Yesterday's class started with lecture from one of the CEA faculty on the role of place in Irish literature. Students had the good fortune to hear Yeats, Kavanagh, and Heaney in a lovely Irish accent. He also read a long passage from Eimear McBride's A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing as he briefly discussed gender roles in Ireland (this was also a response to my plea that his lecture include some women as well--I've been shocked by how the representation of Irish literature has been so male centric). The students were great sports with pretty difficult material to work with--I was both proud and impressed.
After we finished class for the day, I took students on a brief literary tour of Dublin--which is to say, we walked about and I took them to a few places of literary importance. Because literature isn't my specialty, I always feel a bit inadequate, but Dublin offers up so much as a space for studying literature and writing that my inadequacies are hidden behind her treasure trove of literature and literacy artifacts. Our first stop on the tour was lunch at the National Library of Ireland. The last time Peyton and I were in Dublin, we stopped in here for a cup of tea. I was really taken with the space and thought the students would enjoy the novelty of eating in the library and then taking a look around. We got in trouble for having our phones out in the reading room; you're not supposed to take photos in there. But, it is breathtaking in shades of green and teal: take a look here. You could, however, take photos in other places in the library.
Then, we ventured on over to the Book of Kells and the Long Library at Trinity College. The Long Library gives me a feeling that's more like being in church than any cathedral could. I looked over and a couple students were clearly moved as well. It's the sort of place you could photograph all day long. And, I wish there was smell-o-vision so everyone could inhale the smell of so many books!
After fighting through the hordes of tourists at Trinity, we wandered over to Hodges Figgis, Dublin's oldest bookstore. There's hardly anything more heartwarming than watching a bunch of English majors losing their shit in a giant bookstore. Many of them bought books and all of them spent time touching books for sure. Our last stop of the day was supposed to be the Dublin Writer's Museum, but we were SO exhausted and Tim and I still had a date with the Open Gate Brewery with Peyton, so we let them go early. But, not until we found some gelato. Unfortunately, or not, we don't have any photos to mark the first gelato for many of our students--we were all too wrapped up in the pleasure of the moment to document it. I can set the scene though in Sophia Petrillo style, "Picture it, a hot June day in 2018. A group of beleaguered students and their exhausted faculty arrive at a gelato oasis on Grafton Street. In the background, street musicians are playing Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne' and throngs of bustling Dubliners and tourists shove by. They stand outside the gelato shop eating in companionable silence just enjoying a perfect moment." Also, I had pistachio and rocher gelato (heaven). Tim, weirdo that he is, had bubblegum (barf).
After we collected Peyton we walked to dinner at Bakers Bar--a legitimate old man pub with a very limited bar menu. We have sampled many chips/fries this week and, hands down, Bakers had the best. Also, I love how the Irish love The Quiet Man!
After dinner, we moved on to the Open Gate Brewery. Peyton was desperate to go there the last time we were in Dublin, but it has fairly limited hours. Our tickets entitled us to one small flight of beer from their tasting menu. In my exhaustion, I didn't take a single photo for the rest of the day, but I think Tim did in case you want to check out his blog. In the end, it was one of several perfect days. If Dublin keeps this up, we might never go home!
Comments
Post a Comment