Monday morning marked the beginning of our lectures at Trinity. A large group of college students from Wisconsin and Michigan had been at Trinity since the start of the summer participating in the summer school program so we were technically just sitting in on their classes. Since we were only going to be there for 2 weeks, we were not required to do any homework, but the lectures were really great and extremely interesting. We were learning about Irish drama and literature from some of the most renowned professors Dublin had to offer and even got a few private lectures on Irish history, James Joyce and his Dubliners, and W.B. Yeats. All of our classes were held in the Grand Memorial Building (pictured above) which had to be the most beautiful on campus. We normally had 2-3 lectures per day in the morning and then the afternoons were normally full of tours and outings.
On Monday we toured St. Patrick's Cathedral and Dublin Castle by way of the hop on-hop off Dublin City tour bus. St. Patrick's has got to be the most exquisite place I have ever visited. The stained glass windows alone were enough to make Donald Trump go weak in the knees. I loved being able to see all the detailings in the architecture and to get a better glimpse at the history of religion in Ireland and to learn about the lifelong rivalry between St. Patrick's and Christchurch. The interior of St. Patrick's is also marked as the final resting place of Jonathan Swift and his lady love "Stella." Swift was once Dean of the University of St. Patrick's and learning about his life and most especially his famous love triangle was definitely a highlight to the experience. 
Dublin Castle was also an amazing place but sort of strange in terms of layout. Part of the castle was destroyed by fire several years ago so only a small portion of the "medieval" section remains. The rest of the castle has been restored and modernized in a brick structure. So you've got this medieval looking tower attached to a brick building...quite strange but a beautiful place nonetheless.
Not only were we able to see the modernization of the castle, but we also got a small glimpse at some of the excavations taking place down below in the original foundations. We were able to see the original moat (now full of Euros in true wishing well style) and parts of the original castle walls. I also got to stand in the same room that Queen Elizabeth addressed the people in and was served dinner during her visit to Ireland earlier in the summer. I felt special nonetheless. We also got a great look at the throne room and the castle courtyard, two of my favorite locations in the castle. On Monday night, we participated in the famous Literary Pub Crawl hosted by performers from a great little pub called The Duke. They took us around to several pubs and locations throughout downtown Dublin and recited from famous literary works and plays, most especially Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." Our guide was fantastic and so were the libations :) I hate that I can't remember the names of all the pubs we went to. With the way our schedule was packed and just the rate of the trip itself, all of the days and places seem like one big blur. I wish I had kept a journal of certain things just to remember place names, but I do feel like the most memorable are still with me. Such as O'Neills, one of my very favorite pubs in Dublin and within a very short walking distance to Trinity. We visited O'Neills for the first time on the pub crawl and went back several more times as the weeks went on.
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