Fun (& Educational) Friday

Reed headed out fairly early this morning to meet the students for class and coffee. They also visited Kilmainham Gaol, a prison that holds tales of “some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s emergence as a modern nation from the 1780s to the 1920s” (from the Dublin Pocket Guide). They shared lunch before meeting the rest of us at the Guinness Storehouse for our afternoon tour. It was quite interesting to learn about the history, agriculture, chemistry, and marketing of the famous beverage. I guess it was a fairly educational experience, as well as a refreshing one as we enjoyed our “free” pint (or glass of soda) at the end of the tour in the “Gravity Bar” with 360 degree views of Dublin.

Then Reed and Jackson walked back to Trinity while my folks, Abbie, and I hopped on the bus to see a few more sites of Dublin, including the docklands. I really liked the Samuel Beckett (harp-shaped) bridge (again!), the U2 graffiti wall (where U2 wrote much of their early music and where fans now go to paint murals portraying their songs), and bronze statues depicting people suffering from the famine and their subsequent emigration process to the USA, Canada, & Australia (among others). We also had some time for a little souvenir shopping, one of Abbie’s favorite activities. 🙂

We headed back to my folks’ hotel for a bit, and then we met the guys at a neighborhood pub for dinner. Afterward, we reshuffled our suitcases in preparation for our weekend excursion to Galway, on Ireland’s west coast. We are looking forward to the getaway!