Monday, August 15, 2011

Dublin, Day Two

Today was another busy day in the capital.  First, a “Full Irish Breakfast” at our bed and breakfast, then it was off to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.  Follow the link for a full explanation, but in short it is an illustrated manuscript of the four gospels produced around 800 AD.  It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Ireland, but we didn’t have to wait long.

Trinity College, Dublin



Trinity College, Dublin

Next we walked up Grafton Street, which has a lot of shops and street performers as well as the statue of Molly Malone.  Again, you can click the link for information.  All I’m going to say about it is that my picture kept getting ruined by a guy who was trying to make money by taking pictures for tourists and forcing himself into others’ shots.  We came past later that afternoon and he had moved on but he had been replaced by a waving leprechaun mascot.  That was worse, IMHO.

Molly Mallone statue--and huckster

Lunch was at Supermac’s, a sort of Irish McDonald’s.  It was OK, but what was interesting was the Obamaburgers.  Me and my dad both had one.


The Obamaburger


All this walking tired everybody out, so we stopped at a coffee shop for a break.  Now all of you know how much I like coffee, but you also know how I hate to spend too much on stuff.  Well, it’s a vacation so I splurged with two bottled waters, two mocha cappuccinos and a hot chocolate.  I told my dad he got away with much cheaper vacations with me than I can get away with now.
The last thing we saw today was the Famine Memorial along the river.  Along with writers and poets, there are a lot of statues of poor and/or hungry people and also revolutionaries who were shot by the British.  Given Ireland’s troubled history, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

The Famine Memorial, Dublin

"Famine" - St Stephen's Green

Fe had a good idea with something called Dublin Bus Tours.  The kids are free and there’s a senior discount.  So she booked the tickets and we’ll try that out tomorrow.  It looks like fun and it seems pretty flexible—letting you hop on and hop off at will.
Present location: 53.349949, -6.25404



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