Today was a pretty good day. I got up around 730 and got ready and went and ate my free breakfast, and then headed out for the day. I had to be in front of this one hotel at 10:25 for my tour to Newgrange, but I left the hotel around 845 or so to go and see some stuff before I left for the day.
I walked down O'Connell street with all the people walking to work and I walked all the way up to Parnell Square to see the Garden of Remembrance. This garden was created to honor all those who have fought and died for Irish independence. It is sort of off the beaten path...at least above where all the tourists end up going, and it was way smaller than I expected. There was a big reflecting pool in the shape of a cross and a statue at the end, and some engravings on the wall...pretty flowers and some benches, but it was just somehow...lacking. You would think that a monument to those who fought for the independence and freedom of your country would be grand and I don't know...just something more than it was. I sat there for a little while and thought about all I had learned and I was really disheartened. Those people had so much passion and vigor for what they were fighting for...for Ireland and for their homeland, and only reminents of that fevor remain. Those who are too hardcore about their Irish nationality are just labeled extremists even though it was those same extremists that created Ireland as we know it today.
I still had a bunch of time to kill before my bus would arrive so I walked back down O'Connell street and looked in some shops, then went and stood in front of the hotel for half an hour. It was interesting just to watch the people walk by. I do the same thing at home, but in Dublin there are some REALLY itneresting people. So my bus arrived and I got on, and we headed to the Hill of Tara and Newgrange.
To be quite honest I was pretty dissapointed with both places, especially the Hill of Tara. It is basically a giant grass field...with a bunch of sheep in it, and a couple of higher patches. Granted the view is pretty spectacular...you can see for miles around (even though it wasnt that clear) but I don't know I just felt like I was trapsing around someones backyard.
We arrived at Newgrange and it was pretty cool. I do think the best part was our hot tour guy though. It is really amazing to think that people who lived thousands of years before us could build things that would last till modern times, especially when they had none of the building technology that we have today. It is also interesting to note that stone age people were TINY! Every tomb and thing I have been to that was made during that time, for people, is so small...much smaller than we are today.
Once I got home from the tour I had to get ready to meet Hannah and JR an hour later for dinner. It was really nice to see them, we had a really great dinner, and I forgot how much I liked them. They are really nice, and we had great conversations about being abroad and just everything in general. They even paid for my dinner. :) After dinner I headed back to my hotel, and I was going to go out again, but I am exhausted...and I have to get up early tomorrow. Tomorrow starts my travels with a CAR...it should be an experience to remember, I'm sure of it.
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