Whist Your Noise!

Hello everybody! This is Allison, coming to you live and in person from Dublin! Currently I am sitting in a very down-at-the heels internet/international calls center, however they have very comfy ergonomic office chairs, and I don't think internet/international call centers come in any other variety anyway.

Dublin is great! Weather is a bit dodgy right now... Mostly snow today with occasional rain or hail flurries depending on whether or not the temperature has risen or dropped within the last five minutes... But it's March after all, these things are to be expected. Did a number on the brave crocuses that had already bloomed, but the daffodils and hyacinths seem to be doing ok. It's still kind of weird being in a place where things never stop blooming...

I visited the National Museum, the National Gallery, Trinity College Library, Merrion Square, Grafton St., and St. Stephen's Green today. All super-nifty. Especially the Library. Seeing the Book of Kells was incredible, but maybe even better was just seeing the Long Room of the original library, peering up at the enormous shelves, inhaling the smell of old books... It was bliss. Also on display in the Long Room was the oldest harp in Ireland- often incorrectly attributed to Brian Boru- and one of the dozen remaining broadsheets printed on the eve of the Eater Rising. It was incredible. I saw one of the recovered bog bodies in the National Museum. Took me right back to last year's Heaney class. I highly recommend anyone who ever has a chance to visit DO SO!*

I'm booked into a pub about a block from St. Stephen's Green- which is a pretty fashionable address and has been for the past several hundred years, apparently- called O'Donoghues. Apparently, this is a very well known traditional music pub, where the Dubliners first started gigging together in the '60's. Which I did not know when I booked the room and was pretty excited to find out. And I have my own bathroom. In all the years I've been alive I've NEVER not had to share a bathroom. And a double bed even though I booked a single room. And the Spar across the street does a mean Beef Aloo for cheap! So I'm pretty much awesomely and totally pleased with everything!

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm gonna get up bright and early so I can get a good spot for the parade. And then it's on to Galway! I'm taking plenty of cool pictures I can't wait to share with you all when I get back to good Ol' Devon, but till then you're just going to have to wait and wish you were me. Really, and I can't express this enough, you have to see Dublin sometime. I can't even begin to explain how cool it is. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

*Momma, you musn't feel bad you didn't ever visit here. It's odd, but it seems like very few people from the UK do... There are a number of people in my flat who not only have never visited here, but have never even THOUGHT of visiting Ireland... Maybe it doesn't seem like much of a holiday, being so close... But then Blackpool DOES count as a holiday and that's even closer and a bit tawdry... So I don't know... You should come though Mom. It's very worth the visit.