Dublin - The final day

For our last day, we hopped on St. Kevin's bus and headed out to Glendalough.  This was an important monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin.  It is now part of Wicklow Mountains National Park.  Ireland has some serious mountains.  If you like this kind of thing, you could definitely do the Irish version of the Appalachian trail.  Many of the people hopping on the bus were clearly on their way to spend the Bank Holiday weekend backpacking.

One small summit taken from the bus.

The plan was to eat at the Glendalough Hotel, which was supposed to have a good lunch.  We were looking forward to the trout.  To be short, the lunch was o.k. (they ran out of trout) and the service was terrible.  Next time, we're bringing a picnic.

The site and the park are free to enter, but we paid to see the movie and go through the exhibits at the visitor's center.  The visitor's center was definitely worth the €3 entrance fee.  It was movement operated. You basically entered what looked like a space with black walls and then they light up and start talking to you.  Pretty cool and great information.

The settlement was pretty large, at least according to the exhibit.  It was continuously occupied for about 800 years, including several viking attacks.  Most of it is in ruins now but the round tower, which was a common building found in all of these early settlements, is still standing.

Lorna at the base of the 33 meters (~100 feet) tall tower.

One of the most interesting aspects about these towers was that the door to it was built 12 feet off the ground.  

Most of the site has become a burial ground.  It appears that at some point in the 19th century, people just started being buried here.  So, as you walk to the different ruins, you are essentially walking through a necropolis.

Lorna hanging out. In a cemetery.

The cap on the round tower was replaced in the late 19th century.  The building in the foreground is the Cathedral.

Glendalough means something like Place of Two Lakes.  The Lower Lake, closest to the settlement, turns into a bog on the way to the Upper Lake.  We took the long way around the Lower Lake on our way to the Upper Lake.  Much of one side of the lake and bog is used for grazing sheep.  I don't know if these are commons or if they are privately owned, though.

The Upper Lake is where St. Kevin apparently spent his initial years in solitude.  There are ruins on an island but no service to it at the moment.  

"St. Kevin stood on this very rock! I can just feel it."

We took the other route back to the visitor center, which was faster than we realized.  We got some great pictures of the natural landscape.  Check out the gallery for additional pictures.

We were lucky that the weather held out.  It was relatively warm (for Ireland) and it didn't begin to rain until we were on the bus heading back to Dublin.  Indeed, you might say we had the luck of the Irish. :) 

Sorry.  Couldn't resist.

For our last night, we had tapas at a fabulous restaurant.  It always amazes us how full we can get on tapas.  If you are ever in Dublin, it pays to make reservations at Tapas de Lola.  After dinner, we waddled around for a while before heading back to the hotel for our last night in Ireland.

Dublin - Day 2

Today, we ditched the group entirely and went off on our own.  We wanted to see the older parts of the city.

Our first stop was the Marsh Library.

You had to ring the bell to get in.  Lorna wasn't tall enough to ring the bell.

It opened in 1708, making it the oldest public library in Ireland. It wasn't public in the sense that we think of today.  It was available to the landed gentry who didn't have access to the libraries at Trinity College.  The local Irish were not literate and didn't even speak English (much less Latin or French which most books over the past 300 years were written in).  Eventually, it opened up to other wealthy men, including Bram Stoker - yes, that Bram Stoker).  According to one of the docents, women didn't enter the library until the 20th century.  Now it is open to the public in modern sense, although many of the books are still in Latin, French, and the kind of English where the 's' is written like an 'f.'  While we were visiting, an elderly woman who lived around the corner from the library brought her US American grandson for a visit.  She remarked that this was the first time in her life she ever came to this place.

One of the more interesting aspects of this library are the cages that the librarians would lock students in to when using the rarer books.  This was to prevent theft, of course.  

Over 80% of the books in this library are considered rare, meaning that the Marsh Library has the only known copy.

After the Marsh library, we went next door to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  This is not a Catholic cathedral, in case you are interested.  St. Patrick's is best known for the wonderful choir music that is produced here.

Lorna reflecting on all of the war memorials that line every single wall of the cathedral.

There were two interesting things about this cathedral.  First, we learned that Jonathan Swift, of Gulliver's Travels, was the dean here (I think this is like the head priest - but I'm not sure).  He's also buried right inside the front door.  Second, this is the first cathedral we've been to that had a gift shop inside the church.  A gift shop that was not just selling CDs of the music produced here, but also Irish Whiskey Fudge.  Go figure.

