On our last day in Dublin the sun was out in full and you couldn’t have asked for a better picture weather. We started by visiting Christ Church, the cathedral right next to our hotel. The cathedral boasts in its catacombs a mummified cat and rat, aka “Tom and Jerry” which were found when the organ was cleaned on the occasion of Händel’s (Handel) performance of Messiah in Dublin.
Good plan but bad execution since the church had its Sunday service and didn’t let anybody in until 12:30. A time where we should get the airport bus. So that was that with the churches in Ireland, only saw the one in Howth.
With a lot of time at our hands what were we to do? We started by touring the grounds of Dublin Castle again, this time in full sunshine instead of rain.
See the colors on these houses? Looks almost sponsored by Google.
And then hunger was guiding us back to Dame Street where we came across the Queen of Tarts.
The place inside was super small and packed with all kinds of knickknacks.
We ordered tea, which came in a big old pot, salmon for Andrea and vegetarian breakfast for me. Franz abstained from anything but coffee.
Everything was great but the red pepper relish was so delicious that we each bought a jar to bring home, along with some scones! Here they were the real deal and came with butter and jam.
Thus invigorated we set out for another round of walking through the city. We had set our sights on the Merrion Square the heart of Georgian Dublin. The square consists of a park around which artist were selling their paintings and beautiful Georgian buildings. While looking through my pictures just now I noticed that I got apparently so distracted by the paintings that I never took a picture of the buildings. Never mind I found you a robin, something for the bird lovers again.
First stop though was the statue of Molly Malone on the way to the square.
As said before Dublin really takes care of its tourists and this shows in the little details. Since Ireland drives on the other side than Europe mainland all street crossings have these road markers.
For all the ones who wanted to take the other left it even has an arrow.
Since we had to take the airport link at around 12:30 we were on a tight schedule especially in the light that we still wanted to go to the Book of Kells shop at Trinity College to buy some things. The store and the museum opened at noon sharp so we had to time our arrival well. There was only so much to see at the Merrion Square that after a round in the park and watching the houses surrounding it, we decided we needed to warm up somewhere. So while walking back to the college we found the National Gallery of Ireland. With free admission, an inviting looking coffee place and a museum shop it looked like a great choice. While drinking coffee we noticed that it appeared to have an older building incorporated.
And then it was time for our last stop, Trinity College. Doesn’t the place look great in sunshine? I almost wished being a student again, just to get a chance to spend a semester there. But only almost.
After a quick purchase of a college cup with the names of all its great students on it and a book about the Battle of Clontarf (you cannot own too many books about history) we rushed back to the hotel. Our vacation was almost at an end. Some more pictures from along the way to the hotel.
Then on to the bus and off to the airport. Sitting on top in the first row I could take some last pictures of this beautiful city. I still can’t get my mind around that they have palm trees in the streets (ok, so maybe not trees but similar plants associated with southern climate).
We left Dublin with a little delay but got so the chance to shop some more. Some more cheese and salmon for home. The cheese then got almost attacked by an overzealous German security guy at the layover in Cologne. He had to make sure it was not too soft and in his enthusiasm to check this, he left a thumb print in it. What an end to a perfect weekend.
Yours, Pollybert
