Adventures in the Unknown: "...Should stay in Dublin"

....Should stay in Dublin. But if I'm telling all of my stories, I have to tell how today went.

There were 4 sites that we had to visit while we stayed in Dublin: Kilmainham Gaol, the Museum, the General Post Office, and the Four Courts.

We started off by taking the Luas (the monorail system here in Dublin) all the way up to the jail. Is it weird if I use the word gorgeous to describe a jail? Because this place screamed of historical beauty. Maybe it's the criminal justice and political science majors in me (or I'm that crazy/creepy that I think a jail looks gorgeous), but this jail was really cool. We got to see some famous cells (including P.H. Pearse, and Eamon De Valera (the last prisoner to ever be held in Kilmainham)) and the exercise yards and execution yards. Really fascinating stuff.

From there we went around the city to get to the Museum to see the exhibit labeled "Understanding the 1916 Uprising", which covered the Easter Rising happenings in 1916 (which was where all the imprisoned leaders were from). Again, really cool exhibit, but mostly just pictures of people and not as interactive. I think the most impactful thing in this exhibit was the quote "We know their dream. Enough to know that they dreamed are are dead." People fought for their freedom and died for their cause. Standing in that room (and in the execution yard at the jail), it finally hit me how hard the Irish fought to escape British rule. That people died fighting for their cause. I guess a part of me is inspired by that; the fact that someone believed so strongly in their cause they were willing to die for it.

The last stop we hit was the General Post Office (GPO for short). The Four Courts wasn't opened, so we couldn't go there. The really cool part about the GPO was that the bullets fired during the Easter Rising around the GPO are still in the architecture today. Bullet holes covered the front pillars. Whats more, people were protesting the government outside when we got there (you know, normal "they lied to get into power and aren't doing anything" blah blah blah). It still was really cool to see that the government left the remains of such a historic event for modern day.

We ended the day with a "Musical Learning Demonstration". Led by Antony and Andy, we went to two pubs (the Ha'penny and Brannigan's) to listen to live music being played. At one point, our whole group got up and sang ShoSholoza (the traditional South African song), as well as stumbling through parts of The Rattling Bog. As much fun as that was (no sarcasm here), the best part was when one of the other guys in the group turned and asked "What part of the States are ya from?", to which I responded "Pittsburgh". His immediate reaction was "No shit. Me too!"

Well what do ya know, even in a little pub in Ireland, Pittsburghers are meeting each other! What a small world!

P.S.: We went through a store today and I actually almost fell down from shock. Sitting there, on the rack, was a throwback yellow Pittsburgh Pirates jersey. #21, Roberto Clemente. So much Pittsburgh in one day!