Dublin- All Hallow's Eve and a Couple of Ghoulish Ghosts

My trip to Dublin was full of all of the tricks and treats of wonderful Halloween weekend. During the day visited historic monuments and sites, and at night we joined the celebrations in the pubs. Dublin is the birthplace of All Hallows Eve sharing with the world the tales of Dracula and the Jack’O Lantern. Our visit revealed these wonders and opened the door to so many other tales of Ireland I had yet to know.

Our first night out in Dublin!

Live music at Temple Bar!

A gnome, a cat and a lumber jack.

The first night we arrived we were all excited to see the nightlife of Dublin, especially on this Halloween weekend. I was eager to meet up with my friends whom I hadn’t seen in weeks! We dropped our belongings of at the hostel and found our way into the city. Temple Bar Pub was our first stop of the night. The pub is famous for its role in the movie “P.S. I Love You” and was certainly on our list of places to see. This first night everyone was dressed up in ghoulish gear and the pubs were adorned in cobs webs and spooky ghosts in lure of the holiday. I loved how all the street corners bend into courtyard where live music streams out of the pubs and onto the streets. Everyone was so jolly as they listened to music and passed through the corner pubs and onto the next one. I was so excited to see my friends and to be in Dublin that I looked at my watch and was astounded it was already 2:00 AM. Our first night really flew by! It was time to head back to the hostel, rest up and prep for All Hallows Eve.

St. Patrick's Cathedral on a beautiful fall day.

I was overwhelmed with colorful patterns
and designs when I entered the Cathedral.

Happy Halloween! This next morning we awoke on a very festive Saturday ready to enjoy all the historical sites of Dublin and the spookiness of the holiday. Our first stop was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. On this toasty fall day, we walked from the hostel to the cathedral enjoying our first few moments of Dublin during the day. The Cathedral stood beautiful tall over fresh greenery and piles of orange leaves. I was encapsulated by the sensations of fall, which made it evermore clear that today was Halloween. Inside the Cathedral, stain glass windows, patterned tile work and ancient structures beamed from every direction. Each element told a story of Irelands past.  One particular aspect I liked were the hanging of the flags. Recovered flags hung in a corner of the museum where they were left until they naturally deteriorated. At this point, they would then be preserved. I really loved how this part of the museum also had a memorial to World War I. An iron tree stood in the center of the room in which people could write down their thoughts about the war and join them to an ever-growing pile. Having a collection of flags of all levels of preservation behind this monument really gave this quarter of the Cathedral a very patriotic and emotional aura. St. Patrick’s Cathedral was one of the highlights the trip. The beautiful art, history and emotions I experienced in the Cathedral will stay with and hopefully become a place for inspiration.

Jail door

Cells in the jail

Looking into the jail cell.

Afterwards, we left the museum and joined the “Hop on; Hop off bus to our next destination. These buses are such a great way to see the city because not only are they accompanied by a narrative of Dublin, but also stop at major focal points. Our next journey took us to the historic jail of Dublin. After we bought our tickets for the actual tour, we visited the museum and learned about the stories of the jail. Here we read letters from prisoners, looked at various political documents and learned about prison practices. It was interesting to learn that the age of prisoners extended from childhood through adulthood and for a variety of crimes. Many of these issues born out of simply a need for food or money and the conditions they faced in the jail were rather bleak. In between the museum and the tour we stopped for a lovely lunch at a pub. It was the perfect way to dine and enjoy a warm meal after a day out walking the streets of Dublin in the fall. After a delightful lunch, it was time for the very anticipated tour of the jail. On the tour, we learned about the life of the prisoner and the methods of the jail. We saw both the jail cells as well as the execution area. Famous prisoners include various politicians fighting for Irish independence. Their stories each harness a very emotional story and together reveal a deep appreciation for the courage of these leaders. They are the collective tale of Irish past and pride. After quite an emotionally exhausting tour, the only thing that seemed fitting was to move along with our tour of Dublin. We hopped back on the bus and enjoyed a bit more sightseeing.

A very unique sculpture outside the jail is dedicated to the Potato Famine in Ireland. Many of the prisoners ended up in this very prison because for stealing a loaf of bread and other food during this famine.

Trinity College certainly has a very large and powerful presence. I loved all the stone buildings and greenery in the campus center.

Inside the library where famous texts and
novelties are on display.

Our next journey took us to Trinity College. I love seeing the University in each city I travel to. It’s always interesting to observe the different livelihood of each institution and when there maybe parallels to my own. Lucky for us, it was graduation! We saw students adorned in robes all celebrating quite an academic success. I loved how their robes were adorned in white fluffy embellishments. It was definitely a unique signature to the classical robe. We headed into the school’s library to visit the very famous Book of Kells. It’s really something special to see such a rare and prized possession on display right in front of you. I read about these in class and moreover learned about it on my tour of the museum. Being able to translate this knowledge into the artifact in front of you really elevates the experience to something completely unique onto its own. I also really enjoyed the university library in the museum. The library catalogued famous texts and iconic originals such as The Hobbit. In the library, I could really hone in on books and tales that were once merely a small preoccupation of my mind. Maybe they will ignite some creative inspiration of my very own.

