Public urination and random acts of kindness on the streets of Dublin
So I had the aforementioned pint of Guinness last night (or two) and chatted with a couple who were heading off to Australia for a year. Then I met some fellas who kept me supplied with Heinekens the rest of the night. They were impressed I went to Sligo, where they are from, while acknowleding there is nothing to do there. I didn't go to Mulligans and did not, and will not, go to Temple Bar. I don't understand why everyone goes there as there is about three pubs per block here. I found one that seemed low key called Brogans, and as it turned out, was a locals' pub. A few congratulated me on my choice and for not having fell prey to the Temple Bar phenomenon. After it closed at 12:30, I went with the fellas to a club til about 2:30 and did some dancing to tunes I'd never heard, and some very familiar (Prince even).
Despite the headache, I managed to get moving, but not til around 10:30. I headed over to the Joyce Cultural Center to see what type of Bloomsday activities were in store, but it didn't seem that exciting - some readings and whatnot. Plus, I found out that the Street Performers World Championship was going on this weekend as well, and that was much more appealing.
First I decided to hit up Trinity College to check out the Old Library and the Book of Kells. I joined a quick tour of the campus. Apparently they've had some notables speakers there, including Bono, but the largest draw thus far has been David Hasselhoff! I just don't get it.
So I glimpsed the Book of Kells, which is the Four Gospels written in Latin but richly decorated. Luckily there were some displays that described the writings and so forth, which was more exciting than seeing the one page they let you see to be sure. After that you make your way into the old library. It was magnificent! I was so angry that you couldn't take pictures in there, which forced me to pay almost two Euros for some postcards. They arrange the books by size not author, with the larger books on the bottom shelves and the smaller up top. Ireland's oldest harp is also on display. What I didn't know was that when Ireland picked the harp as its symbol, they were quickly sued by Guinness, who already chose it for its brew in 1759.
From there I set off for Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library museum. On the first floor was a special exhibit, Leonardo's Codex Leicester written from 1508-1510. Really, it's just a bunch of notes Leonardo scribbled (backwards of course) over the years about water and the moon. Most people's notes don't get sold at auction to Bill Gates, however. There were 18 folios to be viewed with descriptions of his ramblings. Upstairs was the regular exhibit on the origins of religion, covering Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism...the best artifacts were pieces of papyrus found in Egypt with some of the gospels written in Greek.
Museums close down at five, which gave me enough time to book over to Merrion Square to check out a few of the street performers. The square is a really pretty park with lots of trees. I saw a couple of acrobats called Popeyed, who pretended to be from Russia the whole time but were really a couple of Aussies. Apparently a bunch of the street performers are putting on a show at the Dublin Castle tonight, but I wasn't able to get tickets. Bummer.
With that my feet are tired. I've done a lot of walking and am starting to figure my way around pretty easily. Basically I've come to recognize buildings for the most part as the street names here change each block. Someone asked me for directions today wondering where Essex Street was and I was like, I could be standing on it for all I know.
Dublin is expensive, so even though I'd love more time here, it's probably a good thing my time here is short. I'm checking out a few more FREE museums tomorrow before I leave. I just hope the sun comes out - I think it's been over a week now since I've seen it. Longing for those days on the island...
Oh, as far as the title for my entry, I did witness both today. The first is self explanatory. The streets are very busy and an older gal was rushing to catch a bus and got knocked down. A fella scooped her up, ran to the bus to be sure she made it on OK and then went about his business.
