Today was a free day in which we got to go to the EPIC museum. This was a very interesting museum that focused on the emigration of Irish people. It included information on why they emigrated, what they did, and where they ended up. During the museum, you received a “passport” which allowed you to get a stamp for each room that you visited. It was a lot of fun to collect all of the stamps!
My overall impression of the EPIC museum was one of surprise. They presented the information in different ways (videos, writings, and interactive pieces), which was fun to explore. Despite the sad information at times, they contrasted this information with more fun and successful stories. There was lots of new information that was included in this museum that I have not seen in other places. For example, there was a room about innovations of Irish people and another room on how Irish people have led the change in different ways throughout history. This information was not seen on other tours, which mainly focused on the wars and sorrows of the Irish people, instead of the successes. My favorite part of this museum was the room on leading the change. This room depicted multiple different sculptures representing different issues and showed the Irish people who helped lead this change. It was a very impactful and knowledgeable room that I learned a lot from.
I spent the rest of my day exploring the wax museum and visiting the Book of Kells and the Old Library at Trinity College. It was very interesting and fun. I enjoyed my time today, and am looking forward to tomorrow when we are going on a site visit to the Cliffs of Moher!