A birthday in Dublin

A birthday in Dublin, which included two meals, lunch and dinner, and both delicious.  Dublin certainly excels in the food area.  A variety of dishes, all expertly prepared and served, and not expensive either.

During the last few years I have been fortunate to have celebrated my birthday in a number of countries.  England of course, but also Amboise in the Loire Valley, with Brian and Susanne, Llubljana in Slovenia, and last year in Norway.  Very exciting.

On the hop on, hop off bus which collected us at the caravan park and took us into the centre of Dublin.  A trip that took one and a quarter hours.  We were in need of a coffee by the time we got into Dublin.

First stop, the GPO, the scene of the 1916 Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion.  The Rising was launched by Irish Republicans to end British Rule in Ireland and to establish an independent Irish Republic.  Of course, the English government saw the rebellion as an uprising, not a rising.  They brought in a huge army to defeat the republicans, and thousands of people were killed.

Walter standing in front of a window of the GPO.  Inside there is a sculpture commenerating the Rising.

The inside of the GPO.  A very old fashioned ornate post office.

The excellent display was in the basement of the GPO.  A very moving experience.

The memorial to the men who led the rebellion.

The very tall spire which replaced the column with a sculpture of Nelson on the top.

After a lunch of spicy soup and bread, both made fresh on the premises of the restaurant, we walked over the Ha'penny Bridge, which is Dublin's oldest pedestrian crossing over the River Liffey.  It was erected in 1816 as the Wellington Bridge and acquired its nickname from the halfpenny toll levied on all users of the bridge until 1919.

A photo of me looking anxiously over the railings of the bridge.  Not sure why!

We spent quite a bit of time looking around Temple Bar, with its cobbled streets and bars, restaurants, tattoo shops, and food shops.  A fascinating area during the day but it apparently comes alive at night.  We ate an early dinner there and left just as it was getting busy.  A popular place for British Hen parties, and men going overboard on the booze, I think.

Another view of Temple Bar.

An interesting building, a little shabby, as were most of the buildings in Dublin.

We also had a good look around Trinity College, founded on the order of Elizabeth I, in 1592.  Unfortunately the queue to see The Book of Kells was too long, so we missed it.

Then off to look at St Patrick's Cathedral, built between 1191 and 1270 on the site of an earlier cburch that stood there from the 5th century.  It was here that St Patrick reputedly baptised the local Celtic chieftains.  An impressive building.

St Patrick's Cathedral is actually an Anglian church rather than a Catholic church.  It is part of the Church of Ireland.  That came as a bit of a surprise.

And along the street there is another imposing church, Christ Church Cathedral, also Anglian.   I wonder where the Catholic Churches are in the centre of Dublin.

As we left Temple Bar, the Garda were making their prescence felt, so as to keep some order amongst the revelling crowd that were filling the streets.  We were pleased to be going back to the camping ground.

The centre of Dublin is not clean by any means, and in fact quite grotty in places.  Yet it is a very interesting city.  We enjoyed ourselves immensely.