DUBLIN

DUBLIN We have left a fair bit of shoe leather on the pavements of this city (and we've only been here a day!) It started almost before we got here ... the information from the hotel we booked into was to catch the Airbus from the airport and get off at the stop just before the bridge over the canal which would leave us with a short stroll to the hotel. Sounded fine until we were informed at the airport "no, it doesn't stop there anymore, you'll have to get off at the Burlington Hotel stop" - of course this was AFTER we had bought the tickets! So, off at the Burlington Hotel and then trek back, about 3/4 km, with bags etc to our lodgings. Luckily on arrival we discovered we had a very quiet, quite roomy, non -smoking (some are!) room - we're starting to panic, that's 2 quiet rooms in a row - how long can this last? We dined in the hotel and sampled the Guinness - fair bit cheaper here than back home so it would be wasteful not to have a few eh?

Today we walked to Trinity College to view the Book of Kells - wonderful details and colour in the artwork of a book over 1000 years old! From there we walked (again) to Dublinia - an exhibition/museum displaying Dublin from Viking times. For lunch we walked (of course) into the Temple Bar area to a pub (time for a Guinness) and a spot of Irish music. A stroll down Grafton St (fancy mall with buskers etc) and into St Stephen's Green - beautiful gardens - and we decided that was probably enough for one day.... besides our feet were crying out for a break! As we arrived back at the hotel (walking of course) it started to rain - this is NOT the sort of luck we're used to! We dined in a great Irish pub - the Oliver St John Gogarty in Temple Bar - big Irish sausages, Guinness and loud (very loud) Irish folk music! Good fun night.
 * [[image:dub1.jpg caption="Trinity College"]] || [[image:dub2.jpg width="377" height="328" align="center" caption="Molly Malone statue - "cockles and mussells alive alivo""]] ||
 * [[image:dub3.jpg caption="Bridge over River Liffey"]] || [[image:dub4.jpg caption="Looking downstream"]] ||
 * [[image:dub5.jpg caption="Huge stock of whiskey/whisky to try in The Temple Bar"]] || [[image:dub7.jpg caption="The Temple Bar"]] ||
 * [[image:dub6.jpg]] || [[image:dub9.jpg]] ||
 * [[image:dub8.jpg caption="Quays Bar  - pubs are EVERYWHERE! You'd never want for an opportunity to drink here."]] || [[image:dub11.jpg caption="Lunchtime musicians in pub"]] ||
 * [[image:dub10.jpg caption="St John Gogarty"]] || [[image:dub12.jpg caption="Grafton Street"]] ||
 * [[image:dub13.jpg caption="Flower sellers in Grafton St"]] || [[image:dub14.jpg caption="St Stephen's Green lake"]] ||
 * [[image:dub15.jpg caption="St Stephen's Green"]] || [[image:dub16.jpg caption="the Grand Canal opposite our Hotel"]] ||
 * [[image:dub28.jpg caption="Rows and rows of Georgian buildings line the streets"]] || [[image:dub27.jpg caption="O'Connell St (no, that's not O'Connell) - Light train passing through"]] ||
 * [[image:dub26.jpg caption="Ha'penny Bridge linking Temple Bar and Liffey St - opened 1816 cost a halfpenny to cross until 1919"]] || [[image:dub29.jpg caption="nothing important - I just liked the look of this little shop."]] ||
 * **DUBLIN CASTLE**

Built in 1204 by King John of England on the ruins of an ancient Viking fortress, Dublin Castle was the seat of English rule for seven centuries. It was rebuilt following a fire in 1684 when it was turned into a palace rather than a fortress. It was here in 1922 that the British Administration handed over power to the new Irish State. It now hosts state functions and is where the inauguration of the President of the Republic is held.

The Figure of Justice statue (below and seen also in the photo on right over the arch) facing the upper yard from Cork Hill aroused much cynicism from Dubliners, who felt she was turning her back on the city and the Irish.

Below the castle, excavation has unearthed the walls of the Viking fort and later walls of the city, dating from the 13th century but destroyed in the fire in 1684. || || On to Kilkenny
 * [[image:dub24.jpg caption="Figure of Justice over entry archway"]] || [[image:dub25.jpg caption="Dublin Castle"]] ||
 * [[image:dub30.jpg align="center" caption="Gail having a chat with Patrick Kavanagh at his "seat" by the canal"]] || [[image:dub31.jpg align="center" caption="the loch on the Grand Canal opposite our hotel"]] ||