Hey Everyone,
Sorry for the long delay in posting, but things have been busy with finals here. Tomorrow is my comparative capital punishment final (oh joy!) and then on Friday I have European legal history. Both should be very boring and I have no desire to study (hence the blogging).
Dublin. I'm pretty sure its Irish for "smells like piss." Seriously though, when I went three years ago it was not as dirty as it currently is. I understand Temple Bar is going to be dirty. It's all drunk kids leaving every type of body fluid in the street. This is why they hose it down each morning. But, when you're outside of the party zone, you'd expect it to smell pretty, right? [Note: I still don't know why they can't get the whole sewer gas smell controlled in Europe. For seriously people!] Well, it seems as if the yo'cals enjoy peeing on the monuments no matter which neighborhood you're in, ergo, the city of piss.
Thursday we took a train to the city and then went to the Four Courts (supreme court). It was rather interesting. We got to meet a high justice who had practiced in Chicago for some time, and we also sat in on a murder trial. Now, if this trial had taken place in the US, there would be every type of objection possible. The poor man was accused of murdering his wife. They just let him sit on the stand and ramble on and on. He kept getting his dates confused and the judge would just keep asking more questions. It was just bad. Plus, the poor bloke had to go in front of an all white jury, and he was black and foreign. They pretty much wrote him off from the get-go, so I don't know how I feel about the integrity of the Irish justice system. Although, from what we could gather, the salad at St. Joseph's Hospital is top notch!
That night we all went out in Temple Bar and had a pretty good time. Three of us went home earlier to what is quite possibly the 8th circle of hell. You've read Dante's and you know that the 7th circle has the friggin' devil frozen waste down in ice, blowing cold win on 3 poor bastards. Well, we must have been below the ice because no one could sleep due to the extreme heat. IT was awful. I have never felt more disgusting after a crappy sleep. Plus, to make matters worse, the toilet wouldn't flush and when you have 8 people to the room, that can be problematic. Needless to say, the next night we stayed somewhere else. Thanks KU for sparing no expense in your choice of the shittiest hostels on earth! I took 3 showers within 24 hours when I got back to Limerick.
Friday was spent seeing all the sites in Dublin via the Dublin Tour Bus. We went to Trinity College, Dublin Castle, Guinness, Jameson, and walked back along the quays. It was awesome (especially the Guinness factory, my home). It was just a relaxed day spent seeing the sights and imbibing in a little drink. This, my friends, is the essence of Dublin. It makes up for all the crap that you have to put up with on the streets. That night we went to a local pub and listened to some live Irish music. The singer was awesome and we shanked some CDs. I think I can sing Molly Malone pretty well now. Get me drunk enough and I'll share my best rendition with you!
Saturday we just headed up and down Grafton Street before taking an early train back. I realize now why I don't take trains. I think we went through a black hole in the middle of Ireland because it seemed like 18 hours before we got back to Limerick. But, I guess if you're in no hurry anywhere, they'll do the trick.
Now I must go back to studying. Not much time left in Ireland. We have a banquet tomorrow at the local pub, which should really help the studying for legal history. I also don't think I can eat one more meal at a pub ever again. I love pub food. It's good. It's hardy. It's usually cheap. But my heart is giving out on me, so fruit and veggies will be the order of the day once I return to the US.
See you soon!
PS-I'm not bitter, just tired and stressed. Dublin is fun.
Tom
