We leapt straight into our first day
– the marvelous generosity of FFT donors is affording us 5 weeks in Ireland and
the UK, but it isn’t nearly enough. We took the bus to City Centre, ditched the
bags at the hostel, and raced off to explore. Our first objective was
Dublinia www.dubilia.ie
, a wonderful museum dedicated to the early history of Dublin. The first floor
features room after room of interactive Viking dioramas. They have reproduction
clothes, armor, living quarters, tools and more alongside illustrated panels,
videos, and scale models.
The next floor covered he medieval
period, from the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland (which included the introduction of the rabbit) through Henry VIII. Again,
the environments were splendid and hands-on activities and reproduction
artifacts made the 13th century Fair, 14th century plague
and violent death room, and model merchant’s house interesting and
accessible to all.
The 3rd floor showcased
archaeology itself. Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures here, but this
floor was what we really came to see. It does a splendid job presenting the
technical and conceptual complexities of the discipline in a student-friendly
way. We realize that this will be our biggest challenge in the classroom and
are delighted to have already have two or three things falling into place!
Dublinia is housed in the former
church of St. Michael the Archangel adjacent to Christ Church Cathedral http://christchurchcathedral.ie/ ;
the medieval tower grants fantastic views over the neighborhood – including a
bird’s-eye view of the outline of a Viking house unearthed during the
excavation of Dublin’s Wood Quay.
The cathedral is actually connected
to Dublinia – a 3rd floor walkway bridges Winetavern St. and
deposits you at the welcome desk. Christ Church dates from the early 11th
century, had extensive repairs in the 16th century, and intensive
restoration in the late 19th century. It is a beautiful sacred space
with charming medieval floor tiles, the tomb of Strongbow, and a mummified cat
& rat in the crypt.
After our tour we had a couple of
hours before we returned for the evensong service. Having not eaten since
breakfast on the plane, it was time for a little something. We did not have to
walk far before luck led us to the Queen of Tarts. This bakery/bistro provided
the desserts and coffee necessary to power us through the rest of our day. If
you are ever in the area, the rustic apple crumble tart is possibly the best
thing ever made from apples.
We returned to Christ Church just in
time for the organ prelude. This particular service was to honor the 800th
anniversary of the Magna Carta. The church is acoustically marvelous and the
music combined with the sun streaming through the stained glass windows made
for a transcendent experience.
Following the service, we went down
past Trinity University to the National Gallery of Ireland http://www.nationalgallery.ie/
. Thursday is their late night when the galleries are open until 8:30. Our
primary objective here was to see Vermeer’s “Lady Writing a Letter with her
Maid”. (It is a family life goal to see all of his works.) When we did find it,
as is always the case when face to face with a Vermeer, we were blown away. The
way he painted the light and his delicate brushwork put him in a class all his
own. Photographs and reproductions cannot adequately capture a Vermeer’s
luminous quality. The collection has several other quite superb works; a
Zurbaran Immaculate Conception, an Avercamp, Rembrandt’s Rest on the Flight
into Egypt, but (in our estimation) nothing compares with Johannes!
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