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Published: April 7th 2016
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Have luggage will travel
On the way to our hotel. The big bag is needed to fit a banjo (short but 82cm long) and a mandolin. Risk is if we fill it to capacity! There could conceivably be those out there who followed this blog in the past. We stopped four years ago with just one or, perhaps, two posts about a trip to Japan a couple of years ago. We had stopped because we had arrived back in Australia and had set about establishing a base. At the time we were bemoaning the fact that we had missed a couple of countries that had always been high on the list of those we would like to visit. We made the decision to skip Ireland and Greece on our long trip because, at the time, we didn't have the time to do them justice. That issue is now being addressed.
Flights to Dublin from Australia for this time of the year were fairly attractive when we floated in and had a look in September last year. March was a long time off and, while there was quite a lot to get done, there would be no problem at all sorting everthing in time for us to fly out. So we put a peg in the ground and made a booking - non-refundable. Always a good idea for us. Assists in focus. Actually, six months
1916-2016 Commemorations
Pictures in the windows of major participants turned out to be quite short and some pretty ruthless prioritising was required as we closed in on the departure date of Easter Sunday.
One of the reasons our flights were pretty cheap was that they were an 'early bird' special. Another was that the flight included a 20 hour layover in Abu Dhabi. That wasn't a problem of significance in September 2015, just a tad more so in March 2016 after a 17 hour flight. A hotel adjacent to the airport came in handy and we spent most of the day there sleeping and sheltering from a large dust storm.
I should say that Etihad is a fine airline and looked after us well the whole way. There were some uncomfortable moments when there was a search for the person with the Hindu meal. The staff tended to walk past our seats, take one look at me and move on until eventually coming to me and, hesitantly, not having spotted an obviously Indian gentleman, ask whether I had ordered the Hindu meal. At first I shook my head, but then, having been properly informed, I agreed that a Hindu meal had been ordered for me.
It
1916 centenary
Commemorative posters from the union movement turned out that, in the booking of the flight, there was the capacity to order a particular meal. Hindu sounded nice and I always enjoy a curry so a Hindu meal was ordered. Disappointingly, though, it doesn't mean a curry, just a meal of the normal fare but one that a Hindu could eat. Not really worth the fuss.
Thence to Dublin.
It will be no surprise to our family or those who have followed us before that we tend not to over organise. And we have been busy. The plan for this trip is suitably loose. We will spend a fair bit of time in Ireland, there will be time in Greece, there is a need for us to visit the UK for a bit and, well, there may be time for a wander off somewhere else as well.
We had organised a hotel in Dublin for a few days. The plan was to have a quick look at the city centre and spend a bit of time working out what we might get to on this trip.
The Drury Court Hotel is as close as it is likely that you will get to the
Public Art
'Millennium Child' by John Behan. One of many pieces of public art in Dublin. More to see on the return visit. centre. Shopping, the night life at Temple Bar, many of the key tourist visitor sites and a few good pubs in easy walking distance. No need for a vehicle and, in this area, I think that would have been a hindrance, having to find parking and being constantly terrified of skittling some wandering pedestrian.
We didn't try to do all of the sites. There were some spectacular churches and a palace that would probably be good for some. We did drop in at Trinity College – where some of the leaders of Ireland over the years have been educated – and had a look at the Book of Kells exhibition. Interesting historical material particularly as it relates to the early development of writing as a method of communication.
One of the reasons we are keen on travelling around Ireland is that three branches of our relatives came from here many years ago. Irish genealogical records can be problematic partly because there were a lot of them destroyed during the revolution when the archives were burnt and also because a lot of records weren't kept, particularly of the poorer sorts of folk. A lot of material is online but
Photobombed
In the Old Library at Trinity College. We happened to visit at the same time a school excursion. Didn't notice the smiling faces until looking at the photos for this post. we have a hit a number of brick walls and it is handy to be able to talk to people directly who have years of knowledge and experience.
The National Library of Ireland provides people like us with access to a free discussion with a genealogist. We didn't make spectacular progress but there were leads that we hadn't thought of, or given much attention to. The Ireland National Archives does much the same as the National Library but more formally. We now have our Readers Tickets and will be able to ferret about more when we come back. Both the Library and the Archives are in the centre in easy walking distance of our hotel. The added bonus is that the Archives are in the Jacobs Biscuit Factory that was a key building used during the 1916 Revolution. We were a few days too late for the big march but there is still lots happening to commemorate the centenary.
For something completely different the Guinness Storehouse tour was very well done. We heard a lot about how it was all started, checked out how they put the brew together, could have learned how to pour the perfect pint,
She Knocked but couldn't get in
Haha - wrong gate! Had to find the one where you paid the money to get in! were instructed in how to taste Guinness and were treated to a pint all in the space of a bit over an hour. Very polished and well done.
Unfortunately they didn't provide a detailed recipe. There were some indications that there is a secret ingredient or perhaps that it is all in the particular yeast they use. Anyway my plan is to taste enough of the stuff so that I can start to identify precisely all of its components and then start making it myself.
The pubs in this part of the world are worth a good look. The local for us was directly across from the hotel. The Hairy Lemon was painted a fetching yellow with green trim and advertised itself as an 'old world pub'. It did pour good pints and served food good enough to take us back there twice in three days – or was that the pints?
As far as transport is concerned – well for three days we didn't use any. The buses into town from the airport cost between 6 and 10 Euros. The 747 DublinBus seems to be quickest but the route 16 is apparently cheaper.
We had
to trek the couple of easy kms up to the bus station to catch the bus to Mountmellick. The buses are fine but the ticketing system could bear a bit of a tidy up in my ever so humble opinion. You buy a ticket then take a punt on getting a seat. I guess we found a seat easily enough on this occasion so perhaps I am being overly critical but there was no particular queue and there seems to be no limit to the number of seats that are sold. If you miss out then you catch a later bus. Not as organised as those in South America but not as loose as those in Central America.
Looking forward to going to Dublin again a little later in the trip.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
We've been patiently awaiting your return!!!
Looking forward to your adventures to the home country and elsewhere! And with regard to sampling Guinness, it's the journey not the destination.