September 8th: St. Ann's Church and Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

On September 8th, I was not interested in any of the talks for that day so I decided that I would rather look around Dublin.  Since the hotel I was staying at was near Trinity College, I decided to go there first. As I was walking towards Trinity College, I found something interesting.

I really liked how you can see such a unique and historic place in such a modern area.

St. Ann's Church in Dublin, Ireland

The architecture of the church was amazing to look at.

Before I could enter the church I actually had to cross quite a busy road. Once I entered the church I could no longer hear the sound of the cars passing by on the road. I was greeted by a really nice man, looking at him I thought his was the Father of the church. He said in a very thick Irish accent "No, I am just the caretaker." He asked me where I was from and told to go ahead a look around and take a few pictures and please put at least 2 euros in the offering box.

 

 Inside St. Ann's was a very beautiful church, I was impressed by the baptism fountain it looked as if it was made from one piece of marble.

The stain glass windows in St. Ann's were amazing. I tried to take a few pictures of the glass but many of the pictures did not turn out. I think I need to get photography lessons from my sister.  Some of the pictures of the stain glass did turn out and I was quite happy about that.

 What I thought was really interesting was that all along the walls there were many different plagues that stated the name, birth and death of the person that was buried there.  Some of these burials were quite odd and the plagues were unique.

 Upon making my way out of the church I found many different postcards. I asked the caretaker how much were the postcards, he kindly asked to just place more money in the offering box. I took four postcards and placed 5 euros in the offering box. The caretaker wished me well on my travels through Ireland. And I was off to find Trinity College again.

The reason why I wanted to go Trinity College was to see the Book of Kells and the Library.

The Book of Kells (sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina. It is a masterwork of Western calligraphy and represents the pinnacle of Insular illumination. It is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure. 

 

Now once I entered the Trinity College Library I was sad to see a big sign that said NO pictures or video. Sigh...so I put my camera away and just read all the information and looked at all the cool pictures.  I was able to see in person the Book of Kells, under thick glass.  When you actually see the Book of Kells itself it is truly beautiful and colorful.  Of course I could not take pictures but I found some pictures on the internet for you to get an idea of what I saw.

Can you imagine in ca. 800 a monk might of spent days or months making this?

The color and the writing were amazing to see. I was glad to see the Book was in really good shape.

 After viewing the Book of Kells there were stairs leading up to the Library.  I was thinking 'Well it is just a library so there is nothing spectacular about it'.  WOW... was I wrong! When I got up to the Library my jaw hit the floor, the Library was absolutely amazing.  I really wanted to take a picture but sigh.. no pictures allowed.  But even if I could take a picture .. no picture I took would do the Library justice.  I could only imagine the amount of history and knowledge in all the books in the Library. For a while I sat on a small bench and just took in the awesomeness of this place because once I get to the other side of Library I will have to walk out the exit. 

While in this Library I was so happy to be able to see a place like this. To be able to say to others in the world that I have been to place that holds so much knowledge, history and just unparalleled awesomeness.  Other people in the Library might of thought I was crazy because I just sat there with a huge smile on my face and my eyes as big as saucers; just looking at the high ceilings, the shelves of books, the unique staircases, the relics in the glass displays, and the busts of statues. I really did not want to leave but sigh... I left after being in the Library for about an hour.

Once out of the Library, I was so happy to find postcards of the Library. The postcards were professional pictures and I could easily scan these postcards to have my own digital copy of these pictures.

I am really glad I was able to see St. Anne's Church, Book of Kells and the Library. Each place was just as grand and beautiful as the next. But there still was one more place I had to go, St. Patrick's Cathedral. After having a relaxing lunch at a cafe in Dublin I made my way to the the Cathedral.

September 6th: Ireland

On Tuesday 6th, was the day the people at the conference went on a little tour of Ireland. We got on two different buses, drove through Dublin and then another hour to the Teagasc Research Center.

Once at the Teagasc Research Center, they showed us their research there but honestly I was more interested in the view. There was a beautiful view of the fields and mountains.

After lunch at the Teagasc Research Center, we drove another 45 minutes to an Irish dairy farm. During the drive we passed many old churches and cemeteries and everything looked so green. I was really happy that I was able to see the countryside of Ireland.

