We had some visitors recently! David's parents made the trek across the pond for
a visit. They were here for two weeks, giving us lots of time to site see, shop, golf,
catch up, and travel within the country. It was a really nice time!
Mary was here once before and Art has been to Ireland twice. But his visits mostly
consisted of golf courses and pubs. So, this time, while David was at work, we
showed him around Dublin.
City Bus Tour
Our first stop was the city bus tour. None of us had taken it before, and I am so glad
I have now. It's a ninety minute tour that takes you by the cities main attractions and
explains a bit about them and other little stories and legends of Dublin. (This
area has more folklore! The Irish have a story for everything. I love it.) We were on
the top of a two story bus during the tour. Almost all of the Dublin buses have two
stories, but this one is open air on the top half. So, it was fun to sit up there. It gave
me a whole new perspective on Dublin. I took advantage by snapping a few pictures,
of course. Here are a handful of them...
The water you see here is the River Liffey. The street runs
east to west along either side of the river, dividing Dublin.
There are eleven bridges that cross the river, some are for
cars and pedestrians while others are stricktly walk ways.
Anyway, they're all different - pretty neat, actually. Maybe
I'll get around to posting all of them sometime. For now, this
is one of them.
The next three don't have a story...that I know of, anyway.
Just city shots.
It seems like flower boxes and baskets are a matter of
national pride here in Ireland. They're everywhere, huge
and lovely. Here's a sampling. Now you can stop and
smell the...flowers.
And this, while not a good picture, is pretty cool...
It's U2s hotel. The green level at the top is a penthouse.
It'll cost you 2,200 euros to rent that out for the night.
A memorial for Irishmen who died during the 1798 Rebellion.
The building in the background is the National Museum of
Decorative Arts and History. That was the first museum I
went to after arriving in Ireland. Very interesting place.
I've shared Dublin Doors with you before -- I just love them.
So, here's another...
And finally, two detail shots from a building in town. I don't
recall what building they belong to, but the second one is
among my favorite pictures gathered from Dublin so far.
At Trinity College in Dublin
The campus at Trinity College is a popular site to see in Dublin. Both Mary and I
had both been there before. So, this time when we stopped by, we skipped seeing
The Book of Kells and The Long Room and just enjoyed being on campus.
Mary stopped to smell their beautiful tree roses. She estimated they
had been there for 20 years or more by the maturity of their stems.
One of the many beautiful buildings there...
We settled in on a bench to watch the people
running around the perimeter of one of the
campus fields and to enjoy the view.
On Henry Street in Dublin After the City Bus Tour
Henry and Grafton Streets run parallel to each other. They're both pedestrian-only
walkways filled with spots to shop and fun places to be. Grafton is nice and has
a lot to offer, but you can generally get things for about 20% less on Henry Street.
So, it has to be checked out from time to time.
Here Art and Mary stop for a quick pic. There was road work
being done there at the time, but I think you can still get an
idea of what it is like there.
Old Dublin
The city was originally founded in 800 AD by Vikings, (which I just learned while
Art and Mary were here). The River Liffey runs through the center of the city today,
but the original Dublin was a small walled city, established on the south bank of
the river. Here is part of the original wall that used to surround Dublin.
The other things to see in Old Dublin are the churches. There are two: Christ Church
and St. Patrick's Cathedral. (David and I went to St. Patrick's with Gordon and
Maryanne Penskey of PCI a few weeks back. It's breathtaking; I'll have to go again
and take pictures.) Art, Mary and I went to Christ Church while they were here. It's
smaller than St. Patrick's, but that makes sense because it's the older of two, and
it's still lovely. Taking the tour helps explain the history of the city and politics and
religion during that time.
The earliest documents found date the
church back to 1030. That's 9th century!
Here, Art and Mary stand in front of the
original part.
The detail inside is incredible. It was all
handmade and constructed without some of
advancements we have today. Still, it's flawless.
This is a little dark, but I included it anyway since it was
easily the best part of our time at Christ Church. We had
gone downstairs into the crypt to see a video presentation,
some artifacts relating to the churches history, and to see
the crypt itself. When we came back upstairs, this choir
was singing. We stopped to listen for a bit - It was absolutely
spectacular. And a very nice end to an interesting stop.
The Church was expanded later on. This bridge connects
the old and the new side which are on opposite sides on the
street. The new side, if I understood this correctly, is now
used as a museum of the history of Dublin. I have that on
my itinerary to hit soon. So, more on that later!
Art heads out the front door at the end
of our tour. I love the big doorway!
We were off to find a place for lunch
after the tour of Christ Church. And then
we planned to hit the Guinness Storehouse
Tour from there. As we headed in that
direction, we passed by some other
beautiful churches. I don't recall their
names, but I wanted to share the pictures
of them anyway.
If memory serves me correctly, I believe
they said this was the oldest Catholic
Church in Dublin. It's quite an impressive
building.
After a quick walk, we found a place called Nash's for lunch. We had some
wonderful vegetable soup with grilled cheese and ham sandwiches. Mary
and I each had a delicious Irish Coffee, and as a prelude to our tour at
Guinness, Art had a pint of the black stuff! Next stop, the Guinness tour!
Oh, one more thing...When we were on the City Bus Tour, our guide mentioned
that Dublin has six hundred and some churches. But they also have their
priorities straight because they have nine hundred and some pubs!!
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The margin has been updated with a new 'We the People' and 'Trigger Happy'.
Enjoy and have a good day!
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