I haven't updated in a couple of days, but I've been working pretty hard. I was really killing myself to get all that work done in the Early Printed Books section of Trinity's Library, but today I discovered that there are copies of what I need at the NLI (my new favorite place in the world), and also that Trinity is going to give me two extra weeks of day access to the EPB, bringing me right up to the day I leave for Oxford. Perfect!
So now I have to find somewhere to stay in Oxford. I was just looking up B&Bs and hostels. Hopefully I can find somewhere nice - B&Bs are more expensive but you get a private room and they're nicer, but the hostel seems to be a good deal, with the only exception that it's all mixed rooms. That weirds me out a bit; and the one with an available all-female room for the nights that I'll be there only got a 50% rating for cleanliness. Oh well. I can book tomorrow or the next day, it's not like people will be descending on Oxford for the middle of October (well, who aren't students).
So I did end up moving rooms this weekend; about a half hour I wrote the last post, actually. I like my new room. It's not any quieter than the old one because of all the hallway noise that comes through the door, but it's not like it's a regular dorm where you have people coming in and out at all hours, either, so it's fine. It's tucked away behind the stairs and looks out over the roofs instead of the courtyard, so it's nice and private, and I really like that. The roofs are actually more interesting to look at than the courtyard, because there are 4 different kinds plus a tree, and it's especially neat when it rains. My bathroom doesn't have a skylight or a counter, but I have lots of extra bookshelf space. Plus it's better if someone staying for the whole year gets the bigger room, since they'll need more space than me. I like my little cozy room.
On Sunday morning a couple of us went downtown for Mass, because it was the day of the beatification of John Henry Newman and we wanted to go to the church that he founded in Dublin while he was here for a few years. It's a gorgeous little church, tucked away between two buildings at St. Stephen's Green, and I had actually chanced upon it just a few days earlier. The Mass was packed, of course, and the liturgy was much more formal than the picnic at UCD last week. There was a visiting choir for the occasion, and they were stupendous! It was music that enhanced the Mass, rather than being a distraction. And the best thing was, for the most part, no one sang (again, because the music was not provided) so you could really enjoy the beauty of both the words and the sound instead of being annoyed by the person behind you singing too loud, or trying to figure out what the tune is or whatever. And while it is now a parish church, there seemed to be a lot of young people as well, though that may have just been for Newman's Mass. But I think I will go again next week and see how it is. The tram goes just to the corner, so it would be easier enough to get there on Sundays.
Then Sunday afternoon a few of us girls went out to Temple Bar and I finally made it out to a pub. Temple Bar is a total tourist trap: it was interesting to see once, and I have no intention of ever going back. But it was fun and nice to do something like that for a change.
I'll be spending tons of time at the library this week for sure, and for the next couple of weeks as well - basically I'm chugging right through until I get back from Oxford so I can prepare as much as possible, and then I can relax a bit and work at a normal pace. Good night for now!
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