Dublin continues to delight students.
Here's a snapshot of what students studying abroad with Tisch School of the Arts did this past week.
The Weekend: Valentine's in Cork and Blarney
A group of six of us headed to Cork and Blarney for the weekend and took in the holiday in style. It was wonderful, from an afternoon at the beautiful Blarney Castle to the unexpected sing-along we ran into in a bar on our way home at the end of the night. We all got our Valentine’s Day kisses in the Blarney Stone at the very top of the castle.The next day we spent touring around Cork city, and were taken by the beautiful churches, the mural on Mutton Lane (dedicated to everyone except for George Bush), and a street performer that I know I will remember as a highlight of the semester.
Tuesday: A Couple Artistic Excursions
Those enrolled in the Modern Irish Theatre class here in Dublin got a chance to visit the Ark Cultural Center For Children and take in a play by Marina Carr entitled The Giant Blue Hand. Selina Cartmell, who apparently is the current big deal in the Irish theatre, directed it. The children’s story (which I would liken to something Roald Dahl or Tim Burton would have come up with) was very creatively done, and even though we were older than the average audience member by a good twelve years, it made for a great afternoon. For more information about the play and the theater, visit http://www.ark.ie/
That evening, the gang scored free tickets to a screening of the documentary Mise Eire (after the Patrick Pearse poem, which translates to ‘I am Ireland’), at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the film’s release, and the director received a lifetime achievement award from the festival before the screening. The film centered around the 1916 Rebellion here in Dublin, which perfectly coincided with what we are learning about in our Irish History, Culture, and Artistic Expression Class. For more information about the film and the festival, visit http://www.jdiff.com/
This Weekend: The Group Heads To Belfast
We’re heading to Northern Ireland to take in a Brian Friel play, as well as a tour of the city, and likely some late night dancing with history teacher Tommy Graham. We’ll make sure to take lots of pictures.
More about the The Weekend: Valentine's in Cork and Blarney
Valentine's day dawned drear and bleary - most of us had gotten scarcely more than a couple hours of sleep, and so were not in the mood to rise at 8. Nevertheless, quarter 10 found us yawning yet excited on board Bus Eireann to Cork. There were four of us at that point, but were joined by two more who had caught the 8 o'clock bus; at final count, it was Kristine, Olga, Katie, Noah, Dylan, and myself. We had just time enough to drop our bags at Sheila's Hostel (just 10 euro a head!) and do a run-through the English market downtown before catching yet another bus. This one shuttled us off to our own date - for on Valentine's day in Ireland, what else is there to do but kiss the Blarney Stone?So that's what we did. Like a windswept human assembly line, we were helped down and slid out over the edge of the parapet. We had a brief vertiginous view of the postage stamp castle grounds as we brushed our lips against the moist stone. Then our photo was snapped and we were rolled back from the edge, bearing now the gift of gab and several thousand more microbes. Needless to say, the enchantment of the castle was the architecture (featuring reed-worked ceilings and upper level kitchens), not the stone.
The true magic of Blarney, however, was the surrounding Sidhe forest. The next couple of hours we spent wandering the trails and brooks beyond the castle, clambering over moss-cloaked stones and the Witch's Stair. A particular high point was spent in Druid's Glade, where we just sat in silence and listened to the robins sing and ravens croak. The air smelled sweet, perfumed by the burst blooms of the hazel wood. . .there we stayed until the sun was no more than a few burnished orangey clouds in the west.
As if the day couldn't get any better, after a delicious supper at a non-touristy Kelly's restaurant we hit the pubs. Though absolutely exhausted, we were in search for good Cork craic. We bounced from place to place on St. Patrick's Street, but after a time decided to head homewards. This sojourn was cut happily short by a Valentine's guitar sing-along in a quay-side pub. When we finally sunk into our fire engine red bunks at 3am, it was after a grand time of dancing and singing without abandon to songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama," "Help!," and "It's a Dirty Old Town."
Sunday was also an embarrassment of riches. We grabbed a coffee and scone in the delicious Cork Roasters before setting off to tour a church (famed for its fish-shaped spire) and the renowned Cork Butter Museum. And though they were both closed, we instead found the beautiful St. Paul and Peter's church, a stunning mural (dedicated to "everyone except George Bush"), and a street guitarist with the voice of a nightingale.
Sunday afternoon found us back on Bus Eireann, watching the sheep-dotted hills smudge past. Though we barely caught the bus, and thus were all cadged in all different seats, we all had identical smiles.
In a word, it was a perfect weekend.
Cheers,
Alexandra Hudson
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