I've had a lot on my plate this week that's kept my hands busy and prevented me from blogging, but today I'm setting aside time to catch up.
First things first:
HOLY MOLEY I'M GOING TO NORTHERN ITALY!
Is that not beeeeeautiful? It's Lake Garda....and I'll be there Saturday. I can't wait, it looks gorgeous in this cisalpine kind of way and the weather has been high 60's and sunny there, too, leading me to believe I'll be in absolute heaven. I've got the camera charged up and I'm ready to go! I leave on a redeye tomorrow morning and get back Sunday night. Stay tuned on Monday for the pictures and stories!
Second order of business is to write about Dublin Culture Night which was last Friday. All the museums, galleries, cathedrals, symphony halls and more were open around town until 10pm. First off, I was so impressed with the crowds. The Irish are interested in their local attractions, their culture and history. They are proud of their country and so naturally the turnouts to culture night were massive. I love that it's not embarassing or dorky for them to take pride in their historic and civic buildings--everyone was happy and proud to be walking around. Very, very cool, and not something I've found in America. I've found it's uncool to be proud of historical/cultural America: tour historic homes, museums, churches, go to concert halls etc. It's unfortunate and a bit sad, and from over here I can see America's national/civic history and culture eroding in a way that's unique to our country.
I went walking through some cool places including Christchurch Cathedral's ancient crypts, the oldest still-standing structure in Dublin. I also went to the Dail, the seat of government in Ireland. There are small, infrequent tours of the place that are generally hard to come by, but on this night we walked through the front door and took a guided tour of the whole building, going some places that only politicians see. It was a very cool insight into Irish politics and government and I felt very lucky to have seen it.
Well so pictures are posted, check them out when you get a chance!
The last thing I need to catch you up on is The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, which is Dublin Book Club's book of the month. It is fantastically written and a really insightful look at the modern practice of religion and the epidemic of secularity. Jacobs is a thoughtful and witty writer and I have to say despite some minor shortcomings (plugging his last novel about 2 dozen times), I have been very impressed. This is the book club's first nonfiction discussion piece and I can't wait to see how the discussion goes, especially considering the varying backgrounds of all our members. I'm sure as always the group will have a fantastsic discussion.
In the meantime have you read Biblically? Did you like it? Have you read other commentaries on present-day religion?
So that's it for me. If you read this blog in Google Reader or from your blogger homepage, be sure to become a "follower" to get regular news and updates.
Have a great Thursday and a fantastic weekend!
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