Trinity, Kells, Museums and Music

---

Tuesday, July 14, 2009
This morning, I wake up at 7:30, and see Caroline our hostess putting out the trash. It turns out that she is here to oversee her workmen who are putting on an addition to a home 2 doors down that she designed. She stops in to talk, but passes on tea because she is having coffee with the workers. They are storing their supplies in the shed out back. She offers to stop back in at 9:30 to drive Dean to the pool. Her husband Andrew and son, Ben flew in this morning from the Cape. She says they are exhausted, and off to bed in the home they are house sitting for friends. Her friends are over in Brewster right now- and the family on the other side is on the Vineyard. I guess the Cape was the place for Dubliners this summer!
While Dean is gone, Jackie and Jeff practice-before we know it, he’s home. Caroline picked him up, and offers to drive us into Trinity after she stops in at her neighbor’s. We can’t pass up this generous offer, especially since it has started to rain. It is much better than waiting for the bus. On the drive in, Caroline gives us some touring tips and drops us right at Trinity’s gates. She’s a great driver in the city. The rain has stopped, so we opt to take the student-led college tour, which includes the library and book of Kills rather than simply going to the book itself. This was a wise choice. Our witty guide, Glen, is a theology/philosophy major, and provides us with insights the tour books would not (such as that the great bell in the tower only rings for funerals and before exams- which he says is appropriate, the imploding dining hall, and that the provost who said that women would enter Trinity only over his dead body was truthful: he died a week after he begrudgingly signed the writ allowing women to study there, and was buried in front of the back entrance to the school, the only entrance that women could use!) He is also brutally honest about which buildings he thinks are ugly, and the resemblance of the famous sculpture in the courtyard to the “Star Wars’ Death Star”.
After our tour, we are admitted to the Kills exhibit. As with so much we have seen, it is amazing to see the amount of effort that went into its creation. We also see “Brian Bore’s” harp (which is the oldest harp in Ireland that is on all the coins, but is really about 200 years younger than Brian was) and the library itself- modeled after the one at Cambridge, but “a few meters longer” (as Glen said “ so there, Cambridge”).
Leaving Trinity, we cross the street to the Bank of Ireland, in the old House of Lords. Every teller’s station is manned by a carved lion! Suddenly, we hear torrential rain on the roof, so we roam the chambers until it slows.
Next, we hop a bus for the National Museum. Though smaller than the Smithsonians, it is full of relics such as St. Patrick’s bell, the cross of Cong, and clothes and bodies found perfectly preserved in the bogs.
We have a snack in the café, and head out to poke through the woolen and music shops on Dawson and St George Streets. The tour book had recommended a microbrewery called the Porterhouse on Temple Bar, so we walk there for dinner. Their food menu is limited for gluten-free, so Jackie and I leave the boys and walk back to Cornucopia, our new favorite restaurant. After our meal, we return to the Porterhouse to join the boys. Dean is finishing some ice cream (only his second since we began-usually it’s his daily meal), and Jeff his 2nd brew. Jackie orders a cider, which we all sample and agree we like the Bulmers’ Apple or Pear Cider better (Jeff says it tastes like “jungle juice” or Smarties candies). I opt to wait until we hit a pub with music. Farther in Temple Bar, we end up at John Gogarty’s, where 2 men are playing a lively session. Jeff and Jackie stand at the bar, and Dean and I find 2 seats at a table with another couple. Unfortunately, as soon as we order our drinks, the men thank the crowd, and announce that the live music will now continue upstairs! Jeff and Jackie take their drinks up and Dean goes to find us a place while I wait to collect and pay for our order. When I get up, Jackie and Jeff have found stools at the front near the musicians, and Dean has claimed a stool and a windowsill. The music is good, and the musicians keep coming- by the time Dean and I leave at 9:30, there are 5 of them. We have no trouble taking the bus home, and our cat meets us at the front door, a bit upset that his supper is so late. Jackie& and Jeff stay an hour or so, just leaving in time to catch the bus before it stops running. This was a very full day.

---

Comments

[Maria]

Blog response
Wow! This is wonderful news! You make it sound so real....... Have you and Jackie read Carol Higgins book(s)? What comes to mind is "Laced", her mystery set in Ireland? I think Jackie would especially enjoy it. Have sent it to my nieces who are same age as Jackie. Everything sounds so beautiful! Enjoy it! Blessings to you all......