Day 87: The Prince is giving a ball! (actually, just Trinity)

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

Well, by an act of God, I was able to go to the Trinity Ball last night. It's a story that begins with a volcano and ends with me listening to Dizzee Rascal, a British rapper whose hit single is entitled "Bonkerz." I'm pretty sure that's never going to happen again.

The volcano has everyone in a tizzy, a couple of my friends are stranded in Berlin, one of them being Katy who gave me her ball ticket. She was supposed to come back from Vienna on Thursday. Flights are horrible, I can't mail anything, and today at Tesco they didn't have bananas. Pretty soon I'm just going to be eating potatoes and drinking Jameson if this doesn't clear up. As long as Mom gets here and we can get home I'm happy.

Today it was 60 and sunny, thankfully it was just as nice yesterday. I realized today that I didn't have a full length shot of me in my dress, but I know Mae does. Once I get that from her I'll put it up.


I straightened my hair and got this great headband to complete the ensemble.


Part of my dress. I got it for only 5 euro! So, I treated myself to accessories, like a rhinestone snake bracelet!


Believe it or not this is the best picture I have of mae and norah, where you can see their dresses anyway. This lovely picture is the centerpiece of their apartment.


Entrance to Trinity! Word on the street is there were almost 6,000 people there!


Main stage and crazy lighting!




Ok, this isn't from the ball, but every time I go through St. Stephen's green I see a new perfect picture opportunity. Beautiful magnolias.

Day 84: High Culture

Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different.
-Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

All the cultural readers got together with my family, teachers, and friends before I got here and outlined an optimal entertainment schedule, tailored to my interests. This is the only way I can explain all the great events I've been attending this month, thanks Dublin, you're really doing me a solid!

Yesterday was "In Handel's Day" a celebration of the performance of Handel's "Messiah" which premiered right here in Dublin on April 13th! For this one day festival, Temple Bar hosts a series of events, most notably Handel on the street in the very spot where "Messiah" was first performed. With near 60 degree weather, there was no excuse to miss this

Today I was in for a great treat, read Dorian Gray in one afternoon. Bewley's Cafe, a terrific restaurant, coffee shop, and theater here in Dublin city center is having a high tea with dramatized excerpts from Dorian Gray this month to coincide with One City One Book. The tea was splendid and the show, even more charming than the scones.


The white arch behind the choir is the original entrance to the concert hall where "Messiah" was performed. Now it's an apartment building.


Lovely songbirds.


The lads.
I also got some video of the Hallelujah chorus, as well as the tenor solo. When I have some spare time I'll get those up!


Tulips today in St. Stephen's green!


Tea food! Not as elaborate as Alice's Tea Cup, but still filling and delicious! I especially liked the cucumber sandwiches and the chocolate muffin...which was really just a cake in muffin form.


The three actors performing in the James Joyce balcony. The boy who played Dorian in the center remained in character the whole time while the two men who played Basil and Lord Henry were also a variety of other characters.


"If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that-I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!"


"You, who know all the secrets of life, tell me how to charm Sibyl Vane to love me! I want to make Romeo jealous, I want the dead lovers of the world to hear our laughter, and grow sad. I want a breath of our passion to stir their dust into consciousness, to wake their ashes into pain. My God, Harry, how I worship her!"


"Wicked, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage."

Needless to say, it's been a good couple days.

Day 81: And my bird can sing!

Today is the best day since yesterday!

Just a few pictures from my great day in Merrion Square park!


Every weekend independent artists from around the Dublin area show their work on the fences around the national gallery. Not gonna lie, I find most of this work just as interesting as that inside the museum.


Finally the trees have some color!


Carlos. If you give a bird a banana.


Me and Carlos looking out at Merrion. We hung out for a little over an hour.


I was actually productive while hanging out in the park. I finished a whole book for my paper, and probably got a sunburn too! Multitasking!


Picnic dinner! Baguette, cheese, butter, fruit and yogurt, dairymilk, what more could you want?

Day 80: Beautiful Dub!

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
-Oscar Wilde


Wow, these are the days that I just love Dublin! It's around 60 degrees, sunny and absolutely gorgeous! Dublinites sure like to celebrate when it's not raining, everyone was out and about today including me and Abby! Here are some pictures from the last couple days.


The two actors that led our literary pub crawl last night! I actually only had one drink, but these actors didn't need any help from alcohol to be entertaining. They told us about different Irish writers, the way that Dublin/pubs played a part in their career and performed monologues from various works. My favorites were the bit from Waiting for Godot ("Nothing happens, twice!") as well as a letter that Oscar Wilde wrote about his experience in a Colorado mining town. He was a big fan of Wild West men.


