Day in Dublin and THE USED!!!!

Well, I'm going to start off this post with excuses. The reason I haven't updated for nearly a month is because I haven't DONE anything for over a month. Before yesterday, St. Paddy's Day was the last time I did anything exciting. The majority of my life was literally spent in my bedroom writing essays, and will likely be again for the next week/ week and a half. For those who say that college is easy, write one of my essays. I dare you. No, I double dog dare you (*le gasp*). But everything will get more exciting after next week, because I leave for London on the 3rd of May and I have a lot of fun stuffs planned. I won't go into too much detail, so that I don't ruin the surprise. XD

Yesterday (technically two days ago because it's 2:30 AM here), I woke up after only three hours of sleep to trudge my butt to the bus stop for a three hour ride to Dublin. I got to see some of the prettiest scenery around as I looked out the window. One yard even had about 20 baby bunnies chowing down on the grass. I admit it. I AWWWWW'd at the sight of them. I think the other people on the bus thought I was a lunatic. The rest of the animals I saw were sheep. And cows. A whole freaking lot of cows. More than in Lancaster County, PA, and I thought that was impossible. 

Once I got into Dublin, it was a matter of finding my way to St. Stephen's Green, where my Viking Splash Tour bus was set to leave. After gaining my bearings in the city, I managed to get there about 15 minutes before the bus was supposed to leave. The tour was led by a really nice guy named Pat, who led us around the city while telling us about the city's history and roaring like a Viking. They provided plastic Viking helmets for us to wear (as you can see in the bottom left of the picture), but I abstained from wearing them, as my hair (which I had to keep down to fit into the helmet) kept getting in my face with the wind blowing it around. 

We drove around Dublin for a while, passing by some interesting buildings and statues that were central to Dublin's history, including a museum full of artifacts from when the city was partially inhabited by Vikings. We also got to see town tourist sites like the statue of Molly Malone (infamous from the song), Trinity College and Oscar Wilde's birth home. Aside from the landmarks, the city is filled with beautiful architecture from several different time periods, including an entire mile of preserved Georgian homes. There were also a row of homes that were built for American occupancy during WWII. These homes were built by women and expected to last 6 weeks. They're still standing after nearly 70 years. Did I mention they were built by women? That's right. Female empowerment!

After a while, Pat took us toward a dock, where we all put on lifevests. The bus then drove straight off the dock and onto the river that flows through Dublin. While we didn't get to go very far on the water because of the levies installed to allow barges to travel through the water, we did get to see the Bord Gais Energy Theatre and some boats made of concrete. How they float, I'm not sure, but they were pretty interesting to look at. Apparently, the part of the bay we were on is used to give surfing and windboarding lessons. If it weren't so cold here, I may have signed up to take one. But since it is, the thought didn't even cross my mind.

Building inside Trinity College

Once we were done with the Viking Splash tour, I headed up Westmoreland Street to find Trinity College, where I could get in to see the famous Book of Kells, which was originally created by monks over 1200 years ago. However, once I got to the courtyard of the college, the line to get into the building were the book was held was probably over 500 people long. Rather than waste my time standing out in the rain to see the book, I headed to get something to eat and sit out the rain. Admittedly, I did stop along the way to pick up some souvenirs for my family. I'm a shopoholic like that.

A couple of hours later, I figured that I should at least try to find the building where the concert was being held. So I started walking and found myself standing outside of the Button Factory, where a line was already beginning to form four hours before the doors would even open. There I met a couple of girls from Belfast who were also waiting to see The Used. We talked for a little while, mostly about the differences between Ireland, America and Scotland (where they had just gotten back from). It was then that I found out why everyone had been so early getting to the concert hall. 

For anyone who showed up between 5:30 and 6:00, the band held a meet and greet where you could get autographs, hugs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the band. Now, understand that I've been in love with this band since around the 7th grade, so this got me really super excited. As it got closer to the time when they would let us in to meet them, Chloe and I just kept looking at each other like "THIS IS AWESOME!!!" Somehow, we managed to form a group of awesome people that were also waiting for the band to start, including Tommii.

