We tripped through Trinity College on the way to today's museum. A lilac in full bloom.
The Rugby Pitch with the quintessential ivy covered college building in the background.
We went into the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology, and its free. This museum is where all the major archaeological finds and treasures are stored. It covers before the Bronze Age until the Middle Ages. I could have spent all day and taken a million pictures, but I'll only include a few from the Bronze Age.This is a wooden wheel
Pottery and metal spear points. The square object in front is the mold for the spear point. It is exquisite in its workmanship.
Gold necklaces. Again, beautifully done.
This museum is on the Lonely Planet's list of must sees if you have any time to sight see in Dublin.
After the museum and lunch, we went to the nearby St. Stephen's Green, park in the middle of town. Full of people at lunchtime. Two views of the main pond. I managed to avoid having lots of people in the pix, but they were all about.
There are various signboards throughout the Green that describe details of the 1916 Uprising. Here's an example. Note there are two languages - English and Irish (related to Gaelic, I believe). Ireland is definitely bilingual, although we don't run into people who speak only Irish.
The Superintendent's Cottage in the Green.
Switching gears - Throughout the city at busy pedestrian crossings are these reminders of which direction way the traffic is coming from.
In a city where many of the people are not used to left side driving and the huge number of confusing One Way streets, these are a lifesaver!
Switching gears again, and with some time before dinner, I went for a bike ride to Phoenix Park. This is a huge urban park (707 hectacres compared to Stanley's 405), consisting of trees, many playing fields (ruby, football, cricket AND polo!) with a zoo as well. I didn't see many ponds. An unusual feature is that the residences for the American Ambassador and the Irish President are on the grounds.
As I rode past the gate a car exited, so I turned up the road. A pleasant guard came out and confirmed that I wasn't invited any further (I guess the paperwork didn't arrive in time).
Upon finding out I was Canadian, not American, he apologized and the conversation went something like this:
-Where abouts in Canada are you from?
-The far west coast, Vancouver Island
-Whereabouts on the Island?
-About midway up, Nanoose Bay, near Nanaimo
-Oh - I was in Qualicum Beach a few weeks ago!
Geez! Turns out he took time out from his police duties in Ireland and spent 3 years in BC, working part of the time as a Security Guard at UBC!
Small world, eh?
Nobody has commented on the rotating door from yesterday (except Sue). Apparently, you might not be able to add a comment. I'm not sure what's wrong, and I can't fix it. Interestingly, Blogspot re-routes the blog to a ".ie" address for me, which might be part of the problem.
So, I'll just keep staring at the door, trying to decide which way to go.
There are at least 5 other riders here, although we haven't met any of them. Four of their bikes are still in boxes in the basement beside ours, and the other fellow's bike is in his room. Expect lots more over the weekend.
