The real Dublin Docks...

The local Irish pub near our home is called Dublin Docks - this morning we opened our curtains - and there they were - the REAL Dublin Docks!! We started the day by skyping Rob and Ruth - and holding the laptop out on our balcony so they could also see them - crazy, I know!!

World's smallest pub

The Liffey River

We planned an easy day taking a walking tour with Garry and Joanne - so we bypassed the Princess shuttle but in favour of sharing a taxi into the city. Our first stop was the Molly Malone monument from where we headed down the main city mall - Grafton Street - towards St Stephens green with its beautifully laid out gardens. We spied a group of horses with carriages so we decided that since everything was still closed we would take a tour around the city. We all climbed into the carriage which was pulled by Blackie, and tucked the rugs around our legs. 

Jimmy, our coach driver gave us a great commentary as he showed us the sights - from the smallest pub in the world to the Georgian area where all the houses have different coloured doors - the houses aren’t numbered, so the doors are all different so that the owner can find their own house when they arrive home from the pub - true story!! These houses are left over from the days of English rule - and so follow the English traditional of having a locked fenced park across the road from the terraces - only the owners have access keys... 

As Blackie clopped past an ugly modern building, Jimmy said that it was nick-named the ‘lego building’ and asked us all what we though of the building - it really wasn’t in keeping with the surrounding older style buildings - so the consensus was that we didn’t like it - Jimmy just smiled and said ‘ that’s the Australian Consulate’!! Then, he stopped at a tiny cemetery, the smallest in Dublin - and asked us to guess how many people lived there - we guessed anywhere from 10 to 40 - he smiled and said ‘no one lives there, they are all dead’! Gotta love the Irish sense of humour...

Only in Ireland - the Cathedral is sponsored by Bailey's Irish Cream!!

After the carriage ride, we followed a walking tour of Dublin, taking in the sights of St Patricks Cathedral and Park, Poets Walk, St Anne’s Church, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, the City Hall, and Trinity College with its spectacular bell tower.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Dublin without the Irish pubs - and they have such wonderful names - The Brazen Head, The Stags Head, O’Donaghues, O’Reilly’s, Turks Head Chop House, O’Flannery’s, The Temple Bar, and The Auld Dubliner to name a few. In front of every pub, large hanging pots of colourful flowers add to the atmosphere - beautiful in front fo the old buildings.

Our list of essentials for the day included a traditional pub lunch, and so we explored the Temple Bar area before we stopped at The Old Mill pub and restaurant. Arnold and Garry ordered the special of the day - The Dublin Cobbler - a plate of Irish stew with mashed potatoes - and topped with three pork and herb sausages - which definitely got their tick of approval - all washed down with a pint of Guiness of course!! They said that the only way it could have been improved would be if the servings were twice as large. I settled for a Club sandwich and Joanne had a baguette - all delicious!!

We were walking down a lane way when Arnold spied a shop called “Happy Pills”. Now, whenever we come across anyone who is negative or complaining, he always whispered to me - ‘looks like they forgot to take their happy pills this morning’ - so we rushed down to check out the happy pills shop - it was a large lolly and ice cream shop!!

Dublin is a university city with Trinity College in the centre, so it has a real bohemian atmosphere - lots of unusual clothing choices etc. There was some kind of ‘Zombie festival’ on this weekend, so the town was filled with strange looking characters in fancy dress, walking around covered in blood, scars, knives hanging out of their back etc - very funny. We did a double take the first time we saw a young student covered with blood, till we realised that it was all fake - we even found Wally of ‘Where’s Wally’ fame - although he looked pretty much the worst for wear - or maybe a rough night last night!!??

Dublin is a city which embraces and commemorates it long and difficult history - there are lots of monuments and statues around the city - one of the most famous is the statues which commemorate the leaving of many Irish people during the potato famine. For a relatively small country, Ireland has produced a large number of literary giants - Yeats, Swift, Joyce, Shaw, and Oscar Wilde - Noble prize winners - and they are remembered all around the city in place names, statues and monuments.

Overall, it was a great visit, and we would like to come back and explore more by car sometime in the future....tomorrow, we have another Irish port, Cobh in county Cork. We have been told that it has been declared ‘Australia Day’ in Cobh to welcome us - sounds like a lot of fun.... 

leaving Ireland during the potato famine