Tommii and Chloe

 Now, Tommii was just as ridiculously excited about the concert as the rest of us, and he didn't even know about the meet and greet. Telling him will remain one of the funniest moments of my life. His excitement level went from about an 8 to a 20+. After his heart calmed down, we all started trying to pass the time by singing along to our favorite songs, naming bands we're obsessed with, listening to the band do sound checks, and looking at the time every 20 seconds. The time finally arrived when they let us in to meet the band. I didn't have my ticket yet, so I had them sign an envelope I had in my purse (lame, I know). Chloe and Tommii both got hugs from Quinn and Bert, and I was green with envy.

Jodie Has a Hitlist (Well, half of it)

After the meet and greet, they stuck us back outside to wait another hour and a half. Of course, it started raining like cats and dogs, so we were all soaked when we finally got inside. They had a coat check, but of course I don't carry cash so I couldn't check my purse or coat. I ended up stuffing my coat into my bag and leaving it on a couch with all my valuables in my pocket. Remarkably, nothing was taken. I guess everyone was too busy enjoying to concert to take the opportunity to steal. The opening band, Jodie Has a Hitlist, started playing at around 8 o'clock and the fun times started. They were good, but everyone was just too excited to see The Used.

Bert McCracken

The crowd started screaming ridiculously loud when the band finally came to the stage (myself included). The real moshing started when they played the first song "Take it Away" (one of my personal favorites). At first, Tommii tried to make sure that none of us girls got hurt. Of course, that didn't last long, and I ended up plastered to the back of another one of the guys who joined our band of misfits while we were waiting outside, Paul. We stayed that close for about three songs because neither of us could find the space to separate. 

Quinn Allman

We were like sardines in a can, and Chloe kept getting knocked back. Since we were so close to the stage, I guess that's to be expected. After the first few songs, everything calmed down a little bit. We got everyone back into the same little area and prepared to dance the night away. We kept looking at each other and screaming along with the music or just screaming in general. Thankfully, Paul made sure to watch my back so that I didn't get injured from that angle, which was a very distinct possibility with how excited/ridiculously crazy everybody was. 

Jeph Howard

Anyway, they played a couple of songs from the new album, but most of them were from the older records, which made me originally fall in love with the band. So, as we were singing, jumping and moshing, I just realized how lucky I am that I got to see my favorite band, especially since the last few months are already going to be engrained in my memory for the rest of my life. The fact that I got to meet them, and actually talk to them, after the last nine years listening to their music, is something that I will likely never again be able to replicate. I am so grateful that I got this opportunity and got to meet some really great new friends in the process. It truly was spectacular.

I actually had to leave the concert about 10 minutes before the end so that I could make my bus, but apparently they allowed to crowd to get pictures with them after the show. Chloe got pictures with Quinn and Jeff, as Bert left early to rest his voice. I am incredibly jealous, but glad that she got the opportunity she was so excited for. After getting some really poor directions from a couple of Dubliners, I finally found my way to the last bus heading to Limerick with about 30 seconds to spare. I managed to get a shower before passing out around 3 AM. I then spent all day in bed today because my feet were like "You're not putting any weight on us today, buddy." I'm just now starting to relax enough to fall asleep, so I'm going to sign off until next time, which will hopefully be May 3rd or 4th.

Until then,

Brooke

As Promised....

...but a day late. I'm finally getting around to writing up the blog post for my day in Dublin for St. Paddy's. While it was highly entertaining and just a little bit fuzzy in my mind, I don't think I will ever truly forget how interesting it was watching how much pride the Irish have on this holiday, the only real holiday set aside just to honor them. It was a beautiful thing to see.

The day started out with a bunch of us international students either waking up still drunk, slightly hung over, or (for losers like me) too early for comfort. We left the school at 7, which meant that I woke up at 5 in order to get everything packed and ready. We then all boarded the bus for Dublin, decked out in all of our greenest finery and ready to have a blast. Most of us hadn't had breakfast, so we stopped at a gas station to get some food and for a bathroom break. All in all, the trip took about 3 hours with breaks and traffic.

