36 hours in Dublin

As we crossed the Irish Sea on the appropriately-named "Jonathan Swift," the seas were stormy and waves broke over the deck. From my seat beside the window, I could see the horizon rise and fall above the churning waters below.

I’m sitting here back in my room at Uni, reflecting on the journey I took to Ireland earlier this week – including the ferry ride to Dublin on Monday evening. What an incredible experience. It all started on Sunday, when I retraced my steps from the weekend before to the town of Caernarfon, and the Snowdonia region of north Wales. It was an opportunity for my parents to see the area for the first time, and for me to do some further exploring, including hopping onto a bus and traveling out to Conwy Castle. Conwy is a beautiful place, situated on a hill overlooking the bay of the same name with bridges extending outward in several directions. I was glad to have finally seen it, even if it meant having to catch a taxi back to the hotel once I returned to Caernarfon, owing to the traffic jam on the motorway that the bus ran into on the way there.

The following morning, we traveled up to the port city of Holyhead, and by nightfall we were sailing (through not-so-calm waters) into Dublin harbor. The lights of the city were around us as our ship approached, and before long we had landed on Irish soil. Our taxi driver was a Dublin native, and he soon directed us to a perfect place to stay, and gave me some tips on where to go to get the full experience of the city. Later on that evening I went on a stroll through downtown, including an area around the university known as Temple Bar. For a Monday night, the atmosphere was incredible, and I soon realized what sets Dublin apart from so many other European cities (it might just be an Ireland thing, though).

The next day I embarked on what can only be described as a self-guided, make-it-up-as-you-go walking tour of the city. And before the day was over I had, among other things:

• Walked through the campus of Trinity College Dublin, a fascinating school that calls to mind some of our most prestigious universities back home
• Visited St. Stephen’s Green, two cathedrals (St. Patrick’s and Christchurch), and an Irish church (I think it was called St. George’s – it was located in a beautiful little square, set apart from the streets above)
• Been to Ireland’s oldest pub (recommended to me by a friend)
• Visited the world-famous Guinness storehouse. I basically got to see the whole thing for free (I don’t know how that happened), and eventually made my way to the top, where an incredible 360-degree view of Dublin could be had. Needless to say, despite the Michael Jackson music playing from the bar, it was pretty great.
• Seen the sites of many historic events, including that of the Easter Uprising (the General Post Office on O’Connell Street, surrounded by many statues of heroes of Irish nationalism)

That evening, we returned to the Temple Bar district for dinner, and as close to authentic Irish food and drink as we could find. And the following day, I got up early, caught a taxi back to the ferry port, and wound up back in Wales by the middle of the day. As I was waiting to leave Holyhead once again, I found myself talking to an Irishman sitting beside me who told me that he was a "citizen of destiny," and the phrase stuck in my mind. It took an entire afternoon to get back to Aberystwyth, but I finally did, and by the end of the day I was slipping back into the routines of university life, thinking ahead to what I knew I would have to do today.

One thing I realized lately is that among other things, I’m happiest when I’m traveling. The opportunity to escape from the everyday routine, discover a new place, immerse yourself in new and distant surroundings, and even to just be “on the road” is something that’s always appealed to me, and it’s a form of adventure I’ve always sought over the years. When I was quite a bit younger, my father would take me on a road trip with him at the end of every summer, and I always looked forward to the experience of seeing the country with him, whether it meant exploring the national parks of the west or traveling to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which we did during my sophomore year of high school (another time when my parents provided me with a good excuse to miss class).

As I grew older, and my vacation periods became more burdened with responsibility, I learned to seize those opportunities to get away whenever I could, and at the tail end of the summer before this past one I embarked on an epic ten-day solo road trip around the northwest, one that took me as far away as Canada and as close as I had come before then to a feeling of pure freedom. As I remarked to someone last summer, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The choice to study abroad this semester, and experience a different approach to higher education while having the chance to travel around the British Isles (albeit via different modes of transportation), was another one of them. By the end of my time here, I hope to have been able to see more of Wales, and even to have made my way up to Scotland, where I have a few contacts that I might be able to arrange to stay with.

The hour is getting late, and I’m about to bring this day to a close. The recent events in the British political arena that I described last week have started to fade into memory, and now that Gordon Brown is out of town and on the continent for a EU summit, the attention of the public has moved on to other things. Last Sunday provided one noteworthy headline, though: the Conservatives are now seven points ahead in the polls, meaning that if Brown were to call an election after all, his seat as prime minister and parliamentary majority would be in real danger.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Knowing that people are following along with my adventures makes the weekly routine of updating the blog (since that’s what it’s become lately) less of a chore, and more of a chance to share some of what’s been on my mind and happening in my life lately. I hope you’re all doing well, as always. As the chapter advisor of my fraternity, back at Willamette, taught me to say: Nos da.