(CH)ICAGO ABROAD: UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND Part 3 of 44

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Ok on to Dublin....

Day 2 in Dublin, First Proper Guinness

The Dublin airport is no different than any other airport. Planes depart, Planes arrive, people come, people go, there are signs in different languages to direct passengers. So I noticed two languages as I walked through security and customs. One was obviously English and the other was, well I didn't know, but I assumed it had to be a native language, so maybe Gaelic? I would learn later in my trip that it in fact was Gaelic or Irish. I arrived in Ireland at an interesting time because they were holding their country's elections and guess what was a topic of major debate? You guessed it, mandatory Irish lessons for all students starting grade school. One party wanted to make it optional due to budget constraints and another party deemed it necessary for the Irish identity and the tourism industry. Gaelic/Irish lessons are a big draw for Ireland as their are 88 million people around the world that claim Irish descent. I thought that was interesting as I made my way to the very touristy area of Temple Bar which is basically one large tourist trap made up of pubs, bars, more pubs and restaurants, oh and the occasional gift shop right connected to a pub. So I'm pretty much in the thick of it, especially with my hotel being named Temple Bar Hotel. I couldn't avoid the trap even if I wanted to. But I had to head to the Brazen Head, supposedly Dublin's oldest pub, for the Irish Cultural Dinner led by Johnny. We would get a traditional Irish meal while hearing stories about Ireland's history and customs.

Here's my Irish Beef stew...

Hmm Hmmm Good!

And here's Johnny telling one of his many stories.

Over the course of two hours, I learned so much about Ireland history that I wish I had taken notes but this is what I remember. Ireland being on the edge of Europe, was one of the last places in Europe to be exposed to Christianity by Archbishop Patrick (later St. Patrick) and the Industrial Revolution. Ireland also had also been conquered by the Vikings (200 years) and later the British (800 years) and their history had been suppressed or relegated to "underground" storytelling. Because Christianity came to Ireland so late, they held on to their story's of mysticism and magic longer than their European counterparts. These stories are still alive with us today in the form of St. Patrick banishing all the snakes from Ireland or a small childlike creature or as we would call him a Leprechaun, that had a hidden treasure or pot of gold. I especially like the Leprechaun story. Supposedly there are stories about all types of fairies and creatures but the Leprechaun story has been commercialized the most. Legend has it, if you were able to sneak up behind a Leprechaun and say "I have caught you, now show me your gold" the Leprechaun would take you to his hidden treasure and you'd be rich. During the British occupation, less than 1% of the Irish population owned property. All the land was owned by 8,000 British nationals and their land was leased out to the Irish citizens, who then payed their debts with their crops. Legend also has it that if you caught a Leprechaun, got his gold, and instead of paying your debt with crops you paid with gold and you received all the land as well. The English landlord would open the bag and the gold would turn to dust. Legend has it.

In most european countries I visit, there is one or two events that really have an impact on it's culture. Most times it's WWII. In Ireland, it's the potato famine. Over the course of 200 years or so, the potato became THE Industry in Ireland and the country relied heavily on it. When the blight hit, half of potato crop was wiped out. In essence it was the potato bubble. At the time, the population of Ireland was 8 million. Over the course of the next 80 years, the population would decrease to 4 million. Thus the term, Ireland's greatest export is it's people. In one year there were 20,000 people living in Toronto, Canada and the next year, more than 35,000 Irish had migrated to Toronto. Today there are about 5 million people living in Ireland. The Irish migrated to places like Boston, New York, Chicago, and Baltimore and quickly found politics. Legend has it that in every household in Ireland there were two pictures hanging in Irish house a picture of the Pope and picture of JFK. If Kennedy could be President, then any Irishmen could do anything!

A few days later, I heeded all my friends advice and decided to take a bus tour of Wicklow. If you've seen the movie P.S I Love you, you've probably heard of the Wicklow or if you've seen Braveheart, you've probably seen the natural beauty of the Wicklow. Our tour guide was absolutely the best. I got to the pick-up location early but wanted to find a restroom as I didn't know how long I would be on the bus before we made pit stop. I returned to the bus with a hot chocolate in hand and politely asked, "Am I good if I bring a drink on the bus?" He responded "As long as it's a Guinness, you can bring anything you want on this bus!" For seven hours he showed us the beautiful Wicklow, Glencree and St. Kevin's Monastery. Wicklow means Meadow of the Vikings and Glencree is Valley of the River/Two rivers/Heart. It was truly a magical experience and I'm forever grateful for the stories and history that our guide shared with us. He told us stories about Paul Hewson meeting Bill Gates in a hotel on the outskirts of Dublin to discuss Medical and Food aide to impoverished nations. Paul Hewson is better known as Bono.

Here are some of the pictures from my tour...

So much love near the Love Bridge

Largest Pint of Guinness near the Guinness estate

Place one hand on when enter and two when you leave

33 Meters High in honor of Jesus

Roof is all stone, only one of its kind.

Meeting of Two Rivers...that's the real name.

Don't fall in!

We aslo went to Glencree, a former Military Barracks, turned into a prison, turned into a school, turned into the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation. The Center was originally founded to address the ongoing war between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Notice the trees planted by government officials. My wife and I have been given the green light to plant a tree in honor of our grandparents.