End of the Journey

Thursday was our last day of classes. Which was a little sad. I turned in my paper for International Negotiations and we got our final exam for Comp. Civ. Rights to study for. Thursday night I went out with some friends for a little bit, but I didn't stay out too late since friday morning was my exam. Friday morning I took my Comparative Civil Rights exam. Then spent the rest of the day packing. I also went back to the National Gallery to see the Fantastic in Irish Art exhibit which was awesome. Then I lugged most of my luggage over to the Rutger's Kid's place cause they were letting me crash there saturday night since I had to be out of Trinity by 10am on Saturday. Afterwards we went to this Munich Beer Hall for dinner and beers. Then I met up with Katie and Tyler for more drinks at the LongStone Pub. Saturday morning I had to wait for everyone else to finish their last exam. Then a bunch of us hung out and went to lunch at the Porter House. Then we took a nap before meeting up with others for dinner. We all headed over to Cassidy's for our last dinner in Dublin and then to the LongStone for more drinks. Afterwards we ended the night at Doyles. It was a good last night that was over too fast. Sunday morning Aimee and I woke up hella early to catch a cab to get to the airport. I of course was quite hungover and even managed to puke at the Dublin Airport thus adding it onto my list. The flight home ended up being quite hellish, since US Air did not check my into my connecting flight and I was denied boarding, so I was put up in the lovely Quality Inn in Gloucester, New Jersey for the night. Then Monday I was finally able to get home after another layover in Las Vegas. Whew. All pictures have been added to my Dublin photo book... link is below in an earlier post.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I loved Dublin and am already missing both Dublin and my friends from the program. I kinda regret not being able to meet more irish people, however that was hard in Dublin since it is so touristy and international. But the people in my program were all fantastic and those were two of the best classes I have ever had. I learned a lot not only about the law but about what I believe. This quote pretty much sums up my principles...

"And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake! " Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons"

Good Night.

Final Program Dinner at Nicos

Tuesday night the whole program met up for dinner at Nico's. Nico's is this really nice Italian restaurant and dinner was on the program. We got drunk on wine and listened to a street performer serenade us with singing and an accordion. Then the professors gave some speeches, Neville gave the funniest speech making fun of us all in his class. And then Neville played the piano while RJ played guitar and various other people got up and sang. It was really fun. See the pictures from the Dublin Album.

Wednesday I went to the National Gallery with some friends and saw some really cool exhibits (I actually went back today to see another I missed). We saw the John Butler Yeats Exhibit and the Treasures from the North. Then today I saw the Fantastic in Irish Art. Afterwards we all met up to go see Transformers which was AWESOME!

Weekend Trip to the West Coast

On Friday Joanne came to visit me. We rented a car and drove out the the west coast of Ireland. We stopped in Port Laois for lunch. Friday night we spent in the town of Gort. Then on Saturday we went up to Galway but didn't stay long. We had lunch and then it rained so we headed back down along the coast to Doolin. We stayed at the coolest hostel on the river Aille. Saturday we went out for some music which is what Doolin is known for. Sunday we took the ferry over to the smallest of the Aran Islands, Inis Oirr. It was quite possibly the most beautiful day since I'd been here. Spent Sunday night again in Doolin. Then on monday we visited the Cliffs of Moher and the drove back to Dublin via Waterford and Wexford. Well they say a picture says a thousand words so....

Trip to West Coast with Joanne

Christchurch & St. Patrick's Cathedral & Riverdance

Yesterday after classes a few of us visited the Christchurch and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Christchurch was founded in 1030 during the Viking's rule. It was originally Catholic until King Henry VIII broke off from the Catholic church and turned it Anglican. It was really cool with pretty stainglass and a crypt. The crypt was the oldest part and is one of the largest in Britain and Ireland. St. Patrick's was built by the Normans in 1191 and then rebuilt in the 13th century. Jonathan Swift was Dean from 1713-45 and was buried there.

Later a bunch of us from the program all went to see Riverdance. Riverdance as always was amazing. I love Irish Dancing and the other dancers (Flamenco, American tap, & Russian) were brilliant. Also the Theater was really cool, thin, and we were high up, but kind of small. Also there was a bar and they let you bring your drinks to your seats. Go Irish!

Kilmainham Gaol

Monday I went to visit Kilmainham Gaol. This is Dublin's old prison that stopped being used in 1934 and was later restored and turned into a museum. It dates back to the 18th century and is one of the largest prisons in Europe no longer in use. The prison was originally meant to hold 200 prisoners, one to a cell, however at the peak of its use during the Great Famine it held 9,000 people. It was used for both men, women and children - the youngest was an 8 year old girl who was caught stealing a woman's cloak because she was cold and was in there for 5 months. The prison also hosted political prisoners and was the where the leaders of the 1916 rebellion were held before they were executed. We got to see their cells and the chapel where Joseph Plunkett was married to his fiancee right before being executed. Later she would be held in another cell during the Civil war. It was really fascinating and horrible at the same time. Pictures are in my Dublin album. The same link below will work.

Pictures from Sunday

Weekend Trip to Knowth & Dowth

Hurling, Chilling, & Trip to Hill of Tara & Knowth

Wednesday night our program went to a Hurling Match. It was the Under 21 Leinster Final, Dublin v. Offaly. It was pretty awesome. Really intense and both teams played spectacularly. The crowd was huge and really into it. Dublin won and apparently it was their first time winning the final in 35 years. Afterwards I grabbed a drink with Steven, Krishna, Kai, Denise, Paulo and Natasha at this pretty cool bar. The next two days I pretty much did nothing but my homework. Saturday I was supposed to go to Wales with Kai, Steven and Aimee however those plans fell through. Instead we went to the Irish Film Institute and saw the John Cassevedes film, "Love Streams". It was interesting to say the least. Then on Sunday we rented a car and drove up to the Hill of Tara and Newgrange. At Tara it started raining on us so we didn't stay long. Then when we got to Newgrange, all the tours were sold out. So instead we went to Knowth, which the last time I was here was closed because they were still excavating it. But now they are done and it is open. It was pretty cool. Knowth, like Newgrange, is an ancient burial mound dating back 5,000 years. It was built by the Neolithic peoples that lived on Ireland at that time. Knowth has two entrances, one which opens towards the sun during sunrise on the Equinoxes and the other towards sunset on the Equinoxes. In addition to the main huge burial mound, it had 17 satellite mounds surrounding it that were significantly smaller. The cool thing about Knowth was that later (like 3,000 years after it was built) the Vikings and then the Normans lived on top of it. The structural integrity of this mound is insane. It has stood for 5,000 years, and supported over 200,000 tons of dirt and rock. You know that they meant this to last forever because of how they built it, using layers of rock and dirt in order to allow water to drain through. Its absolutely amazing. Afterwards we drove back to Dublin along the coast, stopping at the Cock Tavern for dinner. The Cock Tavern purports to be the oldest (or one of the oldest) pubs in Ireland. Then we also stopped in Skerries to see the ocean. It was very pretty.