Today was a combination of chores (laundry), planning (trying to book a tour Friday) and wandering about.
The laundry was successful, booking the tour was not & wandering about got us damp as it rained lightly.
First stop in wandering about was Dublinia, depicting Dublin's history from the Vikings to the middle ages. Interesting enough, but no photos except for this one.
I added this one for you Ian - note that it's a two holer. The display was complete with realistic sound effects. 💩
We climbed the tower (built in 1667) for a look around. Here's yet another view of Christchurch Cathedral.
This is a detail of the stonework inside the tower.
In the Cathedral now.
One of the many stained glass windows.
Onward now - we walked by the GPO (General Post Office). A beautiful mid 1800's building (which I forgot to include a photo of the exterior). Here's a view of the interior.
Exiting the building, we see these pock marks on the outside (some repaired, some not). Some of them are bullet holes from the 1916 Rebellion - the rebels used the GPO as one of their headquarters.
This photo of a photo shows the next building, the Custom House (lower centre), sitting beside the river. Many of the roads, laid out in a seemingly hodge-podge fashion, actually follow the paths and city walls that are hundred of years old.
Here's the front view of the Customs House. This was badly burnt in the 1921 War of Independence. The dome was rebuilt with a different stone than the main structure. There seems to be a pattern of things being built and destroyed in some sort of conflict later.
For comparison, here's a building directly across the river, showing the influence the 1800's architecture still has.
Moving along - a rather ornate streetlamp pole. Everything is adorned with signs for tomorrow's referendum.
Onto the engineering portion. I love how this drawbridge used to operate (explained in the next photo). The drawbridge was over a side channel of the river called the Royal Canal. It is no longer used and the canal is permanently blocked
Here's how the drawbridge worked: the dark pinion in the middle of the photo would rotate and move the whole bridge back along the street. As it moved it rotated the bridge deck up. Keep your toes out of the way!
Last engineering photo: this is the first lock in the Royal Canal, now abandoned.
Back to architecture. This is the CHQ EPIC Building which houses among other things the Irish Emigration Museum, telling about how the Irish emigrated during hard times. It sure looks like a classical railway station to me.
Inside the building was a small museum, a number of businesses and something called "dogpatch labs." Of course, I had to take a look. Turned out dogpatch labs is a 'startup hub' for technical innovation. Note that a Starbucks is strategically located next door. There are 4 Starbucks within 2 blocks of our hotel - they must hand out the franchises like they do with Tim Horton's in Canada.
The contest!
I was confronted with with this rotating door. The Irish, like the Brits, drive on the wrong side of the road, and many walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk. So, do I go to the right or to the left through the door?
Give me your guesses in the comments for this page. Tomorrow I'll tell you whether you squashed me or got me through the door.
To comment:
Click on the 'Comments' or 'No comments' (if you are the first) at the bottom and go from there.
(May 24): You might also have to prove you aren't a robot. Put your name in the comment if you selected 'anonymous.' Follow the instructions and the game they make you play.
When finished, click on "Publish."
Good afternoon, I guess - we just finished a great Italian meal, so I'm a bit late getting at this today.
Our adventure today was a cycle ride to Howth & back, about 40 km total. Here's a map to orient yourselves.
Our hotel is on the left side and Howth is at the top of the peninsula.
It is slightly hair raising getting out of town, but there is a cycle trail most of the way, so this is a relatively easy ride. And flat, only one hill in the middle of the peninsula.
On the way there, we saw this very intricately carved tree (now a big stump). Don't know anything about it (this chicken didn't cross the road).
On the south side of the route is a very shallow bay - the tide was out for miles. It looked muddy, not like Parksville or QB beaches.
We made it to Howth, stopped for a Latte, and then pedaled out to the end of the end of the waterfront road.
Here's the shops & restaurants along the way. Definitely a fishing village.
A closeup of the little island north of the wharf area.
The breakwater / promenade on the other side of the harbour.
On the way back, I dropped into a fish store to see what they offered. Here's the two display coolers.
Comments: I didn't see any cod with heads on, but it looked good.
Prices seemed to be about the same as ours.
Salmon: 18.99 E / kg, about $2.80 / 100 gms. All farmed. Explained to the lady about why we aren't fans of farmed salmon.
Ray wings - I can take 'em or leave 'em. Seafood mix - is this what fell on the floor?
Sea Bass - from Turkey
Lots of fish that we don't typically see - they seem to be closer to 'harvesting' their last species than we are.
Prawns in the next cabinet - looked like prawns but definitely not spots or stripes.
The big impression as soon as I walked into the shop - the smell! They must have not cleaned up some spillage from a while go.. Pretty "niffy" in there. Our shops and the ones we saw in South america did not smell this strong.
The last waterfront shot - a nice view of the lighthouse. I suspect its been replaced by a scrawny light on a post just a bit further out.
The local yacht harbour is in the background.
Speaking of yacht harbour, this is one of the more upscale suburbs of Dublin.
Here's a house. Of course, there are a mix of older and newer styles.
Here's a link to one of the local real estate agents, in case you have a few hundred thousand Euros you don't need. (If you don't need them. save a few for me in case I need bail money!)
http://www.sherryfitz.ie/residential/for-sale/houses/dublin-co/howth
Probably less expensive than Vancouver, but roughly on par with Nanoose.
