The Dublin Botanical Gardens are an exceptionally beautiful sight, though I can not say that I am a huge fan of gardens generally. The Dublin Botanical Gardens are diverse, full of life, and are definitely sights worth seeing, but there is something about how tame nature seems in gardens that is off-putting to me; I would much rather be in the mountains or out in the wild. I suppose in some ways being in the gardens felt like a tour at a museum, whereas being out in nature feels more like an adventure with infinite possibilities.

There was, however, one part of the Dublin Botanical Gardens that really interested me, and that was the section reserved for plants endemic to Ireland. This entire section of the gardens was designed to look like the Irish countryside in all of its wild glory. It was filled with wildflowers of purple and yellow, tall, pale grasses, and mossy rocks all over. I was actually quite shocked that this exhibit existed, though with some reflection, it occurred to me that it is not all that surprising. After all, the Irish seem to be quite nationalistic, or at least prideful, with regards to their history. I simply never imagined that, even in a garden, there would be an entire exhibit that was essentially geared towards the history of Ireland’s plant-life; perhaps the Irish have an even more reverent respect for their history than I ever could have imagined.

Unfortunately, I can not say that I learned much else today about Ireland; I saw a lot of beautiful flowers, and a nice statue of Socrates, but that is just about it.