Going to an Irish dairy farm was an interesting and unique experience. The majority of the farms in the United States are corn-fed with very little grass-fed involved.  This farm was using grass-fed with very little other feed involved and working in association with the Teagasc Research Center. It really liked like the Teagasc Research Center and this dairy farmer have a good collaboration.

At the dairy farm, I saw this cat in the barn and I just could not resist taking this picture.

I enjoyed my time at the dairy farm and I was excited when I even left the farm cause I was able to see a rainbow. A rainbow in Ireland!!

During this little field trip in Ireland I had a great time until I get back to the hotel in Dublin when I found out that I had lost my ipod on this trip.  When I realized that my ipod was missing there was not much I could do about it. I emailed the conference coordinator and her assistant but I knew that they would not be checking their email now and they would not be able to do anything until the next day.

So I just tried not to think about while A, T, S and I went out for dinner. S, who is Irish, asked if we could NOT go to some tourist restaurant in Temple Bar. He talked how he felt really uncomfortable in the restaurant on Monday night. We all agreed and S took us to this great Chinese/Thai restaurant and the food was great. I ate until I was stuffed when we left the restaurant.

I tired to not let the whole thing about my lost ipod bother me but it did. And I went to bed that night in the hotel pissed at myself that I lost it.

September 5th: Dublin, Ireland

On Monday September 5th, was the first full day at the conference and there were many talks I wanted to attend. So the majority of the day I spent in the Dublin Castle, listening to talks, taking some notes, and talked to many new people.

So there were a few talks near the end of the day that I was just not interested in and I decided this would be a good time to go out into Dublin and see a few things. I decided that since I was that far from St. Patrick's Cathedral I should try to see it.

At 5pm I walked the four or five blocks to St. Patrick's Cathedral and I was amazed to see the how big the cathedral was.

There was a nice garden there also but since it was raining while I was out I was not able to really good some good pictures of the gardens.  I walked around the garden and I noticed this plaque near the Cathedral.

"Near here is the reputed site of the well where St. Patrick [baptized] many of the local inhabitants in the fifth century A.D."

I was getting really excited to go inside since the outside of the Cathedral since the outside was amazing.  Sadly when I arrived at the front door I found out it closed at 5pm, it was 5:30pm.  Sigh... So since I figured everything else closed at 5pm I slowly walked back to Dublin Castle to meet up with the rest of my group. When I got back so early to Dublin Castle a few people were like 'what.. why are you back so early?'  When I told them what happened they all mentioned that there will be plenty of time to see Dublin and we went off to find a restaurant for dinner.

There was a large group of us looking for a restaurant in Temple Bar, there was about 12 of us. We were lucky that we were able to find an Irish restaurant that could the 12 of us in just a few minutes. The majority of us ordered some type of traditional Irish meal and an Irish beer. I ordered an Irish Ale and Irish stew with something like a potato cake. I really liked and when I finished it was so full. I had a great time.

When we left the restaurant we noticed a large group of people, we went over to see what was going on.  I noticed a small band planning Irish music and singing and a group of girls dancing.

After a great meal and then a short show I had a great day and walked back to the hotel with the rest of my group.

Ireland: Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle is a unique castle in the middle of Dublin. The history behind the castle was that during the time when Ireland was under England monarchy rule, this castle is where the King stayed.  During the time when the King was not there the Duke or Lord of Ireland stayed there in the king's place.

One of my supervisors S (who is Irish) was excited and honored to be give a presentation at Dublin Castle, because the castle has a lot of history in Irish culture and the Queen of England was recently there and also spoke there.

The flags in front of the castle represent each counties of Ireland.

The castle was quite unique and the first few days I was busy with the conference. But I was able to get a few good pictures of the outside of the castle.

On Wednesday night (Sept 7th) there was a conference dinner inside the castle. I completely forgot to bring my camera and before dinner we were given a tour of the castle rooms. Trust me during the entire tour I was kicking myself for not bring my camera. (Although I do have a valid excuse: I was already pissed at myself for losing my iPod and my lap top crashing on me.) But at least I was able to take a picture of the courtyard inside the castle.

September 4: Guinness Storehouse

(Note: Again even though the video states 0:00 for the time is does work.)

