Dublin!

Dublin is absolutely gigantic. We arrived last night and so today was our first full day in this metropolis. Over half of the population is under the age of 40, so it really is a bumping city! Today we had a tour guide take us to Glendalaugh, the remains of a medieval monastery outside of Dublin. It started to rain pretty hard so our tour through the ruins were quick, although very beautiful. It was the monastery of St. Kevin, and there stood a round tower (specific to Ireland) and the remains of his cathedral. It was pretty neat, but I must admit, you can only see so many old ruins before they all start to look similar to one another... hehe. Anyway, we had lunch there and then headed to the Martello Tower where James Joyce lived with two of his friends. It is also the inspiration for many of the scenes in his famous novel, Ulysses, including the opening scene. The tower was built hundreds of years ago as a way to ward off foreigners, and when Joyce lived there with his friends they only had to pay £8 a month. We went inside and so that was quite interesting. The walls are 8 feet thick so the staircase is tiny tiny tiny. Hard to imagine living there, but it makes more sense knowing who Joyce is and the caliber of his writing. After that it was on to Kilmainham Goal, a very old prison where the men who initiated the Irish Easter Uprising of 1916 were executed. It was a nice tour, and very very cold inside. That would be torture enough for me! It was a long day and we were all so tired from travelling all day yesterday. Tomorrow we have class in the morning and then a walking tour of some other sites in Dublin, including Trinity College. Our quaint hotel is actually right across the street from it! Anyway, not much else to report, other than I am getting so ready to come home. I miss everyone incredibly and am looking forward to landing on American land. We are going to three plays while we are here and have lots of class time so that will help make the rest of this week go by fast. I love you all and absolutely cannot wait to see you soon!!!
Love,
Louisa