On the recommendation of one of the docents at the Marsh Library, we headed to the Charles Beatty Library.  Originally a private collection, this library houses one of the largest collections Korans in the world.

First, we had lunch at the cafe in the Beatty Library.  It turned out to be a little middle-eastern and a little south asian.

We both had a glass of wine with our lunch.  This turned out to be a fatal mistake.

The exhibit on Eastern religions was absolutely fabulous.  I know very little about the Koran and found the exhibits to be very interesting.  The short of it is, there is way more to this religion and its history than most US Americans are led to believe. I highly encourage anyone in Dublin and interested in world religions to make a stop here.

After this stop, we started to get sleepy.  I mean really sleepy.  We made our way through the gardens of Dublin Castle, located conveniently next to the Beatty Library.

"What do you mean, you're tired.  We're in the middle of a castle, for goodness sakes!"

However, it turned out that Dublin Castle, which is now a government building, was closed to visitors. We did make a pass through the Revenue Museum, mainly because the door was open and I wanted to see if we could sneak in somehow.  Despite the drab sounding name, we learned about the things that the Revenue Department tries to prevent from being smuggled into the country.  This included condoms.  We learned later that condoms were illegal in Ireland until the 1970s.  We also learned that anything and everything had been taxed under British rule.  This included fireplaces, windows, and even dogs.

We tried to make it through the castle museum (which was still open) and it did have a good exhibit about the history of the castle (originally built by the Normans, etc) but we just couldn't do it anymore.

We headed back to our hotel for a nap.  We came out later to do some shopping but learned that even the tourist shops are closed by 7 pm.

So, we went to have Indian for dinner, hung out in the lobby of the hotel (it was the kind of lobby that you could hang out in), and then headed to bed.  The next day was our last and it was going to be a good one.

Dublin - Day 1

On our first full day in Dublin, we spent the morning with our group touring two very interesting sites.  This was the first day that we did not have a 7:30 am wake up call, so you know that I was in a good mood.

We first went to Trinity College to take a look at the Book of Kells.  This was a holy book copied at a monastic site in Scotland.  It's important because it is the most complete illuminated copy of holy books from the medieval period.  Illuminated, just so you know, means that it was painted and including very fancy drawings.  Sorry, no pictures were allowed.

After looking at the Book of Kells, we toured through the Library Hall.

There are lots of very old books in here.

Lorna was quite excited to be in such a grand library.

After Trinity College, we went to the Kilmainham Gaol, which was a jail built using what was considered prison reform in the late 18th century.  

We had lunch at the cafe before our tour.

Lorna was quite happy to have some good Irish Breakfast Tea.

According to our guide, the prison operated on three principles: segregation, silence, and surveillance.  Prior to the construction of this prison, prisoners were not segregated by type of crime, sex, or age.  In the new prison, women were kept separate from men (although both were housed in this prison), and people who committed serious crimes were kept separate from those who committed petty crimes.  However, it was a pretty rough life.  Each prisoner was housed in his/her own cell (at least in theory) and were required to maintain complete silence.  There was to be no oral communication between prisoners, so they developed their own morse code.  Even exercise was to be done in silence.  Exercise consisted of (literally) walking in circles in total silence.  Finally, prisoners were supervised and surveilled at all times.  In the older parts of the jail, there were two holes in every door through which the jailor could see the prisoner.  There was absolutely no privacy at all.  It was cold and by today's standards, inhumane.

Marcos standing in the newer part of the prison.  This was constructed based on Jeremy Bentham's idea of the panoptican.  From the walkway you see directly ahead, a jailor could see in every cell.

The prison primarily housed the average criminal but it was made famous by the many political prisoners held and executed here.  These included a bunch of politicians who were treated better than the average prisoner.  In fact, the authorities moved all of the other prisoners out for the 8 months that the politicians were kept here. The most famous political prisoners were the leaders of the 1916 rebellion who were also executed by firing squad on site. 

This prison has been used in many movies, which helped raise the money for its initial restoration.

After the jail, we headed to the tourism office to get some information and then headed to Phoenix Park.

Lorna looking at the map of the park.

Phoenix Park is the largest public park in Europe.  And it is big.  Bigger than Central Park by far.  Our initial intention was to head to a garden show and festival that the lady at the jail cafe told us about.  However, the size of the park and the size of the entrance fee (€30 per person/ ~$40 per person) persuaded us to head back to town.  Nevertheless, we still got lost and really only saw the outskirts of the park.  Next time, we take a taxi.

Tired and with sore feet, we headed back to our hotel to rest.

The Hill of Tara, Newgrange, and our first night in Dublin

On our way to Dublin, we made two stops.

The Hill of Tara is the traditional seat of the Irish Kings.  It is where new kings take and wield power but it is also a burial site all the way back almost to neolithic times.

Lorna in front of a marker.

PJ explained that Christianity took more easily in Ireland than in other places in part because the Irish kings saw it as no threat to their rule and allowed monks to proselytize.  More importantly, however, the monks incorporated aspects of traditional spiritual beliefs, like the sacred tree, into the practice of Christianity here.

Lorna in front of a sacred tree.

After The Hill of Tara, we went to Newgrange.  This is a neolithic site that is simply mind boggling. It also appears to be a burial mound. 

It's huge.

There are two impressive aspects about thr construction of Newgrange.  First, the enormous stones used to create the site came from 80 km (~50 miles) away. It was brought here before there were domesticated animals and even before the invention of the wheel.

The second aspect is that the entrance was built in a way that on the day of the  winter solstice, the rising sun penetrates the interior in a way that it feels like it is lit from the inside.  As our guide, Frank, said, neolithic people had a greater understanding of astronomy and geometry than most people do today.

After Newgrange, we went straight to Dublin and had Persian for dinner.

After dinner, we caught an indie-folk show at a place called Whelans.  The music was great, although the second act was better than then main act.  We would have stayed longer but the cigarette smoke from the apparently outdoor smoking area was wafting into the performance space.  We left because I was beginning to wheeze.  But otherwise, we highly recommend this place for music.

Belfast

We spent a day in Belfast.  It is a relatively young city for Europe.  People have lived here for a long time, but it didn't really develop until the Industrial Revolution in the earlier part of the 19th century.

We spent the morning being toured around the different parts of Belfast. As PJ put it, The Troubles started in Derry but ended with a vengeance in Belfast.  As in Derry, murals commemorate the struggle.  

This mural depicts Bobby Sands, who was both an IRA member and politician.

At some point, the conflict and violence was so bad that the authorities built what they called a peace wall.

What it really was, and still is, is a 10 foot wall that separates the Catholic/Nationalist neighborhoods from the Protestant/Unionist neighborhoods.

PJ also took us through the Protestant/ Unionist part of town. They have their own murals and their own messages.

There is a different feel to the Protestant/Unionist murals. A little more angry. Greater use of violent symbols, like guns.

One thing I noticed was that the Protestant/Unionist part of town has not experienced the same level of rebuilding as the Catholic/ Nationalist side. PJ conjectured that the Unionists may have lost out during the peace negotiations in part because they were resistant to the entire process.

During The Troubles about a third of the buildings were bombed. During the Celtic Tiger boom years, which began after the peace accords, rebuilding in the downtown area began. This explains the interesting mix of post-modern architecture next to Victorian era buildings.  If you are into architecture, Belfast is definitely a place to see.

Belfast also boasts its resoonse to the leaning Tower of Pisa.

Behold, the leaning Tower of Prince Albert. 

It actually does lean although it was recently stabilized.

We also went to Stormont, which is the seat of Northern Ireland's power sharing government. It's an impressive building in an impressive landscape.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside.

This is the drive up to Stormont. Can you imagine walking this during the horse and buggy days?

We also went to the Titanic museum, which would have been interesting if you really knew nothing about it.  The only thing I thought was interesting was the description of the growth of the city leading up to the building of the Titanic.

Afterwards, PJ dropped us off at Queens College.

This is a beautiful building.

Marcos and I walked through the Belfast Botanical Gardens (see the Gallery) and then just wandered around the city.  We ended up on a local history tour of the Clifton Street Cemetery led by Joe.

Joe telling us about Henry Joy McCracken who started the United Irishmen which eventually evolved into the Irish Republican Army.  Henry's sister, Mary Ann, is also buried here. She is reponsible for preventing Ireland from becoming a slave trading nation.

