Remember this place from Barcelona? They have one in Dublin too (Veronica, this is for you):
The next day, we went to the National Museum of Archaeology to see the bog bodies. Over 2,000 years old and incredibly well preserved by the peat bogs, many have been found along ancient tribal boundaries, and are therefore thought to be the victims of ritual sacrifices concerning sovereignty and fertility. You know, these guys:
Actually, that one's from Denmark, but he's the most famous (and actually has a face, which helps with publicity and all). Here are some of the ones I saw (Photo credit for these goes to Google images, by the way, as we weren't allowed to take pictures of the exhibit):
It was amazing. I could see the lines on torso guy's hands, his fingerprints. In many cases, the internal organs were so well preserved that we know what the person's last meal was. One tends to forget that the bodies in museums were once people. We know what they last ate and where their hair gel came from (France or Spain, in the case of mowhawk guy up there), but not who they were, what their lives were like, who they loved, how their voice sounded, if anyone missed them. It's interesting to think of one's own body being on display in the distant future, as something instead of someone. When all who remember you are dead, is that when you cease to be? When you are no longer you but instead a brittle, fleeting shell, a list of facts, or just another vanishing in the world's collective memory...
ahem. I will stop waxing philosophic now. Suffice it to say, I quite enjoyed the exhibit. Anyways, we got lunch at pretty much the best little bakery/cafe in the world: Queen of Tarts (thanks Gerv for the recommendation). It has incredible scones.
We also attempted to hit up Dublin Castle across the way, but the tours were sold out. Bummer.
We spent much of the rest of the day wandering through parks. The were all so beautiful and verdant and floral and...arboreal...
I love these! And I also love the purple flowers in this little cemetery:
The next day found me on my own, as Neeta had to study for exams. I decided to head to the little fishing village of Howth (rhymes with quoth; thanks to Drew for the recommendation) about half an hour outside of Dublin (after another stop at Queen of Tarts and the comic shop). It's a really cute little town on what was probably once an island but is now connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. An island known as the "Eye of Ireland" lies right outside of the harbor and there are several hiking trails on the surrounding cliffs. I appear not to have taken any pictures of the actual town.
I had heard that there was ferry to the island, so I thought I'd do that first. I went for a walk along the wharf searching for said ferry, and came across two guys and a little boat. A really little boat. In fact, I was the only one on the "ferry" on the way over. Once to the island, I disembarked on a treacherous staircase half covered with seaweed that ended in the rocks after a few steps. At least group of people got on board to go back, though, reassuring me that I wasn't the only one crazy enough to brave the Eye.
The ferry chugged off, leaving me stranded until it came back "in an hour or so". Great. Well, I decided that this would be an adventure and set off to explore. I started by exploring the area around the ferry landing, including the den of some kind of death vole:
Pretty flowers and pretty lichen:
Rocks and birds (a big theme on the island):
And a tower. No, I didn't climb the rope. I really wanted to, but I have next to no upper body strength and was stuck carrying a purse, a jacket, a bag of books (sans handles- really, Ireland, improve your bag quality), and a bag of scones. I probably could've just left them on the ground, but there was some random girl sleeping next to the tower (pictured- to the left) and some random guy taking pictures of the birds nearby (not pictured- to the right) and I decided not to risk it.
Anyways, I then continued my exploration by climbing the high, craggy bluff, encountering many birds and a few pillars on my way up.
At the top:
The closest thing to a "trail" on the island:
I made my way along the ridge to sheer cliffs, an almost island, and a ton of birds at the other end:
I also managed to lose my camera case (and who knows what else) somewhere around there. Fabulous. Some views from the top:
See that little stone building? I couldn't wait to explore it, but I decided to completely circumnavigate the island first. Results: a lot of birds, a lot of rocks, a lot of seaweed, and the most disgusting beach ever.
Who wants to go swimming?
When I was still descending on the far side of the island, I saw the ferry come and go. No problem, I thought, it'll be back in an hour. In the meantime, I thought I'd explore the building. Now, when viewed from above, it looks ever so pleasantly situated in an idyllic field ripe for frolicking. In reality, however, that emerald meadow is in fact a death trap of tangled, thigh-high jungle growth and insects. I named it "raptor grass" while slogging through, as I fully expected several velociraptors to leap out from where they had been silently stalking me at any second (a la Jurassic Park). I'd recommend bringing a machete. Not pictured: fun.
When I eventually (finally, oh thank God!) reached the building, this is what I found:
(i.e. not a whole lot). I then had to slog back to the beach. I had been keeping my eye on the water and hadn't seen the ferry, so I figured it should leave Howth any time. I sat down by the "stairs" and ate a scone and waited. And waited. And waited. The tide went out. A group of Spaniards came down from the ridge and went swimming (ew), then had a picnic. A couple of boys got their boat back into the water after the receding tide had left it beached. I waited. And waited. And waited. The sun started creeping down (and remember, I still wanted to hike). Finally, finally, FINALLY, the ferry came. Since the tide went out, the "ferry" "docked" at an even crappier location. It looked worse from above, I promise:
We had to sit on the wet, slimy rock and scoot down into the boat. Because walking around with a wet spot and algae bits on your butt is clearly a desirable state of affairs. Anyway, a group of Italians ferried in with the Spaniards and I. I started talking with one, who said that they'd lived in Ireland for a few years but were originally from Bologna! Serendipity =D We had a lovely chat during the ride in, though at one point he gave me this really odd look and asked, "Is that a heart on your shirt?" I replied that yes, yes it was, at which point he said, "... it's got blood spurting out..." Yeah. This being a smiling, dancing heart (the anatomical version) with "I got the beat" written under it. Hurray for creeping strangers out.
After being stranded on the island for several hours, I was pretty hungry, so upon arriving ashore I bought some fish and chips to go and ate it in the park by the marina. I then decided that there was still enough sun to go hiking, so commenced the second leg of my adventure.
The Eye, viewed from afar:
This guy looks like he escaped from an old-time prison:
The trails were absolutely stunning. I decided to take the longest trail (around 5 miles up and down hills and along the cliffs, ending with the "Bog of Frogs" in the middle of Howth's peninsula). It was beautiful in the sunset.
The pass of Cirith Ungol:
Old something or other found on the beach:
I lost the trail at one point and ended up in a residential area, where I ran into an adorable old British couple who had decided to spend the night in their car in a parking lot and hike the trail the next day. They showed me their trail maps and told me all about how their son had studied in southern Indiana and they'd never seen a place so racially homogenous (America?! Really???). Anyways, it was pretty dark by the time I wandered through the bog, though the moon was huge and yellow on the horizon.
I was exhausted by the time I got back into town, at which point I had to take the train back to Dublin and walk around 10 or 15 minutes into town to catch the bus to get back to Neeta's. I think I fell asleep instantly, only to wake up at 5 to head to the airport. Oh, and I found this store while waiting for the bus:
All in all, while I had a fun mini trip, I really want to go back and see more of Dublin and of course Ireland as a whole. There's so much to do! That kind of applies to everywhere though. Well, it's really late here and I'm going to close for now, but I'll leave you with some bologna sights now that it's spring. The view from Villa Spada, my favorite park:
The rats are everywhere, including the Giardini Margherita:
Ari introduced me to a gelato shop where they make it look like a rose:
I love flowers! Bologna in the springtime is a lot nicer than Bologna in the winter. These are kind of like lilacs and smell wonderful:
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