TRAVEL TIP 16TH JUNE, 2013 – DUBLIN, IRELAND – BLOOMSDAY In 1920, Modernist author James Joyce published Ulysses, the stream-of-consciousness story of Leopold Bloom’s journey through Dublin on the 16th June, 1904. Consistently ranked well within the top 100 English-Language novels of all time, Ulysses is a well-renowned, much-loved and truly inspirational work. The sheer number of works it has informed and influenced are incredibly wide-ranging; from being the date that Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes chose to marry, to being referenced on The Simpsons, it is hardly a surprise that fifty years after its publication, a group of well-respected authors, artists and Joyce’s own cousin (a dentist!) gathered together to retrace the protagonist’s steps through their hallowed city. The city in question being Dublin, it is perhaps no surprise that the venture was abandoned halfway through because the participants were too plastered to continue. Nowadays, Bloomsday is a little better organised, though there are still pub crawls available should you desire a more informal celebration. Locals dress up as their favourite characters from the book and attend readings and dramatisations of scenes from the book. Some purists even gather for a full-length reading, but given that this takes an average of 36 hours to complete, you’d be forgiven for moving on to something else. Fortunately, this being Dublin, there’s always plenty to see and do, even if it’s not quite as literary as the other celebrations. And if you’re not in Dublin, there are other celebrations around the world, such as the USA (where Joyce’s handwritten manuscript resides), Australia, Hungary and Italy. With data rates of only $0.39 per MB and calls for just $0.99 per minute, our Telestial international SIM card will give you the freedom to share the sights and sounds of Bloomsday (and all the other delights Dublin has to offer) without having to worry about exorbitant roaming charges.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:49:59 +0000
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