And this was before most people got here

They dropped us off in front of the oldest pub in Ireland, The Brazen Head. We were then instructed on how to get to O'Connell Street, where the parade was due to run, and let loose in our groups to find a spot to watch. Keep in mind that we arrived in Dublin at around 10 o'clock and the parade didn't start until 12:30, so a lot of us just headed to a pub to relax until the parade. However, the group that I hung out with headed straight to O'Connell Street in order to secure a good spot for the parade. I have never seen so much green dotting a street in my life.

Group of girls doing traditional dance

We then proceeded to wait for nearly three hours for the parade to begin, with the heavens opening up once for about five minutes to thoroughly soak all of us spectators. Stupidly, I left my coat on the bus, so I was completely freezing at this point. But the cold and the rain was quickly forgotten as the parade started. We saw all of the traditional parade elements like bands and dancers, even some from the United States. Some acts included an Irish flair, like women doing Irish dance down the street and a flock of bagpiping gentlemen decked out in kilts. There were even a couple of dogs wearing traditional togs.

However, once we got all of the more traditional stuff out of the way, it was time for the strange to begin. Apparently, they gave a lot of creative freedom to some of the art schools around Ireland to make interesting acts of their own. Each school then picked a question around which they would center their theme, such as "If the world is spinning, why don't we fall off?". The props and parade dancers ranged from beautiful, to colorful, to downright strange, but all of them were incredibly well made and very entertaining. Although, a couple of times, the members of my group all looked at each other and speculated about the parade would look if we were high.

One of my favorite acts included a girl riding a beautiful white horse. This was the gravity act, so of course she wasn't just riding the horse with a saddle. No. Instead, she chose to ride either standing on the saddle, in a handstand, or dangling off the side of the horse with one foot in the stirrup and a hand touching the ground. And this was while the horse was moving. As someone who has no sense of balance and can manage to trip walking across a flat surface, this truly astounded me. The sheer amount of courage and training that went into doing these stunts had to have required quite a few painful falls.

Another interesting float, though I completely forget the question they used as their theme, included a giant rhinocerous in a wheel chair. Thinking now, I can't even conceive of what idea would make someone go "Let's build a giant rhino! And I know! Let's make him a parapeligic!" Really strange, but very creative and entertaining. It must have required a lot of work to make a float of that size, let alone one that allowed for the head to turn to look at the crowd. All in all, it was the most interesting parade that I have ever seen, and it was due almost entirely to those art schools who astounded us all with their talent and creativity.

One bar's Irish decor

Once the parade was over, it was time for the drinking to begin. I followed the five or six people that I had been standing with at the parade to several different bars. I really had only ever met two of these people once or twice at orientation, but we seemed to get along all right if a little awkwardly. All of the bars were decorated with an Irish theme of course, and packed to capacity with people just celebrating the day that everyone in the world is Irish. Say anything you want about the Irish, but they sure know how to throw a fantastic party on such an enormous scale.


We hopped from one bar to another for hours, trying to catch a glimpse of the Ireland/England game, which ended in a highly disappointing loss of 9-30. Once the game was over, we headed to one more bar before packing it in for the night. The bar had great live music, but was so crowded that you couldn't stand in one place for more than a minute or two without someone inadvertantly molesting you. At least, I hope it was inadvertant. At least two guys got a little too touchy feely for my comfort....but anyway.

When everyone else headed to the next bar, I attempted to find where the bus would pick us up to take us back to U.L. and my warm, dry bed. However, the bus driver told us the entirely wrong place to pick up the stop, and at least 10 of us were left standing outside City Hall waiting for over an hour for the bus. When someone finally called the head of the International Society, it turns out that we were on the wrong side of the city and would have to wait for the next bus. At this point, I can't feel my legs because I'm so cold. Yet, I somehow still found myself the leader of our little herd back to O'Connell Street to catch the next bus home (probably because I had a map of the city). We finally made it to the warm bus and I was reunited with my coat. The bus filled up quickly, and we were back at the University of Limerick at around 2 AM. Overall, a long, strange, but very satisfying day in Dublin. It is perhaps one of the most memorable experiences that I will have here and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

As always, the rest of the pictures will be added to my Flickr account soon, because today is the first of the month and I have free space again!!!

Best,
Brooke