Blackpool (Dublin in Norse)

We wandered through the Irish capital for two days and really got an appreciation for its rich history.  Matthew and I took in a free walking tour which introduced us to many of the colourful characters from Ireland's past. There were also many stories about the Irish struggle for independence and it is hard to not wonder how the Irish can get along at all these days with their former occupier - the British. We visited most of the tourist sights starting with the main street which is O'Connell Street (with the Spire) and Post Office (site of the 1916 Easter Rebellion). The Spire was supposed to be called the Millenium Spire but it was completed in 2003, three years too late. Dubliners don't know what to make of it and have lots of nicknames for it which are too colourful for me to print here. There are lights on top of it so it is often called a multi-million dollar homing device for 3 AM drunks. We also wandered through Temple Bar (where all the tourist pubs are located), Grafton Street (high end shopping), St. Stephen's Green (a beautiful downtown park), and St. Patrick's and Christchurch Cathedrals.

One interesting story about Temple Bar is that a local teenage band called the Hype won a battle of the bands in 1979 and wandered down the street to the Clarence Hotel to celebrate. For some reason (underage, boisterousness, etc.) they were thrown out. As the manager tossed the lead singer out onto the street, the feisty singer yelled, "One day I'm going to come back and buy you out" in a slightly more colourful way. Paul Hewson (later known as Bono) did come back and now U2 owns most of the pubs and hotels in Temple Bar.

Trinity College is home to the ancient Book of Kells which is interesting to see but the real highlight of the tour was spending some time in the Trinity Library. It was very impressive to wander through.

You cannot travel through this part of the world without noticing that EVERYTHING has a Guinness label on it in some form. There is no other drink that comes close to challenging its number one ranking. Budweiser and Molson would kill to have this kind of a hold on their respective countries.
Ireland is an amazing country for many reasons. The green countryside, the incredible coastline, the fascinating and often troubling history, the gazillions of castle and towers, and most of all, its warm and friendly people. We were fortunate to get to know some of them. We stayed outside of Dublin with Mennonite Your Way hosts Martha and Bradley who have lived in Ireland for four years and are raising their children to appreciate the rich Irish heritage all around them.