Culture Night

Friday, 20 September 2013, was Culture Night in Dublin! Starting at 5pm, several attractions, museums, and interest points were free to the public for ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Honestly, I was super excited. My friend Lucie and I met up to go downtown, planning to meet some other friends there later.
Boy, was it disappointing. 
There was so much I wanted to see, but since a thousand other people wanted to see the same things, the lines were long for EVERYTHING. My friends didn't even get to see Dublinia after waiting in line for a good hour. Though, I will give Culture Night this--I had the best burger and chips that I've had yet here (keep in mind that chips are wide-cut french fries. Fries are chips and chips are crisps. Europe.). It was a pure-Irish-beef burger with ketchup, mayonnaise, grilled onions, and a pepper sauce. Verrryyyy yummmyyyyyy. 
I did also get the chance to visit a couple places that I probably wouldn't normally go, like the Irish Traditional Music Archive, St. Ann's Cathedral, and Dublin Castle. See my pictures below!

These pictures are all from St. Ann's Church downtown. It was our first stop for Culture Night, and it was really beautiful all around! The shelves of bread are all full of bread for the homeless, one of the many ministries the church is involved with for the Dublin community.

Next, we headed to Trinity College. It's a giant campus, right in the middle of the city. I didn't particularly care for the style of architecture I saw around the campus, however I definitely appreciate it all for its beauty and artistry.

We finished up culture night at Dublin Castle, where we got to go inside (which is not typically open) and see the magnificence of how the Royalty lived when the castle was built around 1224. 

We ended the evening at the Hard Rock Café Dublin, which was such a treat! Cocktails were only five Euros, so I decided to splurge a little and get a couple of fruity mixed drinks, rather than my usual pint of Bulmers Cider. 

Overall, I'd say it was a successful evening. I'm excited to go back and see all of the sites I missed, but it will be nice to not deal with such crowds. And don't worry, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted when I do something awesome! Until next time!