Weekend in Dublin -- Kells and Gotham

On our final day in Dublin, we hit the Book of Kells and St Patrick's Cathedral.

The Book of Kells was a must-see not only for its own beauty and wonderment, but also because the boys saw a movie about a boy working on the book, The Secret of Kells, and we plan to visit Iona (where the book was created) in June.  How can this book created in 500 still be in existence?   On the day we visited, the book was open to a portrait of St Matthew and the opening words of his gospel.

Although we didn't have time to tour St Patrick's Cathedral, we found all the British Literature greats in the adjoining park.  The exterior of the church was spectacular in itself.

Quick lunch at Gotham Cafe (boys insisted based on the name) which served reasonably priced pizzas, pastas, and sandwiches and was decorated with Rolling Stones magazine covers.

Cormac's favorite cover: X-Files

Declan's favorite (he wouldn't pose with Bart though)

Our plane back to Glasgow had Saint Cormac's name painted on the side of the cockpit -- helped us home safely!

Besides spending time with the extended Irish family, highlights of Dublin:  ZOO by unanimous vote (here), but also the bog men at the National Museum were incredible.  How these bodies were preserved in the bog is absolutely amazing.  Since it seems most of the bodies found in the bogs met their ends by violent means, my guess is that the bog was ancient people's East River.  Instead of dumping corpses tied to cement blocks into the river (or the New Jersey Pine Barrens as in one Sopranos episode), the bogs made for convenient places to make a body disappear.  Now, they've emerged more than a thousand years later still with skin, teeth, hair intact -- creepy, but cool!

When traveling with boys, this is what becomes a necessary photo.

Today, we're back to our normal routine in Glasgow -- boys at their respective schools and I doing stuff around the flat.  My dad and Holly went to Perth for the day to visit a friend, and since we will be in Perth in June with two families from the USA, we look forward to their preview of it.

Weekend in Dublin -- Active Animals

The best zoo ever!  On Sunday, we visited the Dublin Zoo which was amazing.  The animal habitats are set up so that the animals are truly close to you, and we saw many animals engaged in eating and playing seemingly just for our benefit.  Liam thinks the animals are part circus-trained, since most times we came up to a cage or enclosure, the animals would put on a show right in front of us. I have never seen such active animals!

While watching the extended gorilla family, we saw two mamas cuddling and carrying their babies and a younger male tormenting his older sibling by jumping on him or slapping him as he ran past or flopping at his feet.  So entertaining!  And this happened over and over again, a lioness who roared in front of us, a red panda who snacked on his apple chunk, a tiger who made laps and stretched full-length along the wire enclosure, a monkey family who turned somersaults and chased each other.  We were really dazzled by the variety too -- from wolves to giraffes!  Also, the zoo was incredibly well-landscaped, so that as you walked along it was walking through gardens that just happened to have elephants behind the trees,  flamingos in the pond, and lemurs in the bushes.

Just a few of the photos the boys took of the zoo animals!

Remember when I said the British are very specific in their signs, well I think the Irish have them beat. Many things to avoid when interacting with the animals!

We hit Cobblestone Pub in the late afternoon to meet our cousins for a quick pint and to listen to some Irish music based on the recommendation of the Dickerson-Thompsons.  We liked it, but I think my Irish cousins found it a little rough around the edges.  I had a great time reconnecting with Susan Webb, who brought along her 18 year old daughter, Ellen -- so charming and poised and a real storyteller like the rest of the family -- it was a real pleasure seeing her as an almost grownup.  Then, a delicious Thai dinner at Camile and an early night to rest up for our last day in Dublin.

Weekend in Dublin -- Flowers and Family

Today, we started off with a visit to the National Botanic Gardens, which is within walking distance of our hotel.  What a spectacular place!  We were wowed by the extensive plantings and impressive grounds.

I loved these figures basking in the sun with expressions of such contentment!

Amazing glass houses including one with a palm house including palm trees that are easily 18 feet tall and lots of other tropical plants with over-sized foliage.

Declan is all set to replicate this hut back in our Bangor yard

The water feature in the rockery, the rhododendrons following a river walkway, the formal rose garden -- there was something to appeal to anyone interested in plants and flowers.  Plus, a great cafe with many delicious choices from full meals to cakes.

In the afternoon, we divided forces.  My dad, Cormac and Declan went on the Viking Splash tour, which was a water/land tour of Dublin where the participants wore plastic Viking hats.  I went in search of the Oscar Wilde house only to find out that there were no longer tours there, but saw his statue in the nearby park.  Liam went to see the Francis Bacon collection.

Oscar Wilde in a telling posture

Look at that expression!

I thought the Oscar Wilde statue really captured his flamboyancy and his satirical wit -- the sprawling figure with a slight sneer, dressed to impress.


We ended our Dublin day having dinner with my dad's cousins -- three sisters and a sister-in-law from his mother's side.  We chatted, ate, and looked at old and new photos!  So fun to see these relatives whom I remember very well even though I've only met them a few times in my life.

My dad's sister, Margaret in the red coat with a cousin

My paternal grandmother on the right

My sister, Catherine on top of John Guiney's shoulders with Jill Webb

Liam, me, Cormac, Holly, Declan, my dad

from left back: John Webb, Holly Jannell, Richard Thibedeau
from left front: Ann Colgan, Ina Guiney, Mary Webb, Paula Madigan

Weekend in Dublin -- Fry-up and Gold

After a too early wake-up, we caught the 8:20 am flight to Dublin and were headed for our hotel by 10:30 -- gotta love how close everything here is!  My dad's cousin Mary Webb met us at the airport, and her husband John greeted us with a delicious fry-up (eggs, sausages, rashers, black pudding, and brown bread).  Fortified we headed down to the city center to meet Liam's family friend Mary and tour the National Museum of Archaeology.

This museum displays a lot of ancient gold artifacts, as well as impressive artifacts from early life in Ireland, including Viking times.  Here are the photos I took before I noticed the No Photography signs.

Then we wandered down to St Stephen's Green, which is a beautiful park with lots of sculptures -- Rebellion martyrs, poets, Irish nationalists, etc.

Cormac and Declan circle Nationalist, Wolfe Tone

with family friend Mary

my dad and Holly

If you were in my junior English class, you would have read the Yeats' poem Easter 1916.  This poem's repetition of the line "A terrible beauty is born" shows the conflict between the desire for change and the often resulting violence.  Yeats also describes some of the martyrs and how the speaker knew them and thought little of them until they put their lives on the line for their beliefs.  For example, Yeats described the woman below as

That woman's days were spent

In ignorant good-will,

Her nights in argument

Until her voice grew shrill.

What voice more sweet than hers

When, young and beautiful,

She rode to harriers?

After wandering through a very crowded downtown shopping area, we made our way across the Liffey River to O'Connell St and saw the bullet holes from the Easter 1916 uprising outside the General Post Office.

Dinner at Beshoff Chippery based on the recommendation of our friends Kate, John, Connor and Clair who spent a year in Dublin on their own Fullbright trip.  The food was good but not spectacular, but our standards are pretty high after eating many fish and chip meals in Glasgow. And, the location could not be beat!

Connor and Claire, this photo is for you!

Now, Liam and I are off to the hotel's pub for a pint.  And we'll pack in another full day tomorrow (though hopefully with a later start).