A Bit of Craic ("fun" in Irish)

Dublin has been named a UNESCO City of Literature.  I had never heard this distinction before and this is how it's described on its website:

Dublin is a UNESCO City of Literature, one of 20 UNESCO Cities of Literature worldwide.
With four Nobel prize winners (Yeats, Beckett, Shaw and Heaney), a number of universities of global distinction in Trinity and UCD (University College of Dublin), over half a dozen books festivals, the internationally prestigious Dublin Literary Award and a world class new city library in the planning, it is without doubt that Ireland’s capital has "words in its blood".

So I've spent some time exploring this.

My first "encounter" was to visit the James Joyce Center.  I learned a great deal about his challenging and controversial novel "Ulysses".  Some say it is "the" novel of the 20th century, which is started by many, finished by very few.  I have never read it.  Maybe that's because according to many accounts (including one from a gentleman named Frank, who I met at a library lecture), this book is very, very difficult to read and understand and Frank admitted, sheepishly, that he only managed to get half way through and then gave up.  Maybe some day I'll give it a try!

The story revolves around 24 hours in the life of Leopold Bloom and takes place in Dublin.  There are many references to local areas.  At the J.J. Center is the original front door of No. 7 Eccles Street (Leopold Bloom’s home),

Door of Leopold Bloom's home

Another activity was participating in a Literary Pub Crawl, which is a walking tour of Dublin's historic pubs lead by two actors who introduce the writers (Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and Brenden Behan) and perform scenes from some of their works. 

 Frank and Kevin doing a scene from "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett

Our actors/guides told us amusing stories and said we should remember some of the info because there would be a quiz at the end of the evening and the person who answers the most questions wins a tee-shirt.  Well, guess what?  I won!  All those years practicing with Jeopardy has finally paid off!

One size fits all beer bellies:  XXL

An additional experience was to attend a play at the Abbey Theater, which is the National Theater of Ireland.  We saw "Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme" written in 1985 by Frank McGuinness.  The play is about the experiences of eight unionist men from Ulster in the First World War.  Both the acting and production were excellent and the universal story of loyalty/friendship/angst/war was very compelling.  Theater doesn't get any better than this!

The Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme

 

Another fun thing:  The Little Museum of Dublin is all about the city's history up to the end of the 20th century and is quite charming.  This Georgian building is full of historical documents and decorative arts over the last 200 years.

This room was 1900-1920

There is even a whole room devoted to the musician Bono and and his band U2 (obviously, a favorite son).

 Cool guitar from U2

  

The Little Museum is also home to an civic initiative called City of a Thousand Welcomes (thanks, Marcos). They pair local volunteers with visitors to the city and send them off for a free cup of tea, coffee or a pint. There "ambassadors" are not professional tour guides, but they offer great advice about the best things to do and see in Ireland.

Of course I had to sign up!  I was paired up with Brian, a friendly and knowledgeable 74-year old former car mechanic.  His hobbies are history, travel and meeting people.  We had a grand time drinking tea in the Georgian-era Merrion Hotel (President Obama stayed here on his last visit).  What a delight to meet a local and be able to ask all my questions!  It was a blast!

 Enjoying a tea in elegant surroundings

And so, dear blog readers, this ends our time in Dublin.  We really just loved being in Ireland and hate to say goodbye as there is MUCH more to see.

Next stop:  MADRID!