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Published: August 6th 2007
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Dublin at Night
Finally, no more rain! This is it -- no more entries after this one!
We got up early to start the long drive back to Dublin from Belfast. Unfortunately Kevin has more faith in his map-reading skills tham might be warranted -- we ended up off course (which is pretty hard, since the Belfast-to-Dublin highway is pretty much a straight lin). After some cursing, we finally got back on track and made it down to our first stop, the site of Newgrange. Newgrange is home to an ancient Irish burial mound. Centuries ago, years before the Pyramids were built, the local inhabitants built this place out of stone and covered it with grass, as if it was just part of the hillside. It's really impressive... a lot bigger than you might imagine. But the cool thing about it is that it was built so that when the Winter Solstice falls on December 21st, as the sun rises on the eastern horizon, the sunlight shines for 20 minutes down the main passageway hundreds of feet, illuminating the central burial chamber. It's all very Indiana Jones. Of course, since it's May, you don't get the same effect... but they have a lightshow that approximates what it's
Newgrange
The burial mound at Newgrange. like. (Pictures aren't allowed inside the mound, so you'll have to use your imagination.) Of course, while waiting outside to go in, it decided to pour down rain, and we got soaked once again. Once we headed undercover into the mound, the rain stopped. That's Ireland for ya.
After lunch we drove on to Trim Castle. This was pretty cool -- it's the largest Norman castle in Ireland, and is still impressive to this day. More interestingly, it was originally built and occupied around 1174 by Erin's great Norman ancestor, Hugh de Lacy! So it was almost like going back home for her (well, not really). We didn't end up going inside the castle, since we would've had to wait 45 minutes for the next tour. But the exterior was so impressive, we didn't think we needed to. (Another fun fact about Trim Castle: it was used for shooting scenes in BRAVEHEART.) And just like at Newgrange, LOTS of rain. We've been so lucky with the weather on our trip, but it seems like that luck has run out.
It wasn't long before we had made it back to Dublin. We checked into our airport hotel, then dropped
Rain's a comin'
Kevin and Erin are about to get wet. off the rental car (sniff) at Avis. Then it was back into the city for a last night of fun. We made it just in time to do that pub crawl we had been talking about earlier in the week: the "Dublin Literary Pub Crawl." (This was recommended by our new friends Mitch and Mrs. Mitch, way back in Doolin when we saw them the week before.) They take you to a couple of local bars, and in between two actors talk about the history of the local literary scene (Joyce, Wilde, and so on). As dry as that sounds, it was actually very interesting. Lots of good stories about Irish writers, and the tour guides were great. We were also the only young Americans who weren't busy trying to down 3 pints of Guinness at each bar we went to. (I guess we aren't so young anymore...) The best part? When the pub crawl wrapped up, they had a quiz for all of us. Whoever answered the most questions fastest won... an exciting "Dublin Literary Pub Crawl" t-shirt. Ooh! Of course, the idea of winning a quiz gets Kevin's competitive juices flowing... so guess who won? You know it.
Getting soaked at Newgrange
It's amazing how long it takes denim to dry... Aw yeah.
Now that the crawl was over, we strolled around Dublin one last time. It really is a great city to walk in, and there were other pedestrians wandering all over at 10 pm Saturday night. The bridges along the Liffey were all lit up. We made our way to U2's old recording studio, which is surprisingly just off the River Liffey near the center of town. By now it's been totally covered with graffiti and spray paint. They don't keep it up anymore since apparently they've built a fancy new recording studio not that far away. After more strolling, we made it back to our airport bus, overpaid for a cab ride to the hotel, then packed frantically for our morning trip back to the States.
Sunday morning we had to get up way too early to get ready and make it to the airport. But while we were excited to be going home, it was with a touch of sadness... we have loved it in Ireland, and wish we could have spent more time there. But there's always hope for future vacations! If you haven't been, we both highly recommend it. The scenery, the history
Trim Castle
Erin and her ancestral home. and the people are beautiful. (The Guinness ain't bad either.)
Thanks for following our trip, everyone!
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Judy Isaac
non-member comment
I really have enjoyed your fabulous travelogue. Makes me want to go! Being there certainly must make history, especially family history, come alive. Thanks for sharing. Judy