Dublin Walk Thursday 6/5/14
Today was an easy day. A light breakfast of toasted bacon bagel at Brewleys and we walked the few blocks to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.
We got there before it opened and there was still a line of about 80 in front of us including a French tour group who plagued us all the way through.
It was crowded and really not that interesting to me, but the library was worth the price of admission.
To think of the great people who have studied in that library. . . Frances Bacon, Sir Issac Newton, Alfred,Lord Tennyson, A.A. Milne, Vladimir Nabokov, and Gandhi .... to name just a few. I collected a couple of IQ points just walking across the soft wooden floors.
Also bought Trinity ( my grandson) a Trinity a College t-shirt....hint, hint.
Later that afternoon and after more than a few wrong turns (due in part to my inability to ask people for directions) we found the archaeology museum which may have been the best part of the trip.
Most of the items there were from medieval times and recovered from bogs all over the country. The tannins and lack of oxygen in the peat bogs are very efficient preservers
I was shocked at the quality of woven clothing and leather shoes that were relatively intact, found in the bogs after being there for 700 or more years. Of course the highlight of preservation were the people. You could still see the long red hair of one of the victims.
YouTube has a wonderful hour long BBC documentary on them. I provided a link on my Dublin page.
Ireland was invaded or originally settled by Vikings and many of the artifacts were Viking swords, knives, even a 7' skeleton.
If you visit he museum make sure to go to the cafe for lunch. They make all their own food and pastries on site and there are wonderful sausage filled quiches, pot pies and more.
Since we had eaten earlier we shared a lemon colored apple custard strudel that was creamy with just the right amount of sweetness. Portions are large.
After the museum we strolled back to the hotel for some wifi time and to get a rest before dinner.
We stopped at one of the many eateries in his area and since the sun decided to finally come out,we sat outside at Alfies.
An interesting thing about dinners here is that you buy 2 or 3 courses for a set price that comes with either a drink or a dessert. For 19E I got a glass of good Cabernet, baby back ribs on a bed of mashed potatoes, a small arugula salad with 5 huge charbroiled prawns and a dish of veggies broccoli, julienned carrots and a turnip purée. It was nothing to write home about except for the prawns they were smokey, spicy, and crunchy. The perfect appetizer for the wine.
After a couple more beers and a cone of delicious ice cream we spent the rest of the evening people watching and making up stories about who they were and where they came from.
Our comedy club show never materialized...disappointed.
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Today was an easy day. A light breakfast of toasted bacon bagel at Brewleys and we walked the few blocks to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.
We got there before it opened and there was still a line of about 80 in front of us including a French tour group who plagued us all the way through.
It was crowded and really not that interesting to me, but the library was worth the price of admission.
To think of the great people who have studied in that library. . . Frances Bacon, Sir Issac Newton, Alfred,Lord Tennyson, A.A. Milne, Vladimir Nabokov, and Gandhi .... to name just a few. I collected a couple of IQ points just walking across the soft wooden floors.
Also bought Trinity ( my grandson) a Trinity a College t-shirt....hint, hint.
Later that afternoon and after more than a few wrong turns (due in part to my inability to ask people for directions) we found the archaeology museum which may have been the best part of the trip.
Most of the items there were from medieval times and recovered from bogs all over the country. The tannins and lack of oxygen in the peat bogs are very efficient preservers
I was shocked at the quality of woven clothing and leather shoes that were relatively intact, found in the bogs after being there for 700 or more years. Of course the highlight of preservation were the people. You could still see the long red hair of one of the victims.
YouTube has a wonderful hour long BBC documentary on them. I provided a link on my Dublin page.
Ireland was invaded or originally settled by Vikings and many of the artifacts were Viking swords, knives, even a 7' skeleton.
If you visit he museum make sure to go to the cafe for lunch. They make all their own food and pastries on site and there are wonderful sausage filled quiches, pot pies and more.
Since we had eaten earlier we shared a lemon colored apple custard strudel that was creamy with just the right amount of sweetness. Portions are large.
After the museum we strolled back to the hotel for some wifi time and to get a rest before dinner.
We stopped at one of the many eateries in his area and since the sun decided to finally come out,we sat outside at Alfies.
An interesting thing about dinners here is that you buy 2 or 3 courses for a set price that comes with either a drink or a dessert. For 19E I got a glass of good Cabernet, baby back ribs on a bed of mashed potatoes, a small arugula salad with 5 huge charbroiled prawns and a dish of veggies broccoli, julienned carrots and a turnip purée. It was nothing to write home about except for the prawns they were smokey, spicy, and crunchy. The perfect appetizer for the wine.
After a couple more beers and a cone of delicious ice cream we spent the rest of the evening people watching and making up stories about who they were and where they came from.
Our comedy club show never materialized...disappointed.
MORE PHOTOS