End of the journey

And now I'm back home. At least in the airport anyway.





It was a long long flight. Eight and a half hours just to hop the Atlantic. The attendants did their best to help though but still it is a long long trip.

Security and customs is rough only because of the lines. Being tired doesn't help either.

But Ireland was super fun. I look forward to making that trip again. One thing that helped was two large books. One for the flight over and one for the flight back. Once there, perhaps not doing quite so much in each given afternoon would be better. That way there would be time to wander and explore more thoroughly.



-- Post From My iPhone

Last day before the flight

Since there was no tour, we didn't have to rise at 5 am thankfully. Instead it was a more sensible 8:30 am. The weather has turned a bit colder today, cloudy and a little windy.

Dad needed to get a checkup on the eye surgery he had done so we took a cab over to Blackrock clinic. Our cabbie was very funny and fun to talk to. As a small bonus, he on purpose took us by the embassies and ambassadorial homes (he asked first), he even showed us the home of the french ambassador which was recently sold for €52 million (about $72 million). It was very impressive in a white stone done in a gothic style.

After the doctor's visit we went by the natural history musuem.





Again, no photographs, but that's ok. The museum is free and composed of two floors.





Exhibits cover from stone age Ireland through iron age , bronze age and so on. Also there were the remains of mummified remains found in bogs across Ireland. On the second floor are exhibits from Egypt, medieval Ireland and Viking Ireland.

On the second floor, an entire two rooms were devoted to Egyptian mummies, artifacts and details about Egyptian life. The room next to that was a large exhibit containing artifacts from medieval Irish life. Primarily focused on what has survived the years, it was military, ecclesiastical and a little from nobility. There was even a centuries old bishop's cloak that was literally covered in embrodery from Florence.

Last but least was a large exhibit to the Viking contribution of Ireland. At the start was a to scale reproduction of a two man Viking rowboat. That stood at the entrance to the Viking exhibit. Inside there was a full size skeleton and weapons on display.

It wasn't all weapons and armor though, many of the Viking exhibits covered everyday life in Dublin at the time of Viking occupation. Games, clothes, and many items pertaining to various craftworks was on display there.

Unfortunately, we were running short of time so we took as little time as we could there at the end.

We left there and made our way to O'Connell street where Dad could locate someplace that sold glasses to match his new perscription.

Then finally, we grabbed dinner at Finnigans again before we headed back to the hotel to pack.

Overall, the trip was fantastic. Fast paced at times, hectic or busy at others, but in general just fantastic fun. I don't look forward to the nine hour flight back to the States, but that's really a small price to pay for such a great trip.



-- Post From My iPhone

Waterford Crystal, Killkenny City, and the East Coast

Another early rise at 5 am to catch the train at Connolly Station to make our way to Wexford. This train takes you south along the Wicklow Mountains which is lovely right now.

At least they're called mountains, they seem to be rather large foothills.





Primarily coastline all the way, you pass through nunerous small towns before you reach Wexford. Anyone else following this route, I'd recommend bringing water, coffee and some kind of snack.

Wexford, as it turns out, is the home of Commodore Barry and the Kennedy family. President Kennedy's father in fact.

Fishing is the main industry in Wexford but they can only fish at certain times as the waters have been heavily overfished.

From Wexford we headed by buss to New Ross, the home of the ship Dunbrody which carried people across the Atlantic and brought back timber.

We toured the ship and was given a view of life from a steerage passenger and from first class. The difference was massive. Steerage slept on straw, slept 5 to 10 per bunk with almost no luggage. First class had a cabin, was served cooked meals and tended not to suffer illness the steerage did. It was a sobering presentation.

They also have a database of names where you can look up your family name. Impressive list all in all.

I thought about that in relation to travel by boat or plane. While the conditions are not unsanitary, the mindset of 'first class' and 'steerage' seems all to similar to 'business class' and 'coach'.

Anyway, next came Waterford. Billy (yes, the same from the Blarney tour) likened it to a whaling town in the States.





The Waterford glass factory resides in Waterford. Dominating a mile square in real estate, they still hand blow glass there for the crystal objects they make.

Each step from making the cast iron molds, to blowing the glass, quality control, and etching is done by hand. The only part not done by hand is the marking where etchings should be done. It takes ten years to make Master engraver. Same for glass blower and so on. Given they make trophies for such as Wimbleton or the New Year's Eve ball, well the hand quality shows.






Next was Kilkenny castle. Kilkenny is known as the City of Marble. There used to be a quarry there with numerous kinds and colors of marble there.

The city has elaborate stonework of various older buildings that have been converted to banks, tenanents and the like.

Just past main street, along the river's edge, stands Castle Kilkenny. As the story goes, the castle had been retained by the family throughout all the uprisings and strife right through to the current age. Unfortunately, the family could no longer afford the upkeep and taxes like so many families that retained their ancestral homes. This one was turned over to the government who opened it for tourism. To this day it's impressive as a small castle and manor.





Given the hour was late we made the choice to skip the guided tour and visit the castle bookstore and rose garden that was in the front.

That was excellent! The layout was wonderful with two stone statues on either side of the front that faced a rounded, almost flower-shaped pool. In the middle of the pool was a statue that I suspect was a fountain, but was not working at that time.

After that we walked across the street to the stables of the castle. The original structure was still there but it had been turned into a gift shop, textile store and restaurant. So instead of walking a good distance, we just opted to eat there instead. I was glad we did, the food was excellent! I had a chicken in a mushroom tarragon sauce. Vegetables on the side of course. Probably had too much coffee today but that's ok. I'll get some water or something when I reach the hotel.

Speaking of which, after dinner we caught the train back to Dublin after some lively confersation with Billy. He's a fountain of stories and it never got old listening to them. From stories about the Titanic to the Luthistania to how to stay healthy!

-- Post From My iPhone

Guiness Factory and more ancient tomes

A bright, pleasant day greeted us when we left this morning for the Guiness Storehouse and museum. It's a fascinating place that talks about the brewing of Guiness itself. My favorite part is the lease that Authur Guiness managed to wrangle. A 9000 year lease to be exact, where the company owes only 45 pounds a year on the lease of the land. Talk about low overhead!

The entire place is in the shape of a giant guiness pint glass all the way to the top.





Or as shown on the map





Pretty clever idea if you ask me.

At the top is the 'Gravity Bar', which has the best view of Dublin I've ever seen.





It's a 360 degree view of the city where you can get a complimentary Guiness as well!




After that we took a taxi to the Chester Beatty Library. It is over by Dublin Castle, which we were near the other day, but we had no idea what was in there!



Inside, was not just any books, but a collection of ancient manuscripts. These range from ancient works from Japan, India, and so on.

From Japan was the world's first and oldest novel, a work 1000 years old. Among breathtaking works of Sumi paintings, there was an example of a micro-manuscript. It was a full chinese manuscript carved on a one by one inch piece of ivory!

Along with that was pre-Islam manuscripts, Islanic leather book covers, tibetan books of jade (carved literally from large plates of jade) and more. The next gallery contained works from western Europe, examples from Germany, France, etc. Many were bibles and other religious texts. Fantastic illuminated documents with beautifully orante covers and bindings.

There were videoes showing how woodblock printing worked, binding and other ancient methods of book creation.

Also on that floor was an amazing display of an actual Egyptian book of the dead. Beautifully preserved and intact to read.

And that was just the first floor. The second floor was that and more. It housed centuries old documents ok Buddha, 4th century copies of the Qu'ran and illuminated bibles.

Then one of the more startling sights was letters of St Paul to the Romans written in 150AD. Several of such manuscripts written in and around 200AD, seven or more in fact. Some of the world's oldest manuscripts in one location!

It was breathtaking and sadly no pictures allowed. But I did gather some postcards which have pictures of some of the works so that was close enough.

Since it was so close to five, we thought it better to get dinner. Which we went looking for Harry B', a place recommended to us, but found it named the Blarney Inn. That was ok, the food was still just as good.


-- Post From My iPhone

Touring about the museums

It's been a busy week, so we got a slow start today. We were going to go to mass but just couldn't make it.

Instead we took a taxi over to the Writer's Museum off Parnell Square. Now that was downright fascinating. I learned SO much about Irish writers I wouldn't begin to know where to start describing it all. The museum itself was made from a Gregorian mansion.





Unfortunately, there were no pictures allowed anywhere in the building. Probably due to the oil paintings, first edition copies of manuscripts sometimes hundreds of years old. Dozens and dozens of Irish writers were covered here: Yeats, Oscar Wilde, James Shaw, Sam Beckett, and Johnathan Swift just to name a few.

There was three floors to the place, but only the first two had anything to the public. The first floor contained the writers and lots of information about them, the second was a lecture hall with more about select writers (James Joyce, Swift, Yeats, and Wilde) with a fully stocked Victoria/Gregorian Library. Of all rooms that one I wanted pictures of the most.

