The Irish Capital — Dublin
March 25th - 29th, 2017
In my head, Ireland has always been a collection of winding narrow back country roads hemmed in by short stone walls. We’ve ended up with a heavy dose of that daydream out on the west coast, but first we made a stop in the Irish capital, Dublin.
Ireland in general is a small country, clocking in at under 5 million inhabitants, and Dublin follows that trend as a small and very walkable capital at under 500k residents. We walked everywhere from our Airbnb north of the River Liffey. Like most cities, we lost count of the number of cranes that dot the skyline, a testament to the ever forward marching machine of renovation and progress.
Dublin boasts the 400+ year old Trinity College and it’s beautifully landscaped courtyards protected by Georgian buildings. As we enter spring, we’ve been delighting in the budding and sprouting of new growth.
While the skies were clear, which is about a 50/50 chance, we spent our time outside in one of the many beautiful parks that dot the city, like St. Stephen’s Green.
The list of famous Irish is extensive, including the likes of Bono and Colin Ferrel, but none may be more famous than James Joyce, the intriguing and mysterious Dublin born writer. In his work Ulysses, he describes a pharmacy in Dublin that still stands today in relatively the same condition.
Swenys Pharmacy is near Merrion Square and now hosts regular James Joyce readings — like the one on his work Finnegans Wake that was underway when Kate and I stumbled through the door. We were handed a copy and told to follow along. Good luck with that.
Between trying to understand some of the thick Irish accents and complex imagery and narrative of the book, we left with a romantic and muddy understanding of the modern day Irish book club.
On the west side of the city is St. James Gate — the headquarters of Guinness! We decided it was worth touring. It was a huge production and walked through the history and making of Guinness. For a rainy day, it was well worth it (though small breweries offer more hands on and engaging tours, imho).
I think my favorite part was learning about the cooperage, which is the art of making casks and barrels. Just a few decades ago, 1000s were employed in a process which has all but disappeared today. Kate and I drank our free Guinness (aka I drank both of them) and played cards near the rooftop bar. It was fascinating to learn that around 50% of their sales come from Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, sold in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, but rarely seen in the States. The world is much bigger and different than our own experiences. Easy to forget.
Dublin Castle is a prominent building in the center of the city where Irish presidents are inaugurated. Only the Record Tower remains of the 13th century medieval castle, but the complex has been rebuilt over the years into a majestic courtyard. Just behind it is the Chester Beatty Library, a small but powerful museum containing some extraordinary artistic manuscripts from Islam and Christianity and artwork from all around the globe.
At one point Kate and I split up to do some solo exploration. I headed over to the National Gallery and she meandered through main street popping in and out of several stores and shops.
Chester Beatty showed up again — as a mining giant he had lots of cash to throw around at art and ended up donating several pieces to the gallery. My favorite was an 1865 satirical painting called La Peinture Réaliste, looking down on the new fade of realism which ignored classical painting and just wanted to paint the ordinary things of the world. The artist in the painting is seen sitting on an ancient greek bust while painting a pigs head.
Satire is so effective. :)
Part of the fun of Dublin are the many backstreets and the delicious and delightful treats they contain. Murphy’s Ice Cream is some of the best we’ve had and sitting at the Cornerstone Bar north of the river listening to locals playing their striking tunes on the fiddle were cultural highlights.
Another thing we’ve discovered to be quite useful in cities is the art of finding wifi on the street. If we don’t have data on our phones, we’ll walk around and randomly try out various restaurant connections until we get something that works.
That came quite in-handy after our solo exploration as Kate and I tried to reconnect at Queen of Tarts (no wifi) and only her phone had data. I sat around for 20 minutes before realizing there are two locations within 200 meters of each other (why?!). Kate realized the same thing and left the other location and walked to the one I was at. Somehow, we missed each other along the way. After not finding her at location number 2, I started the wifi wander and we realized what happened.
All’s well that ends well.
We’re adding Dublin to the list of cities that’s more city-like and less magical. Yes, there are some great and wonderful parts to explore and discover, but after four days we felt satisfied and ready to move on.
Onwards to the west coast and the Wild Atlantic Way!
