Art here and there #7 - Dublin

The Star Wars death star was inspired by this piece found in Trinity College.

A estrela da morte da Guerra das Estrelas foi inspirada por esta peça em Trinity College.

Molly Malone

"Molly Malone" is a popular song, which has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin City. The song tells the fictional tale of a fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but who died young, of a fever. (wikipedia)

"Molly Malone" é uma canção popular, que se tornou o hino não oficial da cidade de Dublin. A canção narra o conto fictício de uma peixeira que exercia o seu ofício nas ruas de Dublin, mas que morreu jovem, de uma febre. (wikipedia)

 Fisherman / Pescador

A school for puzzle fanatics / Uma escola para fanáticos de Puzzles

The doors of Dublin

The colourful doors of Dublin / As portas coloridas de Dublin

There are two versions of the story. One says that when Queen Victory became a widow she ordered every single door to be covered in a black clothe. The rebellious spirits of the Dubliners led them to do the exact opposite. The second version, and my favourite, says that it was the women of Dublin who decided to painted every door in a different colour, so that their husbands wouldn't get confused when returning home from the pub. True or not, the city looks even more cheerful and special with its colourful doors.

Há duas versões da história. Uma diz que quando a Rainha Vitória ficou viúva ordenou que cada porta em Dublin fosse coberta com um pano preto. O espírito rebelde dos Dublinenses levou-os a fazer exatamente o oposto. A segunda versão, e a minha favorita, diz que foram as mulheres de Dublin que decidiram pintar as portas às cores, de modo a que os seus maridos não se enganassem na entrada quando voltassem do pub para casa. Verdade ou não, a cidade parece ainda mais alegre e especial com as suas portas coloridas.

Dublin

Dublin has been in our plans since we met, but it got endlessly postponed. Until this summer. We were looking for a half marathon to run in August but in a country where we wouldn't have to do it under hot temperatures. Dublin seemed the perfect choice and to make it even better Johan's brother joined us. Besides all the running frenzy, we also enjoyed a nice and relaxed city full of cheerful people. Here are some pictures. Ok, maybe some is the wrong word...

Dublin tem estado nos nossos planos desde nos conhecemos, mas tinha sido adiada ao longo dos anos. Até este verão. Estávamos à procura de uma meia maratona para correr em Agosto, mas num país onde não tivessemos que o fazer sob temperaturas demasiado quentes. Dublin foi a escolha perfeita e ficou ainda melhor quando o irmão do Johan se decidiu juntar a nós. Além de todo o frenesi m provocado pelas corridas, também aproveitamos a cidade em si, que é agradável, descontraída e cheia de pessoas alegres. Aqui ficam algumas fotos. Ok, talvez algumas seja a palavra errada...

Christ Church Cathedral (1038)

 Trinity College - It must be great to study in such inspiring place! 

Deve ser fantástico poder estudar num local tão inspirador!

 Trinity College gardens / jardins

 Merrion square garden

 Oscar Wilde memorial at Merrion square / Memorial de Oscar Wilde em Merrion Square

 St Stephen's Green

The sign read "please keep off the grass", but it didn't really work as there were people everywhere.

Havia um sinal a dizer "Não pisar a relva" mas não deu lá muito resultado e havia pessoas em todo o lado.

St. Anne's

Dublin Castle, built in 1204 is nowadays in the city center and holds important governmental offices.

O Castelo de Dublin, construído em 1204, fica no centro da cidade e abriga gabinetes governamentais.

 Dublin Castle

Dubhlinn Garden, just behind the castle / Dubhlinn Garden mesmo atrás do castelo

 St. Patricks Cathedral - St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland. St. Patrick's day is very popular and you have probably heard of it, although it might have been for less religious reasons...

Catedral de São Patrício - São Patrício é o Santo Padroeiro da Irlanda. Provavelmente já ouviram falar do famoso Saint Patrick's day, ainda que por razões menos religiosas...

Temple Bar is one of the most famous neighbourhoods in Dublin. More than 30 years ago a transport company planned to build a huge bus depot in Temple Bar. While they waited for permission and paper work, the spaces were rented out to artists, who quickly formed a bohemian community of cafés, shops and bars. It became so popular that the population protested against the bus hub. They were successful and Temple Bar is nowadays the heart and soul of Dublin.

Temple Bar é um dos bairros mais famosos de Dublin. Há mais de 30 anos uma empresa de transportes planeou a construção de uma enorme central de autocarros em Temple Bar. Enquanto esperavam pela autorização e lidavam com a burocracia, os espaços foram alugados a artistas, que rapidamente formaram uma comunidade mais boêmia com cafés, lojas e bares. Esta área tornou-se então tão popular que a população protestou contra a construção do centro de autocarros. A população ganhou e Temple Bar é hoje o coração e a alma de Dublin.

Ha'Penny Bridge, near Temple Bar. The name comes from the times when one should pay half a penny to go across.
Ponte Ha'Penny, perto de Temple Bar. O nome vem dos tempos em que se pagava meio penny para atravessar para o outro lado.

Across from Temple Bar, crossing the Liffey river, one can find the Spire, the giant metal stick you see in the picture. Dubliners don't really like it and I have to agree that is not the most interesting thing I have seen. The surroundings, though, are nice and full of busy shoppers.

Do outro lado de Temple Bar, depois de cruzarmos o rio Liffey, encontramos o Spire, o objecto gigante de metal que se vê na foto. Os Dublinenses não são grandes fans deste monumento e eu tenho que concordar que não é a coisa mais interessante que já vi. Os arredores, porém, são agradáveis e cheio de gente que saiam para ir às compras.

