I've gone through my memorabilia to jog my memory of day 2 in Dublin. I think this may be a long one. We did a lot in one day.
Our travel agent (or Brendan, not sure) printed us up a lovely little booklet with our itinerary. I left one copy in my office in case of emergency and each of us had our own. I am using this and all the stuff I collected to help re-construct my days in Ireland.
Got up, showered and grabbed the hair drier provided by the hotel. No outlets in the bathroom except a little one "for shavers only". This thing had three prongs in a huge round plug. I had to dry my hair in the bedroom. After that I needed to curl my bangs which were a bit long and if left straight effectively blinded me. I had brought a transformer and adapter plug for my curling iron and any other electronics we needed to use. The transformer didn't seem to want to work. So I plugged my curling iron into the adapter, plugged it into the wall and the second it got hot enough (which was VERY QUICKLY) unplugged it and curled what I could till it got too cold, then repeated till finished. I didn't think this was too good for the curling iron but I didn't have another option (I thought at the time). Now dressed and primped I was ready to go down and eat then climb aboard our coach for our Dublin guided tour.
Every day started with "a Full Irish Breakfast." This I came to find would be eggs, back bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, fried tomatoes and something called black and white pudding and close by, a steaming tureen of Irish Oatmeal. Most often the Full Irish Breakfast was provided in a buffet in the dining room. There were also breads, juices, cereals, fruit. Every hotel's buffet was lovely and well attended to with the chafing dishes staying warm and full and juice pitchers never going empty.
Re: the black and white pudding. On the link above you can see disks of dark brown and medium beige on the plate. I didn't try them as I had heard that puddings in Ireland as in England were not the same thing we Americans call pudding. I have discovered since (Google is your friend) that traditional black pudding is made primarily from blood, suet and oatmeal, whereas traditional white pudding is simply oatmeal and suet with a traditional blend of spices. I also looked up suet. Suet is twice rendered beef fat strained through cheesecloth at each rendering then you can store it cool in the refrigerator or even freeze it. I will allow each gentle reader to determine for themselves that I should not have passed up the puddings.
After breakfast we all get on the coach which, as it was July 4th, Niven had decorated with red, white and blue crepe paper ribbons and balloons and little plastic American Flags. I kept a flag and have it with my memorabilia.
Niven introduced us to Christie who is our tour guide for the day's tour of Dublin. We had heard a bit about Christie the night before but I think most of us were expecting a female. Christie was a white haired gentleman who looked to be coming up on 70 or maybe even a teeny bit past it. He was wonderful. Encyclopedic memory, great anectdotes. And, finally, an Irish accent!
We drove all over and Christie told us stories from Dublin's history and stories of the Irish struggle against the English. We heard about the Famine times and the various uprisings and how finally the Irish became an independent Republic. We learned why the General Post Office was an historical building as well as heard why the building right across the street from our hotel has no windows but the ceiling is a huge skylight. If you really want to know the answers I can tell you what I learned...just ask in comments.
After about an hour of driving our first stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was surprised to learn that St. Patrick's in Dublin is not a Catholic cathedral, it's Church of Ireland (Anglican). It is an amazing building inside and out. The original construction dates back to about 1190AD and the Guinness family restored the cathedral in 1864. It was quite crowded that day and Christie tried to guide us about where the crowds were thinnest.
Inside we first went to see some stones that had Celtic Crosses carved on them and were purported to be well cap stones from St. Patrick's Well. The stones were found in 1901 and were over the remains of an ancient well that had been in constant use through the 16th century. Tradition has it that St. Patrick baptized people with water from this well.
Christie told us the well was outside the building not under the capstones or under the cathedral. I think my father was disappointed. We took pictures. Christie took us over to various areas and one of the highlights for me were all of the Jonathan Swift items. Glenn took some good pictures although the one of the intricate wooden scale model also has my behind in it. Another item is called the Door of Reconciliation which has an interesting history as well as being a good photo op. We took pictures. Erin and I bought some stuff at the gift shop just at the exit to the Cathedral, this was where I started stocking up on postcards. Oh, got a bookmark too, green leather with gold embossing of the cathedral and its seal. Outside the cathedral we took pictures.
Back on the bus and over to Kilmainham Gaol. This edifice is unoccupied and preserved as a national historic monument and has been the location for a number of films, which has helped in maintaining it's upkeep. We took pictures. The history of the Gaol is the history of Irish struggles. I bought a thin book at the museum shop which gives the historical perspective. Many of the prisoners there were leaders of uprisings against the English. During the Famine it was crowded to overflowing. In the last years before the founding of the Republic many of the heroes of Ireland spent time in Kilmainham Gaol, and some died there as well.
I honestly have never been very interested in Irish history, until now. Standing in that prison, walking through the hallways and into cells, hearing the stories the young (and exceptionally cute) tour guide told (and *yes* with a beautiful Irish accent!) did inspire me to want to learn more.
After Kilmainham the coach took us to Trinity College. Trinity is about a block away from the hotel so Niven parted from us there and we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We were to meet him in front of the hotel later for our drive out to the Abbey Tavern for a traditional Irish dinner and evening of Irish dance and song.
Trinity College Library houses the 8th Century Book of Kells. We walked through the self guided exhibition and ended up at the Book. We did not take pictures. It wasn't allowed. Not in a roped off case -- it was in a glass topped table display and you could stand right over it and look right down at it, standing inches away. It was lovelier than I imagined. The artistry is nothing short of amazing and the colors are still distinct and appealing. I think it's the closest I've ever gotten to this kind of an artifact.
More gift store shopping, massive post card purchasing. Then we were on our own. Being rather hungry we went in search of a place for lunch. We ended up at an Italian cafe. I had spaghetti bolognaise, Glenn had a burger and fries, Erin had salad. The Irish must not like garlic. The spaghetti was the blandest I'd ever had. Glenn wanted katsup for his fries. I caught the waitresses attention and asked for some. I got the oddest look, I think she thought I was going to put it on my spaghetti and was releived when I gave it to Glenn. The food was filling at least and fueled us for another hour of walking and shopping.
So here's where I can't remember exact sequences of events so I'll just sort of free associate. Oh, we took pictures. Erin wanted a watch and we wandered thru a number of stores - in one she found a purse (overpriced) and I bought it for her, we looked in Marks and Spencer (reminds me of Macy's) then finally in a medium sized clothing store which catered to a young crowd -- hard to think of a comparison -- we found one and the gal at the register sounded American, so I asked. She was from Canada. More wandering, ended up at the end of the street and there was St. Stephen's Green. We went in a bit took pictures, walked out, it was very very busy everywhere that day. Damn tourists. Headed back. I wanted a picture of the Molly Malone statue (click on the picture in the link to see a larger image) but it was always surrounded by people standing and sitting on it. Passed some antique stores with windows full of old silver serving dishes and tea sets and china. I drooled a bit. Just before we ran out of shops we saw a jewelry store and went in to see if they had the Fusion Claddagh" we'd seen in advertisements and that Glenn really liked. Yep. I bought one for Glenn and he got one for me. The link back there in the last sentence is the web site of the jewelry store we went to and there's also a link to the history of the Claddagh on the page.
We got back to the hotel in time to rest and then freshen up for the trip to the Abbey Tavern. The Tavern is a bit of a drive out of town. It was drizzling a bit but at one point because of the rain there was a gorgeous rainbow over the water (we were driving around a harbor). At the Tavern we were seated at great tables right in front of the stage. After a lovely Irish meal with either Salmon or Corned Beef and a dessert of apple tart with fresh cream the entertainment began. First were three Irish dancers, two women and a man. They were amazing. It's hard to believe feet can fly that fast. Then a group of older fellows and a fairly young lady came out and sang Irish songs -- for well over an hour. One of my nephews was invited up on the stage to hold the Bodhran and he did just long enough for us to get a couple good pictures but stage fright eventually took over. A bit later he and his brother came up again and stood up there for a little while. I bought a couple of tee-shirts. We went back to the hotel and fell into an exhausted sleep. The next morning we'd head south with our first stop in Kildare at the Irish National Stud Farm.
I did warn you this would be long...right? Thanks for hanging in to the end.
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