Dublin - The Short Course
To sleep in a hotel instead of the insomnia generating Hostels of West Ireland was a great respite. Finally crawling out of bed around noon, I would put the comment, “Dublin can be seen in a day” to the test in half the time.
Venturing out in the dappled sunlight of the early afternoon, I cut across St. Stephen’s Green, a park complete with gardens...
... and constructed ponds.
Walking Grafton Street gave the feeling of so many European shopping districts. Cobble stone streets, lined with older buildings converted into trendy shopping outlets.
Peeking down a side street gave view to a classic church front.
Grafton Street tines into the fork of College Green, eventually blending into Westmoreland Street. At this intersection and across the street from the Bank of Ireland building is the entrance to Trinity College, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth.
Although a historic institution, Trinity College is most known for its library holding every English and Irish published and copy written document since 1801. Eight buildings house more than three million volumes. Impressive in scope, still an endless line of visitors make the trek to Trinity College to view one particular volume, The Book of Kells.
The Book of Kells is actually a religious teaching document of the Four Gospels. What makes it so precious is that every page is covered in illuminated script or intricate depictions, often painted in gold. The Book of Kells was produced over one thousand years ago and has survived Viking conquests that left sixty-eight monks dead. The book eventually found a home in Dublin where it could be more aptly protected. (No pictures were permitted, so the picture below like the one above of the library, was taken of a display piece.) Examples of the style and type of illustrations line the bottom of this brochure.
Leaving the library there was a quick reminder that Trinity College is an actual educational institution and not only a relic repository. The local students were springing around the porches and walls of the old buildings trying to replicate the latest craze of dominating an urban obstacle course.
Safely after 2:00pm, I was a little beyond hungry and headed straight for the Temple Bar District that houses a huge variety of local and international eateries.
Kristen had suggested the locally famous Elephant and Castle Restaurant and the requisite Elephant burger, which is actually beef and topped with barely braised bacon and a curie/mayo sauce. The burger and a Coke Light will run you about twenty-two USD plus tip. Good, but not “that” good.
The final lap of the Dublin tour was a walk along the Liffey, on a single riverbank road with no fewer than five name changes on this stretch of pavement. The river is spanned by several bridges of varying sizes and ornamentation.
The sky was mixed and threatening upstream,
... in contrast to the breaking blue skies down river.
Walking the left bank, making a left turn and heading up hill under the Christchurch Cathedral Arch...
... brought me to St. James Gate and the Guinness Brewery and Storehouse.
The multi-block complex is filled with history. Arthur Guinness was so certain that his brewing formulation would be a success that he risked his entire 100 British Pound inheritance in 1759 to lease the existing and dormant St. James Gate Brewery for 9,000 years at a sum of 45 Pounds per year. The other historic date in the Guinness Company’s history was when it was decided to only brew a new form of popular darker brew named after the primary consumers in London, the porter.
The Guinness Company purchases two-thirds of all the barley grown in Ireland each year or approximately 100,000 tons. The roasted over abundance of roasted barley is what gives Guinness its trademark color and flavor, along with the "classic" secret ingredient process. (Two resting pints, waiting to settle and form a creamy head prior to topping. A good pour takes more than five minutes.)
Atop the brewery is the Gravity Bar that provides a dramatic 360 degree of the city.
The evening sunset brought a dramatic view of the Wellington Monument – built in memory of the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo. The green space behind the obelisk is Phoenix Park, the largest city park in Europe covering 1,760 acres.
The Guinness plant dominates and but somehow blends right into this working class neighborhood.
With the meandering streets of Dublin, the brewery was out of sight in only a few short blocks, as street after curving street of row houses channeled me back to the hotel.
I could tell that St. James Green was getting closer because the buildings were gaining elevation and then finally I was home.