 In every corner/street there's a nice building... / Em cada esquina/rua há edifícios imponentes

Memorial to the Great Hunger 

The Great Famine or the Great Hunger was a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. Some people claim that famine is not the right term as there was food in Ireland, just not accessible to the proles. 

A Grande Fome foi um período de fome massiva, doença e emigração na Irlanda entre 1845 e 1852. Algumas pessoas afirmam que fome não é o termo certo, porque havia comida na Irlanda, ela só não estava acessível às classes mais baixas.

 Samuel Beckett Bridge and Convention center, in the modern quarters of the city. The bridge has an harp shape, one of the symbols of Ireland.

Ponte de Samuel Beckett e o Centro de Convenções, na parte moderna da cidade. A ponte tem a forma de uma harpa, um dos símbolos da Irlanda.

 Stephen's Green Shopping center, a beauty on the inside and on the outside.

Centro Comercial de Stephen's Green, uma beleza por dentro e por fora.

The place we visited was the library of Trinity College. That was probably the most impressive library I have ever been! There's millions of books in it, spread all over 2 floors and thousands of shelves. We also got to see the original Book of Kells, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It's believed to have been created around the year 800 (it is in the dark, very secured and no pictures are allowed). Still, I think the library impressed me more.

O último sítio que visitamos foi a biblioteca do Trinity College. Esta foi provavelmente a biblioteca mais impressionante onde eu já estive! Há milhões de livros cuidadosamente arrumados em 2 andares e milhares de prateleiras. Também pudemos ver o original do Livro de Kells, que contém os quatro Evangelhos do Novo Testamento, juntamente com vários textos introdutórios e tabelas. Acredita-se que foi criado por volta do ano 800 (está guardado num ambiente escuro, muito seguro e não se pode fotografar). Ainda assim, acho que a biblioteca me impressionou mais.

Taken from our window in Dublin / Tirada da nossa janela em Dublin

Dublin was quite the experience because although we only stayed 3 nights we managed to see a lot, run 2 races and enjoy ourselves with a couple of beers and some good food. It's another city I recommend!

Dublin proporcionou-nos boas experiências porque mesmo apenas ficando 3 noites conseguimos ver imensas coisas, correr 2 corridas e relaxar com algumas cervejas e boa comida. Outra cidade que recomendo vivamente!

Sara Jump - Northern Ireland

During the road trip I made Sara Jumps in my favourite spots along the way. Here they are.
Durante a viagem fiz Sara Jumps nos meus locais preferidos. Aqui estão eles. 

 Carrickarede island

 Giant's Causeway

Dark Hedges

All in August 2016

To see more of my Sara Jumps around the world click HERE!

Para ver mais Sara Jumps à volta do mundo cliquem AQUI!

Game of Thrones near Carrickarede

Now for the curious and the followers of the series Game of Thrones. 

To go to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge we left the car in one of the designated parking lots. There, we found a sign indicating that a scene of Game of Thrones has also been filmed there. 

Agora para os curiosos e para os aficcionados da série Guerra dos Tronos. 

Quando fomos à ponte de Carrick-a-rede deixámos o carro num parque de estacionamento. Lá, vimos um sinal que indicava que uma das cenas da série tinha sido ali filmada. 

 Image from the internet

 Image from the internet

Other scenes have been filmed in the surroundings of where we were and all over Northern Ireland. I can image why so, as the natural scenery does provide amazing images on its own. 

Outras cenas já foram filmadas nos arredores de onde estivemos e em várias outras localizações da Irlanda do Norte. Consigo perceber uma vez que o cenário natural providencia images fantásticas por si só. 

Learning Swedish #10

Have you watched the movie called Slumdog Millionaire? In a nutshell, the movie is about an indian boy who wins the contest Who wants to be a millionaire. He grew up in a slum and supposedly, he didn't have that much culture but he got all the questions right, because by coincidence he had been through situations that made him learn those exact facts. 

I had an exam of Swedish language today. This was not the regular exam, but just a test run to see if the difficulty level was right. The exams are at a national level and they come from a school in Stockholm. The real exam will be held in October, but it is up to the teachers to determine which students are ready to go and be tested. I was invited for this test run, which hopefully means I will be invited to do the real one too! The hardest thing in the test is to not have access to a dictionary. If there are words one doesn't understand one has to guess, so the best practise one can have is to learn as many words as possible. Right, if only there wasn't a million of them to choose from...

The funny thing for me today was that I felt like the boy in Slumdog Millionaire!  

1. Those doing the exam were excused from class, that ended just before, but I decided to go anyway, to warm up my Swedish (let's say it is not the first language that comes to me in the morning...). In this class, I learned several words related to hospitals and sickness, which were very useful in the first exercise of the test.

2. I was not sure how to train for the listening part of the exam, so I have been watching TV. My favourite became a program where people who spend more money than what they earn are helped. I only started last week, but I learned worlds like residency, luxury, loan, etc. It came right in hand in exercise 2 of the exam!

3. Yesterday I went to the library and borrowed a book in light Swedish. It was the first time I did it. I only read about 5 pages. I learned a crucial word for exercise 3. 

4. I have never talked so much about the environment as in the summer school. Those were complex words for someone who could barely say hello, how are you, but we repeated them many times. I lost count of how many times the word environment was referenced in the test today.

Now let's hope I didn't run out of luck today and that I will keep learning the right words until the proper exam! I don't know if you can tell but I'm having loads of fun learning Swedish. Maybe it's because it doesn't feel as hopeless as it did learning Czech. Or maybe because I have more time to spend on it. Or maybe it is simply because it's a fun language to learn!