Joe gave a wonderful tour which gave us a little more information about the history of the city and its people. The short of it is that the people who invented color printing (the RGB/CYMK system), christmas cards, spam, and milk of magnesia are all buried here. I  addition, 7412 victims of the potatoe blight and untold numbers of victims of the 1832-33 cholera epidemic are buried in mass graves on this site.  We got lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

We then walked back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Derry/ Londonderry

Derry/ Londonderry is in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.  This means that the money is in Sterling instead of Euros and distances are measured in miles rather than kilometers.

For many decades, Derry/ Londonderry was one of the most violent cities in the world.  This period of time is known as The Troubles.  We were fortunate enough to get a tour with the famous Martin McCrosson.

He told a passionate and very balanced story of the history of the city from medieval times to the present.  We've been on dozens of these historic walking tours and I've never been so moved. We laughed, we teared up, and we left with a better appreciation of the price of war.

Derry is a very old city.  It is a walled city from the early 1600s.  Originally, there were only four gates to get into the city.

Here's one of them.

You might be wondering why this city as two names.  The original name of the city was Derry until it was taken over by the English who changed the name to Londonderry.  If ou are a Nationalist/Republican/Catholic, you will call the city Derry.  If you are a Unionist/Loyalist/Protestant you will call the city Londonderry.  It was these kinds sectarian/political conflicts that underlie the Troubles; over 30 years of conflict that resulted in massive destruction and lives lost.

The Troubles are commemorated through a series of murals in the Bogside neigborhood.  This was the Catholic section of town whose residents were both instigators and targets of political violence.  Here are just a few of them.  

The Trouble in Derry started with a march to protest the discrimination against Catholics in access housing and jobs.  

The British government thought that they could quash the protests using force.  This led to the Bloody Sunday Massacre.  British soldiers forced unarmed marchers onto a particular street and then opened fire on them.

The people were not so easily suppressed.  The city of Derry was occupied by Britiish forces for about 40 years.

The young girl seen here was the first child victim of the Troubles.  She was shot in the back of the head on the way to school. When this mural was originally painted, the butterfly was in black and white and the gun was a whole. The artists recently came back to repaint the mural at the request of the residents.  They painted the butterfly in color and gun as broken to symbolilze the Peace Process holding. 

Not that there still isn't tension.  

The city is still segregated although the population of Protestants has declined dramatically since the Troubles began.

The ambiguitiy over the name is part of the continuing division, although the Peace Process is actually healing the city.  This is seen in the construction of the Peace Bridge.

Derry/Londonderry was named the City of Culture as part of a year long celebration in the U.K.  This pedestrian bridge was actually closed because of a concert that was taking place on the other side of the river. You had to have a ticket in order to get on the bridge. The police and security were gracious enough to allow Marcos and I on the bridge just to take pictures (see the gallery for that).

We spent the rest of the evening wandering around before heading to our hotel for the night.

A hot toddy, a hike soggy, and a rope bridge

There were three stops on the way to Belfast which made for a very full day.  The first stop was at the Bushmills Whiskey distillery.

"Oh great. Whiskey at 10 am."

Lorna made a friend in the waiting area before the tour.

"Hi. My name is Lorna. Why are you ignoring me?"

Bushmills is one the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world.  It's been in operation (at least officially) since 1608.  They triple distill their whiskey, which along with the water, the specific grain, and the different barrels they use to age the whiskey make for its distinctive flavor.  It was interesting to learn that they use barrels that have been previously used to make other liquors, including bourbon (from the US), sherry (from Portugal), and Madeira wines (from Spain).  At the end of the tour, we had the option of tasting one of several types.  Lorna and I chose to have a hot toddy.

"Nice and warm."

After boozing it up, we headed out to the Giant's Causeway, which is a UNESCO world heritage site and a natural wonder.  It was created by volcanic eruptions 60 million years ago.  

These cliffs are over 500 feet high. 

We hiked down to the polygnol columns that makes this place famous.  I hiked out onto those columns and just as I got out to the tallest one, it started pouring rain.  Not like the drizzle of Dun Aeghan.  Soak through your clothes wet.  At least it would have been except that we were better prepared.

In about 15 minutes, the weather changed to blue skies again.

We hiked all the way up to the pipe organ looking rock formation and then took the high route back to the visitor center.

Those pretty yellow flowers are actually an invasive species that they've been trying to get rid of for while.

After we left the Causeway, we made one last stop at the top of the causeaway. There's a rope beidge you have to cross to get to an island to see some spectacular views of the coastline. You'll have to go to the gallery to see me face my fear if heights and cross the rope bridge.