It’s the third day of our week in Dublin and I today I felt
like myself again. We meet as a class then went our separate ways as groups
into the city. I must admit I was nervous. As a southerner it’s nothing for me
to strike up conversation with strangers but still, I know absolutely nothing
about this city, nor where I’m going. To top it off I don’t have access to
internet to google anything on my phone, so I relied on my research of the
area.
My partner and I made a list of things we wanted to
accomplish for the day and vowed to stick with it. There was a gentleman that
she’d researched that worked in the area that we toured yesterday, so it only
made sense to start there. We exited the bus and retraced our steps back to
where we’d finished our tour and started searching. It didn’t take long before
we stumbled across the building and went in, and there to our amazement was the
gentleman dubbed the “Godfather” of skateboarding here in Dublin…Clive Rowen.
Mr. Rowen was very nice, especially after he discovered that
the Americans had actually did their research on him. He allowed pictures and a
great interview and off we were. We were so excited that we got our first
interview on the first try that we decided to stop into Starbucks to celebrate.
I must admit that I also wanted to stop there for two other reasons, free Wi-Fi
(you will learn to take advantage of this here) and friendly people.
Sure enough the place wasn’t packed and everyone was happy
and smiling. I jumped at the opportunity to ask the barista if he was a local,
and if so, could I interview him. “Sure!”, he replied. I decided to let him
talk and our conversation just kept going. A customer would pop in and he’d
say, “Hold on”, go off and fix their drink then return with, “Ok, like I was
saying…” Joel ended up being a really cool guy! We, ourselves, ordered drinks
then off we were.
Tucked away in one of the many alleys was this tall gate
that looked amazing, being the tourist that I am, I went to see what it was. It
ended up being a church named in honor of St. Teresa. I made sure to ask
permission to tour the venue and take pictures because we didn’t want to offend
anyone and everyone was ok with it. Walking inside was a moment in life I’ll
never forget. Candles were still lit from the Mass that had just finished and some
people were still lingering from the service. The artwork and stain glass
windows filled the walls and the atmosphere was very peaceful… I’m glad I
stumbled across this church, I’m glad I had the opportunity to witness this.
