pages we saw were incredible.
The last thing we did was go to dinner in a pub: The Hairy Lemon. I'm afraid I don't know the history of the name, nor did I spot any hairy lemons in the pub. I was afraid that a group of almost twenty Americans would be a problem, but they didn't seem to mind. They even had ketchup on the tables! I think that the most popular dishes in our group were fish and chips and the Irish lamb burger. I had the lamb burger, which was fabulous. I can't speak for the fish and chips, but it is hard to go wrong with fish and chips in Ireland!
That about wraps up our first trip to Dublin. One thing I forgot to mention is our trip to the airport, where we picked up Heather, the last member of our team. Thanks for reading, and more updates will be on the way shortly!
Kyle Macfarlan
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