U2 DAY March 17, 2009
During the “Pub Journey” this week, we met some real Irish fellas. No, not the kind that pick fights and throw burning cocktails, the kind that make up the backbone of this small island state. The ones that slept through the parade today and didn’t even turn on the TV to see another St. Patrick’s day parade slink down O’Connell St. They didn’t wear green and they may even be drinking Budweiser right now. We were befriended by a special Irishman, Paul, who gave a bit of a tour today. Times like today make me realize that people around the world are not much different and enjoy the company of new faces, and the chatter about politics, religion, origins, and cultures across time and oceans. After all, we are together on this rock, and if we give a little bit of time to travelers who cross our path this world feels just a little bit warmer.
U2 likely has helped fill in the rifts between cultures, and at the same time helped us realize our differences and the fact that we are not the only ones with strife and love in the world. Today we visited Bono’s house.
Well, didn’t exactly get inside, but here is the gate. Poetry filled the flat copper surface as if it meant more than a divider between a man’s family and the rest of the world.
His home is perched on the edge of a cliff facing east, looking towards Her Majesty’s land which once held her fist over all Ireland, and still owns the northern counties, which made me think of their song “Sunday, Bloody Sunday.”
Next, we made our way back into the heart of Dublin to visit their studios. U2 recorded in two studios in Dublin. The first one we visited was where they made their second album. It rests by the docks facing the Dublin port. There was quite a bit of Graffiti in the area.
Next, we went to the studio where they recorded their first album. The graffiti strewn over the walls is pretty intense. Here is a little view.
Whether you like U2 or not, they have had an effect on fans over the world basically unrivaled. Thanks again to Paul for giving us a journey through Dublin unlike any regular tourists have the opportunity to experience. He is an ambassador to Ireland, and hopefully I will be able to do the same for someone soon.
