Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Round Ireland (2016-20)
Full day in the capital
I wanted to make a reasonably early start today, as rain was forecast to arrive in the city by 4pm. Consequently, I rose at seven and was able to have a complimentary breakfast in the hotel thanks to my status in the Hilton HHonors loyalty scheme. It wasn't quite up to scratch - portable gas burners in the middle of the room are not usually the best for keeping food fresh and hot, and today was no exception. Perhaps it was a temporary consequence of the hotel's refurbishment programme. In due course I checked out and placed my luggage in storage.
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| ABOVE: Opening page of the Gospel of John, Book of Kells (stock photo) |
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| ABOVE: The Central Hall of Trinity College's Old Library | ||
I made the short walk to Trinity College, arriving for the 9:30 opening time of the Book of Kells exhibition and viewing of the Old Library. It was my first time for both. Although I had been aware of the Book of Kells for some time, without necessarily being 100% sure what it was, I had never managed to see it due to not being willing to stand in the huge queues. As explained in the introductory displays, this is a lavishly illustrated book of the four Gospels, in Latin, dating from AD800. Its name comes from the Abbey of Kells in County Meath, which was founded by St Columba. The book is regarded as one of the best examples of western calligraphy, and is reckoned to be Ireland's finest national treasure. Following the introduction, visitors are allowed to view one page in each of two of the four volumes: one page containing text and one showing an illustration. I was stunned by the intricacy of the work and struggled to come to terms with its age. Following that, we were invited to walk through the central hall of Trinity College Old Library, and I was delighted to find that non-flash photography was permitted for this section of the tour.
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| ABOVE: Visiting the National Gallery of Ireland | |||
My Trinity College visit over, I took a five-minute walk to the National Gallery of Ireland (which I had located during my Sunday afternoon stroll) for my second culture fix of the morning. I felt lucky to have found two impressive museums that actually opened their doors on a Monday. This was a modern building, with extraordinarily high ceilings for its youthful age. The works were divided into two sections, which I would broadly - and probably inaccurately - describe as classical and modern. Overall, I thought it was an impressive small collection, ideal for viewing in a single visit without experiencing 'museum fatigue'.
I then walked via Pearse Station to the riverside, crossing over near The Custom House, a domed, neoclassical marvel on the north bank of the Liffey. It was interesting to see that the police were pulling over cars and other vehicles in front of the building to carry out checks, in what looked like a fairly high-profile operation. Initially continuing to head upriver, I turned right at O'Connell Street and went as far as the General Post Office and the slim, streamlined shape of the Spire of Dublin.
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In
a move that appeared to retrace my steps from my visit to Dublin in
August 2015, I then caught a Luas Red Line tram to Suir
Road. My objective on this occasion was not Kilmainham Gaol, but
rather the grounds of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. I knew that
the building itself, like so many
establishments of its kind, was
closed on Mondays, but I felt confident that the grounds would be
interesting in their own right.
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After a fairly busy morning largely spent on my feet, I was glad to sit down for a while in a local café in James's Street to enjoy a light lunch of quiche and salad. Duly satisfied, I walked to another of Dublin's major visitor attractions that I had never managed to get around to seeing: the Guinness Storehouse, part of the large St James's Brewery complex, which is the largest producer of stout in the world. Not surprisingly, this was hugely popular, and I quickly formed the opinion that, as a visitor experience, the self-guided tour had been very well designed. Included in the price was an initial tasting of a shot of Guinness, followed by a final pint of the black stuff in the Gravity Bar, with views across the whole city.
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I left around 3pm to begin the long walk back to the Conrad. The rain began to fall as I was passing Christ Church Cathedral. I still had a considerable distance to go, but then, that's what umbrellas are for! Eventually I picked up my luggage, carried out a minor rearrangement in the interests of a more comfortable journey, caught the Aircoach to the airport and then a shuttle bus to the Hilton Dublin Airport.
The
hotel seemed much quieter and rather more pleasant than on my one
previous stay in 2011. I had dinner at the in-house Burnell Bar &
Grill, munching my way through lamb shank and mashed potatoes,
followed by a white chocolate cheesecake - yum!
I watched some TV back in my room and managed to fall asleep doing so. At some point I woke up sufficiently to get myself properly to bed before resuming the process of stacking those Zs.