We walked through one of the famous shopping streets in Dublin on our way home. I loved the festive decorations that hung throughout the street. 

All dressed up and ready for Halloween!
 We were quite the collective crew of costumes
 from Alice and Wonderland crew, soldiers, prisoners and a vampire, 

Penguins waddling down the streets of Dublin.
 Everyone was dressed up in costume
 and celebrating Halloween.

Alice and the Ticking
 Clock Bunny

Later in the evening, it was time to prepare for the real Halloween celebrations. We dressed up in our costumes and headed to a pub crawl. My friends and I dressed up as the characters form Alice and Wonderland. I was Alice and my friends were the Cheshire Cat, Ticking Time Bunny and the Queen of Hearts. Everyone got really into dressing up, which made the night that much more fun. The streets were covered in people decorated in all sorts of spooky and amusing costumes. I saw a family of vampires, the occasional pumpkin and even a pair of waddling penguins. The street squares were full of people enjoying the holiday. People popped in and out of pubs, stopping to complement someone on their ghoulish costume along the way. It was a very festive atmosphere and one that certainly embraced the spirit of All Hallows Eve.

The Alice and Wonderland crew!

Grace and I at Guinness Storehouse!

Pint of Guinness

The next morning we awoke and headed for a very exciting stop to the Guinness Storehouse. Here we learn all about the brewery and how a pint of Guinness ends up at pubs all around the world. We saw the machinery that goes into brewery, smelled aromas such as Hops and tried our very own pint of the “black stuff.” One of my favorite stops was the Gravity Bar at the top of the factory. The views of Dublin up here are some of the best. Light enters the rooms from very glass pain window and reflects onto a very bustling and ecstatic crowd. Everyone is enjoying a pint of Guinness and reflecting on the stories and ideologies of Guinness they had heard floors below. Up here my friends and I enjoyed reminiscing on our experiences in Dublin thus far and planning our next adventures.

My friends and I in front of the Guinness waterfall on the tour

The Gravity Bar at the top of Guinness Storehouse are some of the best in the city!

Crossing one of Dublin's historic bridges

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city and enjoying famous Dublin quarters. As we walked from the antique quarter and into Old Town, we passed many churches historic buildings. Old Town was my favorite area in Dublin because it embodies a very local and friendly character. Old cobblestone streets bend and curve onto each other so that they create small pockets of quaint quarters. Antique, yet colorful buildings are aligned with iron gates and give the area a true village atmosphere. Old Town neighbors the canal and is decorate by a series of bridges. We also walked across one of Dublin’s famous bridges and enjoyed its pearly iron fixtures. This bridge offers a particularly wonderful view down the canals and is perched just high enough to view the streaming color buildings that align the canal. Many of the pubs and local shops are in this area as well. I feel as though I could have spent an entire day wandering up and down the side streets and following my curiosities to various storefront windows and shops. In Old Town, I felt sense of a community inviting me and other visitors in.

Pretty views overlooking Old Town

Pizza bus! The colorful walls and old school seating made
this play a very unique spot to dine.

            After a long day of touring the city of Dublin we headed back to the hostel to prep for the night ahead. For dinner we went to this really awesome Pizza Parlor part of a pub. The Pizza shop was a reconstructed bus fit with a kitchen and seating upstairs. I loved all the wonderful colors that decorated the bus and gave it a real retro feel. The bus cornered the back of the pub to create a courtyard where people sat and enjoyed dinner and a beer.  We spent the last evening together dancing to classic songs and entertaining ourselves with the joys of the classic pub. We found one pub that we particularly like and ended up staying there the whole night. It was the perfect spot to celebrate a wonderful weekend in Ireland and live up our last few hours here.

Grace and I enjoying our last night in Dublin!

            Sunday morning came along and it was time to pack up our belongings and head back to Edinburgh. After a very lively, and rather ghoulish weekend, in Dublin we were all ready to head home. Dublin was a really special place to spend Halloween. It was the chance to learn a little bit more about a holiday I had been celebrating throughout my life and in a place where many of these traditions originated. Beyond Halloween, it was also really wonderful to learn about the history of Ireland. As a political science major, I feel as though I gained a better understanding of the Irish independence movement. Having the opportunity to see the artifacts and places firsthand and learn the stories of those who sacrificed and strived for the pride of their country is really something to be valued. There is true power in being able to learn about something and then to find yourself face to face with it. It invokes an entirely organic experience. Dublin too reminded me of areas I have already visited. I saw similarities to the canals in Amsterdam and the pubs in Edinburgh. In bridging these connections, I hope to find which places I most desire to travel to next. This weekend was special to me on so many levels. Dublin was an amazing time to spend with friends from all over and those I study with in Edinburgh. As a collection of wanderlust-plagued students, we set out on an adventure in yet a new and inviting city. Here we celebrated, we danced and we learned about a new part of the world. I know that my next will progress the curiosity I found in Dublin. To what it will unearth I await to know.