Monday, September 3, 2012

dublin 2012

We arrived in Dublin yesterday and made a full day of it, walking around the city and over the River Liffey several times, although not so many as the more than 20 bridges that cross it.

DSCN1464-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1472-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

We walked on the north side of the Liffey for a bit, saw a memorial commemorating those who emigrated during the Potato Famine. A bike tour arrived just as we did, so mostly, I got to see this.

DSCN1461-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1460-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

By the way, “GET YOUR CRAIC ON A SADDLE” is basically, have yourself a good time by riding around Dublin. We did see Molly Malone, but I’m sure there are a million photos of her in at least as many blogs so I’ll refer you to those. Just walking the streets and seeing Trinity College was more satisfying.

DSCN1485-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1489-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

We did have a couple almost obligatory sightings: Temple Bar and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, because there are churches...and then there are churches. I was clearly shooting into the sun in both.

DSCN1496-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1521-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

We saw more castles. This one had a name I could remember: Dublin Castle. Go figure.

DSCN1571-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1575-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

I’ve got to speed this up or we’ll never get out of Dublin. Suffice it to say that the city that produced Yeats is full of many things, literature included, but what I most loved was its humor and its sense of fidelity to its culture and the people who live it daily.

DSCN1610-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1616-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

The next day, I took a train from Dublin to Bray for a four-and-a-half mile cliff walk to the town of Greystones. I’d read about it online and wanted to give it a go. Turns out, it was great to get out of a city that was still mobbed from the Notre Dame-Navy football game.

DSCN1739-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1717-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

DSCN1720-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1712-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

We had lunch in Greystones at Caffe delle Stelle, owned by a nice Italian couple who knew how to make an excellent sandwich. Then back on the train to Dublin, where we took the long way back from the station, passing through St. Stephen’s Green.

DSCN1760-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg DSCN1783-2012-09-3-05-26.jpg

The last shuttle bus back to the ship was standing room only. We leave tonight for Southampton. Already?

No comments:

Post a Comment