So some back story is needed first: I have never had a Guinness and everyone I have talked to in the US that has had a Guinness says they do not like. So I have never had a Guinness but I have been told by S and K (who are both from Ireland) that each country has a slightly different recipe of Guinness. So I was encouraged to at least try a pint of Guinness at least once while in Ireland.

When you first enter the Guinness storehouse it really likes some huge old storehouse. C, A and I bought our tickets (cost 15 euros ~$20) and made our way inside. After you pass those doors the entire feel of the place changed; there was a huge gift store, graphics surrounding you that made it look like you were inside a huge pint of Guinness.  And on the floor was this vault like chamber with a thick glass over it.  Inside this vault was the 9000 year lease that Arthur Guinness signed.  

This is the 9000 year lease signed by Arthur Guinness in 1759.

After you pass through the doors we enter a whole different 'world', the first exhibit is all the about the ingredients in beer.  For each ingredient there is some form of representation. There was a mound of barley, video of yeast dividing, a waterfall, and a FAKE hops plant. After seeing the unique barley mound and the waterfall the fake hops plant was really disappointing. 

"Ingredients

To understand what makes GUINNESS special you have to start with the raw ingredients.

Water, barley, hops and yeast: four natural ingredients, carefully selected to ensure that they are of the highest quality. Each ingredient is special in its own right but when mixed together according to our secret recipe, the result is simply extraordinary."

I thought is was interesting how there were so many coins in the bottom of the waterfall. I was wondering how much more money Guinness makes from all those coins. =)  I decided to keep my euros and NOT throw money into the waterfall. 

In the Guinness Storehouse, after mentioning the natural ingredients, the FIFTH ingredient is Arthur Guinness, himself.

"5th Ingredient

Arthur was the first in a long line of Guinness Master Brewers. His secrets, like the yeast which is guarded in the Director's Safe, have been handed down from generation to generation. 

Arthur established the Brewery and its reputation for quality and innovation. In 1775 the City Corporation asserted that he was drawing more water than his lease permitted. When the City Sheriff's men came to cut off the water supply, Arthur grabbed a pickaxe and announced he was prepared to defend his water 'by force of arms'. Happily, a peaceful resolution was found in Arthur's favour."

As we continue on with the tour we walk up stairs around what looks like a giant beer barrel; also in the center of the building there is a glass like structure throughout the entire building. We were told that this glass structure actually creates a giant pint glass in the middle of the building. To be honest that fact was hard to tell when inside the building but when looking at drawn pictures of the building layout you could easily see the giant pint glass. 

The next portion of the museum was about the process of making Guinness.  

The first process is boiling: 

"The part of the process is all about flavour, as it is here the hops are added. The mixture is boiled at 100 degrees C for 70 minutes to extract as much flavour as possible. The mixture is then left to settle. Next, it is 'struck off' (emptied from the kettle) and passed through a cooler. The mixture is now ready for fermentation."

Next is fermentation: 

"Fermentation is an all-important step in the process when the mixture is transformed into beer.

Yeast is 'pitched' (added) directly into the mixture, which then collects in a large fermentation vessel. Microscopic yeast organisms feed on the sugars in the mixture ans as they do, they produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. This feeding frenzy last for two days. When fermentation has finished, the liquid is cooled. Yeast floats to the top ans is separated from the beer."

The next section of Guinness was all about the merchandise. This section was pretty interesting there were examples of bottles, badges and many other things. 

 

After the merchandise section there was a bar area with a band and another place where you could learn to pour the perfect pint of Guinness.  You can use your ticket stub to get a free pint of Guinness. You can either use it at the 'pour a perfect pint' section or you can get a free pint up in the Gravity Bar. 

 

The Gravity Bar was a really great place. It is a bar on top of the Guinness Storehouse with glass as the walls, so being up so high you can have a great view of Dublin. Now I would of seen a great view, but it was raining so the view was not that great. But in the general direction of each major attraction in Dublin there was a short description written on the window. 

 

Dublin Ireland on a rainy day.

St. Patrick's Catherdral

St. John Church

Old Mill

After enjoying a pint of Guinness and the view, the three of us started walking back to our hotels so that we could get ready for the Sunday registration and social gathering.  C noticed on our way back we past a portion of the old Dublin city wall.