We stopped after that for a bite to eat and to sit for a moment at a great pub called Flannigans. Great food, we ate here once already and it really is great.

By the time we got done, it was not long before everything shut down at 4:30 or 5 pm (save the pubs). So we just walked and looked for another hour or nearly so. The crowds were still thick about since the final game of the Gaelic football league was playing today. Basically Ireland's Super Bowl for their league. Gaelic football isn't soccer either. It's some odd conbination of soccer and a little basketball. One person here explained it thus: "soccer is a game made by gentlemen yet played by ruffians, rugby is a game made by ruffians but played by gentlemen, and Gaelic football is a game made by ruffians and played by ruffians."

Other than that, today was a light day. Which is a good chance to take a load off, rest and store pictures from my camera.

-- Post From My iPhone

Trinity College and the Book of Kells

Today is a trip to historic Trinity College and the Old Library there. Several ancient manuscripts, such as the Book of Kells is held there for viewing.

The college is massive





Sadly, yet I did understand, no photos were allowed in the Old Library or of the book of Kells (or any other work there). That's alright, the gift shop contained more than enough reproductions and so on to make up for it.

The books are well beyond a thousand years old, yet are in fantasic condition. Naturally they are kept in pressurized cases and guarded. As with any illuminated manuscript, the detail is exquisite. Some letters covered one page and words could span pages. Simply fantastic work. The books themselves are vellum and hand sewn according to the culture back then. The Book of Kells is bound in a white leather, as white as snow. Almost as if it was made just yesterday. The book of Armaugh was older and did show it's age, but only a little more since it had little color like the book of Kells did. Perhaps that was due to a farmer (the previous owner) who kept it in a bucket of water and pulled it out only to bless his cattle.

Now this isn't to detract from the college itself. I can see many items from Trinity being used in popular media, from the Potter books, to Star Wars. Just overwhelmingly impressive.

Like with the Book of Kells, only on the order of a thousand times over, the old books would not survive a camera flash. They were also roped off, which was a large shame. I would have loved to have browsed through them. One thing stands out in my mind is that I have to bring others back here. It's well worth seeing.

Outside Trinity College we wandered a bit near the shops of O'Connell street. At the top of the street there was a statue to Molly MacGuire. Mom got her picture made with it then we all were in a picture with the statue. It was right after that the fun began. A man playing the drum, took our picture and started flirting with Mom. That lead to her and the drummer singing the Molly MacGuire song which caused a whole crowd to sing along. Finally that lead to dancing! It was hilarious! Dad got a movie of the whole thing.

After that we hurried to the writer's museum but just did not make it in time. That museum closes slightly after 4pm. Luckily tomorrow they are open (which is odd, most are not since it's a Sunday) afternoon.

Across from the Writer's Musuem is the Remembeance Memorial. It's an immense memorial, garden with statue and pond, dedicated to those lost in the wars. It was pretty moving.

The weather today was great, temperate, warm with a light breeze. Apparently it was the best day all season for Ireland. The rest of the time it's been overcast and rainy.

Before dinner we stopped by the remains of St. Valentine. It's a small shrine with his remains below the altar. His story is posted along the wall next to the altar. On the altar sat a large red, leather book where people could write prayers and thank you to the saint. I noticed other books like that on in the shrine with the saint's relics. Pretty cool, y'know?

Well dinner was fish and chips. Since all the cigarette smoke was bothering me, I broke my rule and ate some of the French fries that came with my fish. It helped some, walking in the evening air (without the cigarette smoke) helps more. Just a leftover from going nonstop and that Cork county adventure.

Some rest tonight after unwinding, that's just what the doctor ordered.

-- Post From My iPhone

Concluding the adventure or a mystery solved

Ok this wasn't as much a mystery as when I was trapped aboard a trans-Atlantic flight when people starting falling (literally) ill, or tracking down a lost college girl in a white tshirt among a Boston marathon before the creepy family disappeared with her (seriously, white tshirt among thousands of nearly identical tshirts and a REALLY creepy family ... They kept ogling her like she was prime beef or something)

The end to this is slightly more pedestrian.

As happenstance would have it, our tour was two tour groups. I had suspected that given the way the guides were sorting people. What I didn't suspect was that our group of 25 was still multiple tours. It seems our one day was overlapped with a multiple day tour. We took long enough at each stop and with that number of people, things ran late. One group was to go to Killenny, the other (ours) was bound for Dublin. The tour guide didn't want to go 70 miles out of the way before heading to Dublin.

That much I confirmed, now the part with the driver is conjecture but the pieces fit. What I suspect is that the driver, impatient to maintain schedule, was trying to leave us. Billy, our guide, I believe talked him out of it which explains the tense conversation that was much longer than "hey we're runnin late" "ok, I know". In the end, Billy pulled strings with a conductor and got us a train. Which got the Killenny tour back on track and the rest of us towards Dublin. It also explains why the buss was not parked where it should be, and why the driver looked so perturbed.

I think anyway. I have not asked to confirm that last part, nor will I. The tour guide was doing his best to keep a good face on the tour company and its services. No matter, those of us from the tour bound for Dublin made it to the train and headed on quietly to Dublin.

Ok, not exactly 'Murder on the Orient Express' complete with dead bodies, more like 'Near shanghai on the Blarney tour'. Well, maybe there were bodies, we did visit a cathedral that had the bodies of two deceased bishops, do they count?


-- Post From My iPhone

Trip to Cork, Blarney, and the Queenstown Story

Woke at the crack of dawn, 5 am actually, and got ready for the train trip to Cork, Blarney Castle and Queenstown Story.

The train itself was much like what was in Scotland, real comfortable overall. It made for a pleasant ride with the countryside flying by but none of it so fast that it was impossible to see anything.

Cork, as I understand it, is the southern capital of Ireland along the coast. Not far, by road, is Blarney Castle where the Blarney stone is. Supposedly if you kiss it, you gain the gift of gab. I've been told that I've got that to spare in the right situation so I'll pass on that.

Outside, the countryside really is the rolling hills dotted with homes and farms once you get away from anything major like Dublin.





The Castle Blarney itself is a massive structure, probably forbiding in it's day. There are 195 steps to the top where the stone rests and where a view of the moat and countryside around the castle itself.

The castle is kept in it's historical condition, so some parts are a little less stable than others!





The trip was a long climb up narrow stone stairs. Several times, offshoots led into other corridors and entire other rooms in the castle that can't be seen from any other angle.

We all did make it to the top, though only my father leaned back to kiss the blarney stone. The stone itself is a section of wall along the battlements.

After that we worked our way down another long winding twist of stairs to the main grounds. Coming out we found what was called the Blarney gardens, given the reputation of the stone, I figured the gardens could be anything.

Most was well manicured gardens, then there was the Rock Close. That was cool, it was like an overgrown fantasy rock garden with large rocks, huge oaks, a waterfall and other natural and cultivated sights. It reminded me of Mirkwood forest from the Lord of the Rings movies.

A few pictures and a short walk later, we found ourselves at Blarney restaurant and a pub called Christys Bar.





There we got some lunch, it was buffet and naturally I overate a little on turkey and dressing. Good but overly filling.

Now after that, we made our way to the Queensland Story, the port of call of the Titanic. At the doc is an old pub called the Titanic Pub which has a large collection of Titanic memorabilia. Including a reproduction of the Presidential Suite from the Titanic itself.





The bar suffered what it's namesake did, as the man who built it did not expect how much Titanic relics would cost and so he went bankrupt. When he did, the pub sunk like the ship. Now it's a ruin unfortunately.

Along the same stretch was a memorial to the Lusithania sinking. Cobh (called Cove) was where they sorted and buried 1200 American victims of the torpedo strike.

Last was a visit to a museum and memorial for the immigrants to America, the sinking of the Lusithania and photos and memorabilia from the Titanic before she launched the last time and sank in the North Atlantic. The museum was styled in the fashion of the Victorian style of the period.

I tried to get more photos but before I could finish, the tour guide raced through, grabbing us all to rush us off. Something had gone wrong, what I don't know. All I knew is that we were hurried onto a smaller train leaving Cobh instead of the tour bus.

As it turned out, the train took us to Kent station at Cork. All fine and good, but none of us knew what happened. Therefore I was determined to find out. What I pieced together (since I had yet to corner the tour guide):

[a] the tour guide mentioned "he doesn't speak good English"
[b] I witnessed a stressed conversation between the tour guide and the driver at our next to last stop.
[c] someone else noticed the tour bus not with the other buses and the engine was off.
[c] The last stop was the only one where the driver turned off the engine completely and left the buss.

Rough guess would be the tour ran long and the driver wanted to leave us. Once I corner the driver I'll know for certain.



-- Post From My iPhone

Late start on the day

Got a late start on the day today, so the touring is a bit more relaxed today. So we took a trip over to Christchruch to see the cathedral and the Viking museum there named Dublina.





