After a bit of a nap, we set out on a little tour of Dublin with Eric. Today was my dad's birthday, and before setting out, we took a few shots on the hotel steps, including this one with the silly cute old Doorman who addresses us as "the McGraths." Little does he know there's actually some minor history in that.
Eric proceeded to give us several hours of Ireland's history, including everything from stories of countless rebellions, family skirmishes, and viking missions. We passed many apartments and businesses in a Georgian building style, each with creatively colored doors. I would have liked to walk around these places a little more, but hopefully my chance to do that will come. After a while, it began to rain, so we spent most of our afternoon in the car listening to Eric. We drove through Dublin's oldest streets, got to see the last remaining piece of the wall, eyed one of the oldest castle pieces, and discussed disintegrating Viking remains recently unearthed. Below here is one of my favorite shots, quickly snapped during our drive:
One of our major stops was the Dublin Castle, which used to be some sort of seat of government. The statue of Justice, who can barely be seen behind the arch, faces inwards instead of out at the people. Her scales were tipped by rain for years (until secured recently), she stands un-blindfolded, and turns her back on the rest of the city. This gave way to a popular children's nursery rhyme, "The Statue of Justice, Mark well her station, Her face to the Castle, And her arse to the Nation." Please forgive the bad stitching on this panorama!
The guard houses have Ireland's national symbol - the Harp. Apparently, this is the only country with an instrument as their insignia. I'm surprised at this.
Near this courtyard lies an old cathedral, and the oldest medieval structure left standing, this tower on the right.
Inside the courtyard, there were also these random sand sculptures. Yeah, SAND. I didn't believe it either.
After stopping here, we headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral before the rain hit. I was surprised to learn this building isn't actually Catholic at all. The inside was adorned with many things, which I just loved. My pictures are kind of dark, but I guess churches tend to be that way, and there's not much I can do without a tripod. The church included many unique statues, plaques, a busy tiled floor, and even needlepointed seat cushions for those with reserved seats. While we were there, choir practice was being held, and we had a nice chorus of men to accompany our visit.
Unfortunately, I didn't grab shots of the outside, or the surrounding gardens. The rain kept us in the van for the rest of the afternoon. We proceeded to drive through some lesser known parts of Dublin on the North side, noting some streets for shopping, and a few blocks Eric noted were full of young people but a little more sketchy. They looked perfectly fine to me, though this may have been because I was swayed by the displays of cheap shoes (you bet I will be going back for those Lita Spike ripoffs I saw).
After Mum began to nod off, we headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, change in clothes, and a good dinner. Not heading very far, we went down to a restaurant in the hotel's cellar, where I dined on a great Caesar salad, truffle and parmesan fries, and mushroom risotto, topped off with some red wine of Mum's choice.
Nice work, as always!
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