Central Park in NYC is 843 acres. Phoenix Park in Dublin is 1,752 acres, almost twice as large and currently stands as one of the largest city parks in all of Europe. This made it an ideal case to study for my research project.
Several other girls from my class also happened to be in Dublin, so we met up with them there and spent the morning explorin the extensive park.
The monument pictured above (and upon the steps we were sitting) is the Wellington Testimonial, built in1861 and currently the tallest obelisk in Europe. Apparently it was built as a testimonial to Arthur of Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and has plaques on the side depicting scenes from the Battle of Waterloo.
The park itself has every sort of recreation you can imagine. From running tracks, to rugby and cricket fields, to polo fields, there really is something for everyone. While we were sitting on the steps of the obelisk, three people walked by with ponies following them. This one kid (above) randomly jumped on his pony and galloped off across the green (must be nice!).
The park was so large we wanted to find the visitor's center so we could find information on its history and possibly talk to some curators about it. We walked for a good 30-40 minutes, but never found anything that remotely resembled a visitor's center. Finally we stopped and asked a friendly looking couple who were very amused by our question, but told us they didn't even know the park had such a facility.
So much for that! We headed back and checked at the zoo (yes, the park had a full-sized zoo!) but to no avail. Not to be deterred, we contented ourselves with walking through the gorgeous park and enjoying the rolling greens, distant snow-covered mountains, and amusing dog-walkers.
Once we got back into Dublin via bus, I took a short trip in the afternoon to the Archaeology exhibit in the National Museum. It didn't have much to do with my research project, but I love archaeology and it was free.
The museum was mostly full of the usual artifacts I've seen in the British Museum -- lots of hoards, pieces of jewelry, some iron age tools, etc. I took lots of pictures, but later found out that photographing was prohibited in the museum. So, I'm not going to post any of the pictures on here (just to be safe!) but I'll be sure to show everyone at home my pictures when I return. ;-)
One of the most interesting exhibits was the Bog Bodies, a phenomenon I've mentioned before of the strange occurence of mummified bodies found in the peat bogs of Ireland. I had seen one such specimen in London, but I was really interested to see them in Ireland right from where they came.
Although rather gruesome, I found it freakishly fascinating. The bodies were housed in small dark chambers in the exhibit room, so as to protect them from deterioration. Although not all the bodies were complete, it was amazing to see the actual hair, skin textures, and even clothing and jewelry they were wearing at the time of their death.
Also at the Archaeology Museum was an interesting section on the vikings and medieval Ireland, both of which were full of incredible artifacts that were in surprisingly good condition for their age.
It was definitely a full and enlightening day on many levels. They next day we would be taking a trip to the fishing village of Howth, which I would soon find to offer new experiences and stunning vistas of the Irish coast. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment