Count the rainbows

Dublin was … well … interesting. That’s not a facetious statement. Dublin was a combination of elements that produced an experience that is unparalleled. It was not what I expected in the least. Dublin is somewhere that I have dreamed of visiting since I was a child. I guess I expected a city like Oz - gleaming emerald on a hill or some such nonsense. It does not gleam.

Our taxi ride from the airport didn’t show us the best side of Dublin, which is not surprising. That’s true of many cities. But the amount of trash on the roadsides was a little disturbing. It lay in foot deep piles along the fences, scattered along the road and sidewalk. Granted, they had had a huge storm just before we arrived which had brought them gale force winds and flooding. But the trash had to be floating around loose to have been blown there. All through our trip there was much trash on the roads and sidewalks, and large piles of trash bags outside shops and pubs. Ugh.

Anyway, we arrived at Castle Clontarf and settled into the room (which was lovely by the way) and decided to take a bus into town.

Challenge #1:  Figure out 1) where to catch a bus 2) which bus to get on 3) where it will take us.

Wouldn’t you expect that someone, somewhere, would have a map of bus routes?

No. After asking at several places, including the place that sold us day passes, no such thing exists.

We managed to get to town and grab some dinner the first night, but didn’t see much. However, the pub we visited that first night served wonderful Irish stew and Guinness, and the proprietor was insanely jolly, so we were happy.

The second day, the awful weather greeted us on our trip to town. Apparently Ireland is famous throughout Europe for its sideways rain, which it was gracious enough to show us on our brief visit. Winds were gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

As we reached the city center, the skies cleared for awhile, and provided some beautiful photos.

 

We walked across the bridge, and I marveled at how many palm trees I had seen – not only there, but all over town!

 

 

Off to walk the city center, we went to Dublin Castle and walked around the outside a bit. In the meantime, it began to rain while the sun was shining. I can’t tell you how many times this happened in the two days we were there. Now we know why rainbows are associated with Ireland.

We then saw the upscale shopping area, and then went to the Irish Archeology Museum, near Trinity College.

OK. I expected better, I won’t lie.

The building was gorgeous, the collection was stunning, but …

Oh. My. God.

An example: a freestanding case, with a pile of rocks artfully arranged around the outside, and a pile of bronze objects stacked in the middle.

The informative tag stated – “a hoard of bronze objects”.

Greg said, in his best Irish accent, “We have no fookin’ idea what this is”.

Exactly.

We ended the evening with a walk past St. Patrick’s Cathedral, at which point Alex began swearing loudly. Someone had let their dog leave a huge pile on the sidewalk and not cleaned it up, and she stepped right in it. Oh yes, that will be an enduring image.

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Next day, still windy, occasionally rainy, and lots of rainbows.

We toured the Guinness Storehouse, and learned all about the making of Guinness. The best part? The free pint in the Gravity Bar, at the top of the building shaped like a giant Guinness glass with a 360 degree view of Dublin.

Tomorrow we go home to frigid weather. One thing about our vacation, the temps have ranged mostly in the upper 40s – low 50s, even with the rain and wind. Scotland was colder, but not like the US has been experiencing.

It’s been the trip of a lifetime and I’m not ashamed to admit that in 3 weeks we managed to visit 35 pubs. I have a list, in case you don’t believe me. I’m exhausted but happy and have nearly 1,500 photos to sort through when I get home, so it will feel like extending the vacation.