都柏林!
On Sunday we made our way across the country and arrived in 都柏林, 爱尔兰’s capital. We are staying at 都柏林 City University, a twenty-minute bus ride from the city centre. 所有的学生都有公交卡, and we’ve guided them down into town Monday and Tuesday, and helped to orient them to using public transport.
Monday we did an historical walking tour, focusing mostly on the events of the 1916 Easter Uprising, but also on some other parts of 都柏林’s history. 星期天晚上我们看了电影, 迈克尔·柯林斯, and Monday we saw many of the actual locations from the film. 我们看到邮政总局(GPO), 哈潘尼桥, 圣殿酒吧, 基督教堂, 都柏林城堡, 以及都柏林市政厅.
It seems that much of the city is under construction this year – including a large portion of the DCU campus. At our first two stops in 都柏林 Monday Mike had to compete with the sound of jackhammers and other large power equipment. 通常, the shaded lawn outside Christ Cathedral, which sits on a hill above the din of the city, 是一个平静安静的地方吗, 但是今年, there were four lawn mowers serving as background to Mike’s talk about the 1100 years of Irish history that were represented at this spot. We saw a portion of the original medieval city walls, as well as evidence of Viking settlements. We also walked by the Handel Hotel, the site of the world premiere of Handel’s Messiah in 1742.
After an hour in the classroom on Tuesday morning, 我们乘公共汽车去了基尔梅纳姆监狱, an important location related to the 1916 Rising. 我们的导游, Donal was very engaging and was impressed at how much these American students already knew about the background of the 1916 story.
Thursday’s field trip to Trinity College allowed us to view one page and a lot of supplemental information about the Book of Kells. The Long Room at Trinity College library is an impressive and inspiring space.
As expected, our final week in 都柏林 has flown by. Students are now busy completing their learning journals and consolidating all the information they have taken in about Irish history and culture. Friday morning is the final exam and many optional activities to choose from in 都柏林.
Photos for this entry are in the gallery below: click through the sequence to read the captions.
Thanks to everyone for following along and sharing in our Irish Experience.