Once I was back at the hotel I changed clothes, cleaned up a bit and made my way to Dublin Castle, where the conference was being held.

September 4th: First Day in Dublin, Ireland

The main reason I went to Ireland for the EUCARPIA forge grass conference.  The conference officially started on September 4th at 7pm with drinks and hors d'oeuvres.  So myself and four my colleagues from work took the 8am plane from Copenhagen to Dublin. All five of us assumed that since we were leaving early on a Sunday morning that the airport would not be that busy.  Personally I am always a little nervous about missing a flight, so the day before I went to work and checked in online and printed off my boarding pass.

After a relaxing train ride to the airport we were shocked to see the airport was packed. While everyone else in my group had to go to those check in machines to check in and print off their boarding pass, I decided to get into line to check in our luggage.  And I was so glad that I did because the line snaked back and forth while also snaking down the hall. There had to be over 500 people waiting line this line to drop off their luggage. Once everyone printed off their boarding pass they joined me in the line. We all agreed that was crazy to see the airport this busy. We were lucky that the line did move quite quickly.  So we were all able to drop off our luggage, get through security, and even have enough time to get some pastries before we needed to board our flight.

Looking at the number of people waiting to board the flight I knew it would be a full flight and looking at my ticket I knew I would be sitting near the rear of the plane. Once I found my seat I noticed I was siting next to the window and right next to the engine, and there was a young child sitting behind me.  Once I sat down I was dreading the flight because it would be loud and annoying. Suddenly I realized I packed my earplugs in my bag. The lady next of me must of thought I was crazy as I quickly grabbed by bag under neath the seat in front of me and urgently searched my bag.  I found my ear plugs and put them in before the pilot started the engines.  I loved those earplugs, not only was the flight not that bad. I was actually able to get a little sleep during the flight, even with a crying child behind me and the engine roaring next to me.

Once we landed in Dublin at 9 am the five us climbed into a big van taxi and started off to your hotel.  Once the driver started driving, I noticed something odd. He was driving on the left side!! It was about a 20 minute drive to the hotel and the entire time the voice in my head was screaming: 'Ahhhh we are on the wrong side of the road.'

After getting to the hotel, our rooms were not ready yet so we dropped off our luggage and went of to find a restaurant open so that we could get some food.  We were not that far from the Temple Bar, which is a few blocks of tourist restaurants and shops.  The five of us found a small cafe open and most of us decided to have a traditional Irish breakfast.

Picture taken of Temple Bar in the distance. Temple Bar is a tourist and historical area of Dublin.

The streets of Temple Bar, right now it is pretty empty. But during the night these streets are filled with people.

The traditional Irish breakfast looked yummy and really unhealthy.  I got one fried egg, two sausage links, a slice of ham, white and black pudding with a sweet ketchup sauce.  I never heard of black or white pudding so I was interested in trying it.  And it tasted like a type of sausage with a unique spice and the texture was soft but it still kept its shape.   While eating the black and white pudding I made the mistake of asking what was in it. After learning what was in the black and white pudding, I just could not bring myself to eat any more of it. And for the rest of the trip I did not eat black and white pudding.

After eating breakfast we broke into two groups, T and B went back to hotel to meet S (who is from Ireland and is one of my supervisors at work) so that they could get their tickets to an Irish hurling game. Then C, A and I decided that since we are in Ireland, we must get some Guinness and the best for that was the Guinness Storehouse and Museum.

We started walking from the Temple Bar to the Guinness storehouse which is a 20 minute walk. We walked past Christ Church, and stopped to take pictures and video.

Christ Church, Dublin, Ireland - The building was amazing.

This was the chapter house of the Augustinian canons whose priory was at Christ Church from 1163 to 1537 AD.

C and A thought it was a little odd that I was all excited to see a large church in the city. I had to explain these types of buildings are not common in the United States at all. The only building that could even live up to the Christ Church or St. Patrick's Cathedral is the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.  Seeing large churches or old historic buildings in between all the modern roads and buildings is just normal for C and A.  We kept walking and after a nice 20 minute walk through Dublin, seeing many more beautiful and historic buildings we made our way to the Guinness Storehouse.

Note: Even though the video says 0:00 for the time, it does work. Just click on the play button.