It’s
been a very busy week, and this coming week is liable to be even busier as I
wrap up my studies here (finals are this Friday) and then head to Berlin for a
visit before returning to the States. Before I discuss my plans for the final
installments of my summer blog, though, I should let you know what I’ve been up
to.
The first
exciting event of the week was the Cambridge Shakespeare Company’s rendition of
Macbeth. It was excellently done; the only downside was that it took place
outside, and for almost the entire first act it was raining – one of the few
times it’s actually rained here instead of drizzling. It wasn’t the rain that
was the problem as much as the row of umbrellas blocking my view, but I had a
great time anyway, and rediscovered my love of Shakespeare.
Also
this week in Cambridge, I went on a tour of Trinity College (not to be confused
with Trinity College in Ireland, which I also visited). They have quite a few
famous alumni, including Newton, Frances Bacon, Bertrand Russel, and A. A. Milne.**
We saw the hallway where Newton measured the speed of sound, the courtyard where
they have the Great Court Run in Chariots of Fire, and part of the Library’s
extensive collection. I stayed afterwards for a free student concert, which was
nice and helped me rediscover my love of classical music.
Now, on
to Dublin. I arrived around noon on Saturday and immediately set off to begin
touring. I started with Trinity College of the University of Dublin, where the
Book of Kells*** and a very old Irish Harp can be found. The college is
beautiful, also boasting many important alumni, such as Jonathan Swift, Oscar
Wilde, and Samuel Beckett.
After
this tour, I grabbed lunch, wandered through Merrion Square and St. Stephen’s
Green, and rested for a little while, then headed up to my hotel. After
checking in, I visited the Dublin Writers museum, which paid homage to
everyone from Shaw to Yeats to Joyce, and then stopped by the General Post
Office, where began the 1916 uprising.
Then
(still on Saturday afternoon) I headed across the O’Connell Bridge and
associated monument to see the National Museum of Archaeology, which hosted a
fascinating collection from all periods of Irish history. After this I went to
the National Gallery, because you know by now I can’t resist an Art Museum.
Finally, I headed down to Grafton Street for ice cream, dinner, and a few
souvenirs before heading back to the hotel around 7:30.
However,
despite my busy day, I was in the mood for action and wasn’t tired yet. There
was a movie theater a few minutes’ walk away from me showing Ant-Man, so I
decided I might as well go and see it. I wasn’t expecting to like it overly
much, but it turned out to be really enjoyable. Marvel has obviously discovered
the alchemic formula to turn wacky comic book fodder into blockbuster material.
The
next morning I headed back across the river to St. Patrick’s Park and Cathedral.
The church is very beautiful and holds a lot of objects from Jonathan Swift and
Saint Patrick’s time. I stayed there for a while before heading down to Christ
Church, built on the site of the first church in Dublin, where I stayed for
Sunday morning worship. The choir sang beautifully, the scriptures were read in
deep voices with Irish accents, and the Sermon was about strength in times of
weariness. It was wonderful, although I’m not used to taking the Eucharist with
actual wine.
Before
the service (you’re supposed to donate as a tourist, but obviously you don’t
pay to come to the service) I went ahead and took some pictures, including of
the tomb of Strongbow. After services, they had a short fellowship with tea, coffee,
and biscuits (cookies), which would have been perfectly ordinary, except that
it was held in the crypt. I chatted for a while and then took pictures of that,
too, before heading off again.
I hadn’t
expected Dublin Castle to be open until 2:00, but as it turned out, it opened
at noon, so after grabbing a quick bite to eat, I headed over. The State
apartments were lovely, but the museum was my favorite part of the trip. Not
only did they have beautiful icons, paintings, bible covers, Qurans, and
Egyptian love poetry, but they had parts of our earliest copy of a folio
containing Acts and the four gospels. They also had part of the book of John
dating back to 150-200 AD. Of all the beautiful things in that room, the papyri
kept calling my name; I must have gone back to look at it at least four times.
I still
had some time after visiting the library, so I headed over to the Dublin Wax
Museum, which was on my way back, and took a few pictures before grabbing a
snack and heading to the bus. The trip back went smoothly, and I finished my
30-ish hours in Dublin happily. However, I was still in a touring mood, so this
morning I began the day by visiting the Museum of Classical Archaeology and
Botanical Garden here in Cambridge.
This
post is really long already, but I do want to explain my plans for the blog
before I go. I’ll be spending the end of this week and half of next week in
Berlin, so I won’t be posting again until next Wednesday. I’ll post then about
my time in Berlin, then post one last time on Friday night or Saturday morning
to reflect on my time at Cambridge. And then I’ll be off the grid, but only for
a couple weeks – fall semester is just around the corner!
*Peer Advisors: regular students at the college who answer
questions, lead recreational activities, and etc. At Harvard they’re called
PAFs, for Peer Advising Fellows.
**Author of Winnie the Pooh. I always knew that was
intelligent stuff. :)
Pictures: Obviously, this is only a very, very small percentage of my photos, but here they are - enjoy!
Trinity College, Cambridge - this is the courtyard from Chariots of Fire.
No comments:
Post a Comment