Day 4 - June 14th
June 14th- Hurdy Gurdy Vintage Radio Museum and Abbey Tavern
St. Anne's Park - Nature
For lunch, we traveled back into the busy streets of Dublin and bought sandwiches from a street vendor. We rode the bus to St. Anne’s Park and admired the beautiful rose gardens there. There was a myriad of roses in all colors, and Leah admired the yellow blooms the most. There was also a clock tower, psychic garden, walled garden, and chinese suzhou garden. We walked through the park to look at the gardens and tower. The psychic garden was a medicinal herb garden, and Hanna read to us about the uses and properties of each plant from her phone. Did you know that Myrrhis odorata can be used to sweeten baked goods or treat a cough? The walled garden was simply a flower and green leafy plant garden surrounded by tall hedges cut to emulate walls. The suzhou garden had a covered pavilion and stepping stones. The plants and tiles created a peaceful atmosphere, and we rested in the shade of the trees for a bit. The clock tower was also impressive and webbed with soft green vines. It was the focal point of the walled garden, and we all stood under its arch to take pictures.
For dinner, we attended the new show at Abbey Tavern. We shared three orders of the traditional show menu. We ordered the same thing for every order; cream of root vegetable soup, beef and guinness casserole, and warm apple crumble for dessert. We watched the traditional dances, such as “The Brush Dance” and “The Sean Nos”. There was live folk songs, and Joseph was called onstage to be an audience participant! Obviously, he was not the most coordinated dancer, but it was a hilarious and well-recorded scene. The professionals had amazing footwork! We left the restaurant at 10:00, after the show had finished. We rode the bus back to the hostel with our leftovers and fell into bed, exhausted.
On Sunday morning, we all rolled out of bed and chowed down on breakfast. Today we were going to spend the morning at the quirkily named Ye Olde Hurdy-Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio. After leaving the hostel, we all had to run back to retrieve Emily’s phone. Our second attempt at leaving for the day was much more successful. We boarded the bus and rode out towards the Irish Sea.
Hurdy Gurdy Vintage Radio Museum - History
The museum itself was housed inside the cylindrical Martello Tower, a part of the former St. Lawrence Estate, a nice chunk of useless information ever-so-helpfully regurgitated by Hanna. The museum had been founded by a radio collector named Pat Herbert as a way to display his collection of radios, gramophones, and other radio-related knick-knacks. We wandered the rooms, and marveled at the handmade radios fashioned by intrepid Irish citizens. The museum was bursting with radios, posters, and manuals. There was every type of radio a person could hope to see, and Joseph desperately wanted to turn them all on to different stations in order to create the largest, most cacophonous interruption he could. None of the radios were powered, so his devious plan was foiled. The oldest radios looked bulky and hulking on their tables, with wires and dials protruding out of their husks. Radios were a vital part of the strategy of both sides in World War Two. They were used to transmit messages, spy’s reports, and civilian resistance information. Before we left the brown tower, we were informed by a volunteer tour guide that the name of the museum was inspired by Seán Lemass’ remark that the radio reminded him a hurdy-gurdy, a hand cranked string instrument that sounds similar to a violin.
St. Anne's Park - Nature
For lunch, we traveled back into the busy streets of Dublin and bought sandwiches from a street vendor. We rode the bus to St. Anne’s Park and admired the beautiful rose gardens there. There was a myriad of roses in all colors, and Leah admired the yellow blooms the most. There was also a clock tower, psychic garden, walled garden, and chinese suzhou garden. We walked through the park to look at the gardens and tower. The psychic garden was a medicinal herb garden, and Hanna read to us about the uses and properties of each plant from her phone. Did you know that Myrrhis odorata can be used to sweeten baked goods or treat a cough? The walled garden was simply a flower and green leafy plant garden surrounded by tall hedges cut to emulate walls. The suzhou garden had a covered pavilion and stepping stones. The plants and tiles created a peaceful atmosphere, and we rested in the shade of the trees for a bit. The clock tower was also impressive and webbed with soft green vines. It was the focal point of the walled garden, and we all stood under its arch to take pictures.
Abbey Tavern - Culture
For dinner, we attended the new show at Abbey Tavern. We shared three orders of the traditional show menu. We ordered the same thing for every order; cream of root vegetable soup, beef and guinness casserole, and warm apple crumble for dessert. We watched the traditional dances, such as “The Brush Dance” and “The Sean Nos”. There was live folk songs, and Joseph was called onstage to be an audience participant! Obviously, he was not the most coordinated dancer, but it was a hilarious and well-recorded scene. The professionals had amazing footwork! We left the restaurant at 10:00, after the show had finished. We rode the bus back to the hostel with our leftovers and fell into bed, exhausted.
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