More pictures from Dublin – it was so much fun walking around, visiting the parks, and watching people.
Tag: dublin
Henrietta Street 14 Museum
Sure, it was funny, cool, and special to visit a museum on the street with my name:
But regardless of the name, the house’s history is remarkable, and the museum is extremely interesting. That’s what I have been repeating to myself for the last couple of weeks since I returned from Ireland: yes, these days, you can find all information on the internet, but I would never think about looking up this information if I won’t visit Ireland, and if my incredible friends won’t take me everywhere!
So, back to Henrietta’s street. In the 1700s, it was a place where noble Irish families lived, and this particular house was occupied by the family of Lord Viscount Molesworth. But after 1801, when the power moved to London, and all noble families followed, this house went through major transformations. After being used for different offices, in 1876, the building was bought to be converted into a rental property. Shame on me, but I didn’t know that “communal apartments” were not invented in the Soviet Union. Apparently, in Dublin, a tenement was an 18th or 19th-century townhouse adapted to house multiple families. Thus, Henrietta Street 14, instead of being a home for one family, became a home for over 100 people.
The museum shows all stages of the house’s history: several 18th-century restored rooms would give an idea of how the Lords lived, and several restored flats represent different living conditions for families on different socio-economical levels.
I took very few pictures because I was very busy listening to the tour. It is astonishing how much life in the tenements was similar to life in the “communal apartments” in the Soviet Union.
During my first full day in Ireland, I walked more than 30,000 steps!
The Trinity College And The Book Of Kells
I know you do not have to visit Ireland to learn about the Book of Kells, and most like, it would be better if I knew about it beforehand – then, I could be more appreciative in advance of what I was going to see. In case you are like me and had never heard about it before, it’s an amazing 800 A.D. manuscript containing four canonic gospels (BTW, I thought that the four gospels were canonized later, but that happened in the 4th century!) This amazing manuscript was produced by four monks who copied the text and three illustrators.
The wiki page for the Book of Kells reproduces a lot of illustrations and provides a lot of historic contexts. And obviously, you can’t take pictures of the book itself, so that’s the only way you can have an idea of how it looks like. Just one thing I want to say – it feels surreal when you think you are looking at the book produced 1200 years ago and think about real-life humans who did it!
Here are some pictures from the exhibition about the Book of Kells:
Backfilling: A Walk To The Lighthouse
I am on my way to Helsinki from Paris, and tomorrow, I will fly back to Chicago. There are 400+ photos in my picture gallery, and I know that the moment I am back in Chicago, other things will take priority. That’s why I will try to show more while I am still en route.
Going back to my first day in Dublin, I discovered that the air temperature felt different than in Chicago, and what I thought of as late spring weather was anything but. The first day was the warmest, even with the strong winds from the sea.
Dublin, Day 2
Walking through the city after the parade. These windows to the underground structures are made inside a busy supermarket.
It was surprising that there were not so many people on the streets!
Other Pictures From Saint Patrick’s Day Parade In Dublin
I made tons of very short videos to capture the dynamics of the parade, and the easiest way to show them here is by embedding the Instagram posts. Take a look, and scroll through them – there are several videos in each!
Saint Patrick’s Day Parade In Dublin
It is very different from what we have in Chicago, and I am so glad I was here today! What an amazing experience!
Everybody asked me whether it was different from the Chicago Saint Patrick’s Day parade – and it was. It was a little bit shorter (two hours at any point of the parade route) and way less loud. The streets were not as crowded as in Chicago. There were fewer bagpipe bands and fewer Celtic dances, no politicians, no elected officials, and no political parties. Noboby was giving away goodies. There were many American marching bands – go figure! And there were a lot of beautiful floaters!
It will take me some time to post even a small fraction of pictures, just a few today!
First Day In Dublin
It’s great to see old friends after many years! It’s great to get to know a new country you never visited before.
All great. We took a long walk to the Lighthouse, visited the national Irish Gallery, when to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells…
And St Patrick Day is tomorrow – I can’t wait!