When I learned to play guitar back 'in the day', this song was one of the first I could play in a half decent manner. Well, it was a simple ditty. Never did I think I'd ever set foot in Dublin and yet, I had a whole Saturday in which to explore the city with Glen. The weather wasn't fair but we'd come prepared.
First though, we had a huge breakfast of bacon, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, sausage, and eggs. I added yogurt and fruit, Glen two slabs of fantastic bread. We knew we'd have a lot of walking to do as there is much to see in Dublin. Our first destination was the Custom House but jet lag still affected us so we ended up at Trinity College instead. That's where we found the queue for the Book of Kells. For some reason, I had thought this ancient tome (circa AD 800) was housed in a castle in southern Ireland but no, it has its own place of pride in the Trinity College Library. The displays of old manuscripts dating from the same era were incredible and the Book itself was something worth seeing. However, what took my breath away was the Trinity College Old Library Hall.
Since taking photos was forbidden, I must describe what I saw. The walls soared two stories meeting in an arch of golden brown wood over a central hall. The slightly musty smell of old leather and aging paper filled the room. Running down each side of the hall were alcoves filled with books -- brown, black, or tan -- jammed tightly against its neighbour. Twelve to fourteen shelves, each alphabetized with double gold letters, showed you where to find the book you sought. Upstairs similiar shelves filled each of its alcoves. There were thousands upon thousands of books.
Along the central aisle were display cases showing the history of medicine in Ireland. I felt overwhelmed by the majesty of the place so sat down on a bench and just soaked up the atmosphere. Meanwhile, Glen discovered the envelop in which the first vaccine to arrive in Dublin was shipped. He said it was a microbiologist's version of the Book of Kells. It was interesting that a woman doctor encouraged the Irish to accept vaccination.
The tour ended at the gift shop, naturally, but I didn't want to have to worry about shopping bags so we decided to return on the way back to our hotel, the O'Callaghan Alexander. We then wandered through the college campus, exiting across from the impressive Bank of Ireland building. Originally built to house the Irish Parliament, it was bought by the bank in 1803 and used as its headquarters until the 1970s. The colonnades were impressive as were the stone friezes.
We walked along the Liffey River until we reached the Custom House. Remember, that was our original destination. It was built in 1791 but destroyed during the Irish War of Independence in 1921. The Irish Free State restored it although many historical documents were lost. After enjoying the views, we wandered back to the Temple Bar region of the city and saw the famous Ha'Penny (cast iron) Bridge, built by a ferryman who charged a ha'penny to those who wished to cross.
We were on our way to see the Guinness Storehouse as Glen's grad student, Tanis, had recommended it but saw the new city hall and Christ Church Cathedral first. This stone church (oldest part built in 1180) was constructed on the site of a wood one erected in 1038. We then walked past St. Audoen's (originally called the Celtic Church of St. Columicille) which is supposed to be Dublin's oldest church. Anglo-Normans built a stone tower on the site in 1190 and the nave dates from the 13th century.
It was about 2:30 when we reached the Guinness Storehouse. Glen had been declared a senior citizen at the Book of Kells exhibit so when we learned we could save $12 on our entry fee to the storehouse, we declared ourselves seniors and no one questioned us. We had yet to eat lunch but neither of us felt hungry so we started to explore this extensive museum. Using ancient brewing equipment and modern videos, Guinness took us through the brewing process. The place is huge (shaped like a glass of Guinness) with many floors but partway up is a tasting room where you get a wee glass of the porter.
Arthur Guinness received an inheritance of 100 pounds and in 1725 started a brewery with a friend, in Kildare. But in 1759, he signed a 9000 year lease in Dublin (including water rights) and began brewing ale and a new drink called porter. He exported his porter to England where it grew in popularity and in 1799, he stopped brewing ale to focus all his efforts on 'that black stuff'.
After finishing our drink, we continued upwards and arrived at Gravity Bar, a 360ยบ view of Dublin where everyone else was enjoying their 'free' glass of porter. It was a madhouse so we descended to the gift shop. Glen kept telling everyone he met, "What the Vatican is to Catholics, the Guinness Storehouse is to beer drinkers". We ended up in the gift shop, naturally, and bought a few souvenirs.
By this time we were hungry so walked back to Temple Bar where Glen's former post-doc, Erin, said we'd find a great place to drink. It must have been because everyone in Dublin was inside. We crossed the street and found a quiet restaurant, The Shack, where we had Guinness with beef casserole (Glen) and lamb stew (me). It was obviously an 'in' place for Dublin women to go after shopping as there were 3 men and 25 women dining. Our waitress gave me a small polished amethyst stone as a gift then we headed back to our hotel. After divesting ourselves of our shopping and cameras, we returned to Kennedy's and had some more Guinness before calling it a night.
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