Last photo today, on the way back. Still upscale, but less so. I loved the row houses with all the chimney pots - very Mary Poppins.
As I mentioned we had a great Italian meal. Why Italian in Dublin? After Fish & Chips, Irish Stew, Bangers & Mash and Steak & Guinness Stew (all good, especially with beer) you are pretty much out of the traditional dishes. And I did have mushy peas with my Bangers last night.
TTFN - not sure what's happening tomorow.
Oh - I almost forgot: The first in my collection of gas price photos. Multiply Euros by 1.56 to get Canadian Pesos. Ouch!
We popped into Dublin Castle for a quick peak. The views are the tower and Chapel Royal, inside the chapel & the organ. Instead of being built of stone, the chapel structure is wood, plaster, and a thin veneer of stone. Apparently, the first, heavier structure sunk into the soft riverbed ground underneath.
This is the courtyard and state apartments beyond. Used for state functions now - it was the seat of the British government 1921.
We jumped on the Jump On - Jump Off bus and headed west to the Kilmainham Gaol. Now a museum, it was originally built in 1796, with an addition in the 1800's.
Here's one of the original cell blocks and a cell door. No heat, stone floor, maybe some damp straw - pretty brutal.
The new, modern cell block built in accordance with modern jailing principles: single, separate & supervise. Wooden cell floors (much warmer), carpets outside the cells so guards could monitor prisoners without their knowing and lots of sunlight to aid rehabilitation.
During the Potato Famine, when begging and stealing food got you thrown in here, the crowding became so bad, there were up to 5 prisoners per cell. The jail held males, females, & children (youngest was 5 years old).
One of the darkest periods for the gaol was after the 1916 uprising, when 14 of the uprising ringleaders were executed. One, Joseph Plunkett, was married to Grace Gifford in the jail the night before his execution. Grace stayed in prison after the execution and painted the walls of her cell, seen through the door's peephole.
This picture is of the Stone Breaking Yard, where the executions took place. One man, James Connolly, was so sick from gangrene he couldn't stand, and was tied to a chair to be shot.
If you were lucky enough to be released from Kilmainham, you got to exit through this door.
Kilmainham was closed in 1924, after the Irish Civil War and was left to deteriorate. In 1960, it was decided to fix it up and turn it into a museum, using volunteer labour. It has appeared in various movies and this video by U2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UMwpjxOV_M
To end things on a happier note, we had dinner in the oldest pub in Dublin, the Brazen Head, established in 1198.
I'm up bright & early on a sunny morning - finally adapted to the time change.
Out for a quick walk.
The news here is refreshingly low on Trump's antics, and Canada doesn't make it (somebody e-mail me if Vancouver Island sinks).
The biggest issue here is the May 25 vote on the Abortion Issue ("Repeal the 8th"). Tons of Yes and No campaigners on the streets, handing out leaflets. We've seen one No campaigner out on his soap box (literally) in 3 different parts of the city in the last 3 days. We haven't seen any screaming matches and have only been approached once (we must look like tourists).
The lamp posts around town are just plastered with signs. It will be a while before they are cleaned up.
Since it's sunny I got a nice shot of the Ha'Penny bridge, nicknamed thatbecause of the toll charged back in 1816 when it was built.
A close shot of a bunch of 'love locks' on the bridge. I thought about cracking that nice, black combination lock, but figured that would be a bit tacky.
Time to wake up her majesty and get some brekky.
Breakfast & coffee over - off to Trinity College!
The 30m high Campanile in Library Square.
A building on the north side of the square. They all had temporary signs in front, "Quiet - Exams in Progress." Take that you students!
The "Sphere Within a sphere" sculpture, with a selfie of yours truly if you look carefully - right beside where the sticker was peeled off.
The Book of Kells exhibit - no photos of the actual book, and only non-flash pix in the outer exhibit, so you may want to Google it for better views. Here's the Wikipedia link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells
This page shows the four apostles whose gospels comprise the book: Matthew, Mark, John & Luke
Laura wants to go for dinner & a beer - I'll add more later.
I had Bangers & Mash & a couple of pints for dinner - ole 'Half Pint' had two glasses. Back to the Book of Kells:
This is a portrait of St. John. Remember - the book is smaller than a table picture book, so the poor monks doing the amazingly intricate artwork in poor light and even poorer working conditions had to be super talented.
The chronology of the book - it's amazing that it survived at all.
This is the Chi Rho page - some of the the most intricate artwork in the book.
That's it for photos of the exhibit - I can't do justice to it. From this exhibit we went in to the Treasury where the actual book is on display. Very inspiring. The engineer in me wondered how the monks could do such detail. I realize I haven't included any photos of the actual text, but it is also delicate and beautiful.
Here's the 'Long Room,' the actual old library of Trinity College, with 200,000 volumes.
A view of the upper floors of volumes.
Busts line each side of the main hall.
Here's a book that was on display - a mere youngster from the 14th century. It's subject - Early Irish Laws on Beekeeping!
This is a little higher resolution description of the text. I hope you can make it out. It was shot through smudged Plexiglas.
That's it for a very short tour of Trinity College - didn't want to disturb exams.
Up the road a ways is Dublin Castle.
For comparison, here's a building directly across the river, showing the influence the 1800's architecture still has.