The exhibit covers three floors, and covers the period of history from the founding of Dublin, through the invasion of the Vikings, into William of Normandy and the middle ages. One part was particularly interesting with it's focus on the archeological dig that took place uncovering original wooden plank walkways, stone walls and building foundations, tools, and other personal effects from the earliest period of Dublin's history.

The third floor went into details about the Vikings themselves such as their lives, trade they established, their fighting "tactics", and even had an example of their longboats. Very fascinating stuff!

Finally we stopped off to see the remains of the original gate of Dublin that dated back from the time of the Vikings.

While there, one of the curators commented on my style of dress (my usual of knee high boots, long cargo pants, long linen shirt and brown waistcoat best, and by usual Mark VII gas mask bag turned shoulder bag). He claimed that I looked like a type of cavalier calvary soldier. I'll have to look up which he was talking about.

After that we stayed at the cathedral to listen to a Thursday service called Eveningsong. It was nice, apparently their choir is one that competes regularly and it showed.

But since we started late there wasn't much to see before everything closed up, save for the restaurants and pubs. Since we were at Christchurch cathedral, the Bull and Castle was across the street. We ate there the other night, and the food was good then. So we went there again. I got fish and chips this time.

The meal was really good. Good quality fish and chips, like the kind you can get in Boston or any other coastal city. It was a nice way to round out the day.

Tomorrow is an early morning, we'll be rising early for a tour trip to Blarney Castle.

-- Post From My iPhone

Not quite Tony's House Of Ribs

It may not be Tony's House Of Ribs but sometimes Captain America has a sense of dry humor about him ...




or not

-- Post From My iPhone

City Tour

After lunch was a brisk city tour by bus. Pretty good way to see the city overall. Most have live tour guides and here in Ireland they tend to be REAL funny. The tour takes a few hours but stops at certain points. This was great since we got off at Dublin Castle for a great tour. It covered all the government apartments, historical painting and all. Amazing stuff!

Jail where the leaders of the Easter rebellion were executed:





Across the street was the castle entrance to the museum of modern art. The lawn there was covered in greeny, hard to see much in the way of the place. I bet it's a sight past the trees.

Next was Houston station, named for one of the leaders of the 1916 revolution and used in part for filming the 'Great Train Robbery'.

Two more bad puns later ("There's the grave of the guy who invented the crossword, the grave right by that tree, just two down and three across.") from the driver, we arrived at Phoenix Park. Twice as large as Cental Park in New York or five times as large as Hyde park in London.

After that came the decorative Museum of Arts, it was built from an old army barracks. Outside was several stone sculptures and arrangements a person could walk through.

After that came worse puns, then the judicial building. A massive structure, as big as the cathedrals!

The tour bus!



Finally we stopped off at a pub called 'Flannagan's' for dinner, which for me was Irish Stew!

-- Post From My iPhone

Along Grafton St.

There is one thing I've learned is that jet lag or no, the time zone difference will really confuse you for a day or two, I'd say +/- 3 hour difference and you're gonna take a day or two to adjust.

Anyway, on Grafton St today. It's the main outdoor shopping area in Dublin. Pedestrian only type of walking area with some interesting archtecture but not a lot.

The shops are small but cool places. Small locations which a many are "mom an pop" places. One really cool place caught my eye, it was "Captain America's Cookhouse"! I nearly fell over. (picture pending)

Around the corner we wanted to stop for some coffee and to sit for a bit, and find the Gotham Cafe:





Cool place. I got something called chicken skewers. They are grilled chicken on skewers covered in some really good garlic sauce. I'll have to figure out how to make that.

-- Post From My iPhone

Relaxing in Ireland

Made it in through the airport, which wasn't all that bad, then by taxi to the hotel. As usual the taxi driver was very informative. On the way to the hotel, he gave us the 'cabbie tour' ... Like where the book of Kells is held, a museum to Oscar Wilde and so on. Plenty of places to explore!

For now, a bit of relaxing at the pub!




-- Post From My iPhone

Off to Ireland

Despite travel delays, I'm finally at the airport for Ireland. It's been a tense couple of days with getting packed, to the airport and so on. Still tense from a couple week's worth of 14 hour days ... I'm hoping to unwind and relax.

Behold the airport!




Naturally no plane yet.

In other news, the cover art for the new web serial is coming along nicely. Should be ready for me to post on my return. It'll be a nine week run, then I'd better have the next story ready. Which isn't so bad, I've got the outline done, just have to write the story part. Easy eh?



-- Post From My iPhone