Daffodils at Collins Barracks! Abby and I made the trek there this morning, it's about an hour walk from our apartment, maybe a bit longer with traffic.


Kind of a drab building, but it hosts the Dead Zoo at Large, a traveling bit of the temporarily closed Natural History Museum. My favorite was the giant Irish deer, Maine moose have nothing on those beasts! We walked so much that Abby and I decided that we deserved some delicious Indian for lunch! One of my favorite restaurants, maloti, has an excellent lunch deal for less than 9 euro. Great Chicken Tikka Masala!


Everbody else was doing it!


This is so great. There was a "Grand Ball" in St. Stephen's today, basically someone dressed up as Oscar Wilde and other Georgian actors dancing! They invited people up on the stage to dance, people were dancing in the grass, we hung out for almost two hours soaking up some rays it was beautiful!

Day 77: Beatles post one!

Liverpool made me what I am - it kept my feet on the ground.

Paul McCartney

Beatles post number one! Here are some of the Beatles-centric pictures I took while in Liverpool, there are plenty more where these came from, but too many for one post!


Outside of the Cavern Pub, Allen took us here on his tour. Across the street is the Cavern Club, not the original but a pretty loyal re-creation. I'm pretty sure it's McCartney approved.


Beatles bench outside of the club.


This is absolutely terrifying. Some sculptor put this statue up shortly after John died. It's Mary holding three babies which were supposed to symbolize John, Ringo and George, and the baby on the right was supposed to be Paul. The baby was to have Wings to represent Paul's new band, you can tell its him because the guitar is in the left hand. However, right before the sculpture went up John was killed and this baby was changed to represent John.


Allen standing next to a sculpture of Eleanor Rigby, the inscription just says "All the Lonely People."


Me and Abby with wall sculpture downstairs in the cavern club.


The Cavern.



Me, Paige and Abby at the cavern club waiting for the Beatles cover band to start playing! This was taken by our new Liverpool friends, an adorable couple in high school.



Blue Meanies!



Really talented group as far as cover bands go!



First stop on the Fab Four Black Taxi Tour, a tribute to Liverpool culture, the guitar case symbolizes Paul McCartney.



On the left, John's art college, on the right George and Paul's school.



Brian Epstein's house. John and Cynthia lived here after they got married to keep their relationship under wraps.


The Empress from the cover of Ringo's solo album.


Margaret lives in Ringo's old house right around the corner from the Empress! She invited us in, offered us tea and lunch and shared with us all her stories about being Ringo's next door neighbor and eventually moving into his house. Pretty much every time Paul McCartney is in town he stops in and has a cup of tea with her. This is one of her walls of memorabilia.



Paige with Margaret in the background. She calls herself a Beatles ambassador.



The social hall on Penny Lane where Paul and his brother attended boy scouts, church events, etc. Eddie Mercury lived in this apartment for a spell.



Penny Lane!



Paul's house with the Liverpool city curator. I'm not completely convinced...I think there might be some McCartney in his blood somewhere.



Paige at the gates by strawberry fields. Strawberry Fields was actually an orphanage by John's House, he would climb over the gates and play with the orphans because he didn't quite get along with school kids his age.



John Lennon's home.



Eleanor Rigby's grave. She died a year before John was born.



This is our tour guide holding up the picture in the spot where the Quarrymen performed the day John met Paul. This was in the backyard of the church, close to Eleanor's grave and John's uncle's grave.



George's house.



In the basement of the Jacaranda, pub owned by Allan Williams, John and his friend Stu Sutcliff painted these walls with lots of crazy retro designs for a couple extra bucks.



Memorabilia on the stage at the Cavern Pub.



Me and Abby in the Cavern Pub.



Paige in a booth at the Grapes! This pub is directly across from the Cavern Club, the Beatles used to run out in between sets to get a pint since the Cavern didn't have a liquor license.



Elvis picture in the Beatles museum.



Quarrymen memorabilia.



Close-up of John in the quarrymen, the photo that the tour guide was holding earlier.



Picture of the boys looking pretty in the Cavern!



Cavern Club recreation in the Beatles museum.



Beatles tights! I want a pair!!



John Lennon Memorial.



Hanging with John outside the Cavern.



Stage at the Cavern Club.



Outside picture of the Grapes!



Gates of the Philharmonic. This pub was just a hop, skip and a jump from John's art school. He said he missed getting a drink there after he was famous. It's also one of the most ornate pubs in England.



Philharmonic dining room.



Fantastic open chicken pie! This place is famous for their meat pies.


Bar at the philharmonic, decadent!

Overall a fantastic experience, I feel like a Beatles expert now!