We do Dublin

Dublin isn't a large city, but there is certainly enough to walk our legs to nubs for two days, and the weather was not helpful.   

It turned bitterly cold over Sunday night and snowed off and on, not accumulating as it has in England, but certainly noticeable on the ground.  And the windchill factor made it seem like 20F.  Let's say it was cold.

But we walked down to the bus, got our Leap cards for fares, like Washington's Smarttrip or London's Oysters, and board a no. 7 to downtown.  Monday is not a great day to find things open, but we  visited Merrion Square and the monument to Oscar Wilde and noted some of the interesting Dublin street lights!  We  went to the National Gallery and enjoyed listening to a talk on Jack Yeats, an artist of some Irish note.  We didn't care much for the museum's brutal concrete architecture.   We had lunch at Carluccio's, two lovely mushroom and pancetta soups and a small service of tempura vegetables (Italian style).  Then to Insomnia for coffee and a bus home.  It was really too cold to spend time out and about.

We dined at home last night on a free range Irish chicken from Co. Monaghan, which we did not know was a NORTHERN Irish chicken!  The Rhône wine we had to go with it was very nice and the whole meal was full of good conversation, politics and history, of course.

Early to bed.  

This morning, Tuesday, we took the train into Dublin center along the coast and then headed on a tour of the various literary sites in town.   We visited the Garden of Remembrance to the Irish patriots of the 1916 Easter Rebellion, James Joyce's home, the Writer's Museum and the O'Connell Street.  From there it was up to Fixx for coffees and lunch after a walk through Trinity College.   Very pretty this part of town.  

You can't say that central Dublin's monuments are spread out.  From the castle to James Joyce's house is less than a mile, but there is plenty of interesting architecture--including the Parliament House designed by James Hoban, architect of the White House.  It's a very similar design.  The flags were at half mast for the death of the foreign minister, and the photographers were at the gates pleased to have had the opportunity to take a good shot of the hearse.  

We had a look at the bog men in the National Museum--Archeology.  They were found in bogs undecomposed after a millenium or so in the acid bogs with minimal oxygen.  In effect they are mummies.

We visited the Castle, which is closed this year because it's being used for ceremonies associated with Ireland's holding the EU Presidency.   The Beattie Museum on the castle grounds, though, has an excellent book exhibit.  Then home to Dun Laoghaire and preparation for dinner tonight.