Dublin Spring Seminar 2014 - 5

City Tour and the Theatre - 5

Dublin Blog 4/25
 
Today was a very busy day for all of us in Dublin, but a day everyone enjoyed immensely. From our morning tour of Belvedere to our evening viewing of The Ideal Husband, we had nothing but fun. We got the full experience and history of Dublin, including Strongbow's Norman Conquest, and the 1916 rebellion.

The day started with a tour of Belvedere's campus, which was admirable in its efficiency for the small space the school works with. We learned of the classes we'd be attending on Monday and Wednesday, and got a feel for the school environment there. Continuing on our walking tour, we saw many monuments and sights, such as the Garden of Remembrance and the Statue of Daniel O'Connell. We also saw the Dublin equivalent of a town hall, with murals on the domed ceiling depicting important events from Irish history.

Upon finishing the walking tour and arriving at the Boxty House, it was time for lunch. We were all treated to a live demonstration of how to make boxty, a pancake-like potato, which required a few students as volunteers. After lunch, we toured Dublin's Parliament building, seeing the meeting room of the Seanad Éireann, the Irish senate. An interesting fact we learned about the Irish senate is that out of its sixty members, eleven are appointed by the prime minister, six elected by universities, and forty three chosen by other members of the Irish government. 

After dinner, we attended the play The Ideal Husband, at the Gate Theatre. Written by Oscar Wilde, the play addresses the philosophical issues of whether a man is defined only by his past, or how he acts presently despite his past. The script was very funny in it's witty humor, and very interesting and reflects Wilde's own uniqueness in its writing. At the end of the play, the main point that we were left with was that it's not what happens to someone in their life, but rather how they deal with it. Returning home to our host families, our great tour and day in Dublin concluded as a complete success.