Last Full Day in Dublin

Greetings on this lovely wet and gloomy Monday. I've been having some Disqus issues so have taken that down temporarily. Hopefully you can comment using the Blogger commenting platform. We shall see won't we? 

These photos are from Sunday, Aug. 28 - our last full day in Dublin.  They are in no particular order as I take photos with my camera and with my phone which can get confusing when I try to organize my photos on my laptop with any precision. I'm just going to have to suck it up and buy a camera with wifi capability. Has anyone had any experience with one of those and/or knows a good brand?

Carrying on...Annie and I had another amazing breakfast at Ariel House - I had yogurt, homemade granola & fruit followed by oatmeal & coffee. That should keep me going for quite some time! (in more ways than one!) Sorry, colonoscopy still on my mind.

 First stop was to return to Trinity College and see the Long Room and the Book of Kells. I LOVED, ADORED, BONDED WITH this section of the library (called the Long Room) -I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie!

Built between 1712 and 1732, the Long Room at Trinity College's Old Library holds the collection's 200,000 oldest books

WOW!  The medieval illustrated Book of Kells has been at the Trinity College library since the 1600's to protect it from Cromwell.

We did a bit more hopping on and off a tour bus - hopping off at the famous Dublin jail called Kilmainham Gaol - now a museum. Unfortunately the next available time for a tour was hours away so we hopped back on the next bus and got off near the National Museum. We grabbed some lunch and did some window shopping, then headed into the museum.

One of the not so nice sections of Dublin as seen from the bus...

Near (hey - I was bored!) Kilmainham Gaol Museum:

And what do you do when you are waiting for a bus?  Selfie time!

I am limiting my museum photos to three (see how nice I am)?

The swirls and spirals on this priceless bracelet are very inspiring (future tattoo?)

The next two pieces (not sure if they are buckles or were in early Christian churches as some sort of ornament, but both depict Jesus on the Cross with the added interest of Roman soldiers stabbing in the sides with their spears. Medieval clergy felt the best way to keep control of the population was by fear of what would happen to them in the afterlife if they sinned during their mortal life.

Fun times!

The Celts were masters of intricate designs of jewelry and religious icons.

Here we are at Ha'penny Bridge - selfie time :)

This bridge is suffering from the addition of many locks and graffiti: made me wonder who Lee Walker is and why he is a "gross __________"?  Actually "gross" is spelled "grass" which is quite puzzling. Perhaps that's an insult in some other country!?

Hey - you're a grass!! Do you feel insulted?

Two views of the Dublin Spire - also known as the Monument of Light. The spire was built as part of a project to spruce up O'Connell St.

Look up.....look WAY up.....!

And of course the requisite bridge photos :) 

We had a tough time finding a place to eat - every place was stacked full of people but eventually we landed at the noisy Slattery pub where I had some nachos (I've had better). But that's ok; after eating we went on a ghost tour!! It was great but I didn't get too many photos as it was getting dark. Then we cabbed it back to Ariel House and prepared to leave the next morning for the Aran Island of Inis Mor!  *Also spelled Inishmore, Arainn Mhor

Dublin

And so the story begins.....on a hot summer's day, August 24th to be exact, I embarked upon another long distance walk (well, maybe not that long - I could definitely go further...)...(but I digress...) in Ireland. 

Robert Q got me safely to Toronto and Air Canada launched me over the big pond into Heathrow. An hour later I was in the air again headed to Dublin and the photo below shows us heading down to the runway. Totally uneventful flight except for the young man next to me who insisted upon flopping his head onto my shoulder while snorting and coughing in his sleep. I used the index finger of my right hand against his temple to push him over onto his girlfriend's shoulder which would work for about 15 minutes, then....flop...back to me like a tennis ball. It wasn't the flopping I minded so much as the obvious head and chest cold he had going on - I didn't want to get sick on my first day in Dublin!

I took a shuttle to the hotel we were staying in and fell in love! The service at Ariel House was incredible - someone was always on hand to offer us a cup of tea or slice of cake, to call a cab or serve us a scrumptious breakfast. Fresh towels, the best beds, antiques (except for the bathroom!) - it was simply divine! And I had 4 nights there! 

It didn't look quite so uncluttered once we unloaded all of our belongings! I came a day early because I don't sleep on planes so desperately needed to catch up on sleep. Which I did.

Before I slept I found a wonderful little pub called Crowes - you can click on my link if you want to see some excellent photos of the pub. 

I tried out some of their more unusual beer but I didn't do this:

  

Do I have a sharp eye for a beer glass or what?

Unfortunately this place, IPA, across the street from the hotel,  doesn't stand for India Pale Ale so I had to go a little further abroad and found Crowes by simply turning left at the corner - brilliant! There is indeed a pub on just about every corner in Dublin!

My first beer adventure was a pint of Franciscan Well's Rebel Red (made in Cork)! It was pretty yummy and paired beautifully with...

....the most excellent chicken pot pie. It had at least half a chicken under that puff pastry and onions, carrots and potatoes of course in addition to a side dish of potatoes (like I needed more) and a pleasant salad. To say I was stuffed is an understatement but I'd be needing lots of energy on the hike so I tucked in!

After a great sleep I had most of the day to explore before Annie arrived Friday night after putting in a full day's work. So I did what I do best - wander. Have included just a few photos from my wandering. 

I think this hotel has a catchy name, don't you?

I can never get over the numbers of palm trees in these countries that are further north than me! So not fair!

If you've been following my previous adventures you know I love chimney pots, especially long lines of them so must include at least one photo - this one turned out nicely.

I enjoyed seeing the Oscar Wilde monument and reading some of his witty quotes.

I don't know who this person is but he must be important to have his own monument but he apparently doesn't have the respect of these birds!! Almost every statue I saw had a bird sitting on its head!

These sculpted fellows though were REAL! I nearly jumped out of my skin when they moved to thank a little kid for his donation placed in the trophy at their feet! Clever!

Dear sweet Molly did NOT come back to life however.

Speaking of brazen The Brazen Head claims to be the oldest pub in Dublin being in established in 1198! That IS old! My attention, however, was diverted to the naked guy on the side of the truck!

Occasionally and absolutely unintended I get the "postcard" shot like this bridge below.

I wonder if these folks notice the imbedded norse ship while they wait for a bus?

and because the first bridge was so pretty I took photos of a couple more but they don't quite measure up I don't think.

I visited this Famine Memorial just north of the River Liffey a couple of times - I found it extremely moving - especially the father figure carrying his dead son. The images are so powerful.  More on the great famine of the 1850's later.

A little further on was a more futuristic bridge and behind there is a building that looks like the mid-section is falling backwards! Very cool.

Of course I too hundreds more photos in various areas of south and north Dublin but one must stop somewhere! So here is a little tunnel I barely fit through as I wandered back to Ariel House to wait for Annie to arrive :) I took a wrong turn or two but eventually found my way back!