More Wandering Around Dublin

The Great Ireland Voyage, 2011. I went to Ireland, from October 24 - November 2, 2011. I attended a conference in Dublin, and then had some vacation days in Dublin and elsewhere, including Galway. I took a good number of pictures.

This part covers the train trip back from Galway to Dublin, the wee B&B I stayed at in Dublin, and my wanderings around Dublin on a fairly gray, overcast Monday.

Click on the thumbnail images to get larger ones (around 100-300K). Click on the "huge" link to get the full size pictures (around 3M). Around 50 pictures included.

The Train Back to Dublin

Monday morning, I took the train back from Galway to Dublin. It's about a 3 hour ride, with maybe 6 brief stops.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

I've already commented how this was not the "Orient Express" that I imagine trains should be, so I was kind of used to that by now. Looking up towards the end of the car, I noticed the reflection of a sleeping woman's face in the glass of the overhead bin (in the dark spot by a suitcase). It just looked kind of cool to me, so I took a couple of pictures. The second one isn't as good as the first, but it caught the display over the door showing "Heuston Station." The third picture is of a green field with some cows in it.

bigger huge

bigger huge

More farms and green fields. This time it's blurry white sheep, and then some trees. For the most part, we passed a lot of open, green fields.

bigger huge

bigger huge

More pictures of things moving by quickly. There's a little action blur here, as I got a picture of a small tree not moving while everything around it is zipping by. The sun did peek out a little, and again some slightly bigger trees both in the foreground and the distance between the open fields of grass.

Dublin B&B

I arrived at Heuston Station in Dublin and then took a taxi cab to the B&B where I would be staying two nights. I must admit, I was surprised at how small it was. Also, since I was getting up early the next two days, I did not have any breakfasts there. While there wasn't anything wrong with it, I was a bit disappointed with it.

bigger huge

bigger huge

A picture of the B&B. It was on the north side of Dublin, a couple blocks from a train station. And the second picture is looking down the (quiet) street with the B&B on the left.

bigger huge

bigger huge

The room was a bit...small. The first picture shows the room while I was standing outside. It has a bed and a TV on the wall. The second picture shows the bathroom (which is to the right of the bed,, while I was standing on the bed. It was quite small too. It had a toilet, sink, and and a shower. The shower doors were circular and slide along a track to minimize the wasted space. It's a good thing I'm not too big of a person.

Wandering Around Dublin on a Rainy Monday

Once I dropped off my stuff, I wandered around Dublin. This was Monday, October 31st, 2011, Halloween. It's a holiday for the banks. And because of that, it seems that practically everything in the whole fucking city is closed. I understand holidays. And Halloween. And banks. And can see how it all comes together. It's just that it's a slightly foreign concept. I mean, even the pubs were closed. Although, once I got further south to the tourist areas, there were some restaurants and businesses that were open, despite it being halloween and the banks taking it as a holiday. I didn't even think to look to see if the banks were dressing up for this holiday.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

Heading south from the B&B, I passed a narrow, little canal with a lock on it. I assume it's not used very much any more. I took some pictures of and from it.

bigger huge

bigger huge

It was Halloween, and a number of houses or apartments had decorations. I took a few of some interesting doors.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

And speaking of doors, some more colorful doors. A pair (blue and yellow) and next to it was an interesting red one. Later on, I passed a corner pub with a big Guiness sign and clock. It's kind of cute and retro, but there's a little bit of Homer Simpson cultureal obssession that gets a little disturbing. Homer: "Actually, a woman is more like a beer. They smell good, they look good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one! But you can't stop at one, you want to drink another woman!" ("New Kid on the Block", The Simpsons).

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

I decided I'd go see the Kilmainham Gaol, an old jail from the time of the Irish independence that's been turned into a museum. I got kind of close. I wound up in an interesting residential neighborhood and took a picture of the litlte houses, their front yards being driveways. Then I kind of wound up at the Irish Blood Transfusion Service of the St. James's Hospital. You can make your own joke about blood-alcohol level (being too low). Must like the little neighborhood, the hospital complex was walled in, so I had to backtrack. Then I passed by the Guiness Brewery. It looked kind of like the Willy Wonka factory (and perhaps is regarded in a similar way). I just kept walking.

bigger huge

bigger huge

Then I passed The Digital Hub, which is some high-tech office park agency place thingy, I think, with a phallic landmark. I could tell that this was NOT Kilmainham Gaol! I wasn't quite sure if I was getting closer or not. And then I saw the heads. It was the Thomas Street modern art, which I had passed in the "Dublin Neighborhood" section of Part 3 of my Irleand travels. Crap! I was east not west!

bigger huge

Across the street was the Church of SS Augustine and John. It's a big church. I took several pictures of it and stitched htem together. It was a gray, rainy day (and my maps were soaked, which didn't make navigation easier). I knew were I was now, which was good. It wasn't where I intended, which was bad. I didn't mind, which was good. And so on...

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

Then I passed The Brazen Head Pub, the oldest pub in Dublin, dating from 1198. I wasn't really hungry, and I don't drink, so there was really no reason for me to stop in and buy something there. I took a picture of the menu, proving me wrong when earlier I had decided that any pub that offered cajun chicken sandwhiches cannot claim to be an authentic Irish pub. I apologize to Ireland (for polluting their culture, not for the statement). There were a few stacks of kegs of Guiness outside. I didn't check if they were full or empty. Needless to say, I'm sure they go through a lot of the stuff.

bigger huge

And a crappy panoramic stitched shot of the Brazen Head Pub composed of a few pictures. I didn't do any correcting, it wouldn't be worth it.

North of the Liffey

Just for the record, I started the day at the B&B which was near the Drumcondra train station. Then headed south on Upper Dorset Street to the downtown area. Had lunch at a Korean restaurant, then took the LUAS light rail to around James Street. Wandered around what turned out to be an enclosed neighborhood directly west of St. James's Hospital (looks like the picture was on O'Reilly Avenue), then backtracked, walked through the hospital complex and discovered it was walled in too, backtracked to the north entrance, then east on Jemes's Street, passed the Guiness facotry warehouse place, until it became Thomas Street, saw the weird heads and the Augustine and John Church and gave up on my attempt to see Kilmainham Gaol. Then I turned left and headed north on Upper Bridge street, which then became Lower Bridge Street, passed The Brazen Head, crossed the River Liffey and continued on.

Not to spoil too many things, but since I'm summarizing, here's the condensed version of what's to come. I'm putting this all in one place in case I get ambitious and find a map of Dublin streets and decide to plot my wanderings on it. So far I haven't met with a lot of success, so these words might have to suffice.

Anyway, after the pub (note: I only took a picture of the menu--I did not sample their "traditional" cajun chicken sandwhich), I walked a block or so north of the river, then east, went past the (closed) Farmer's Market, then eventually to the lively Henry Street tourist area, down O'Connell Street, passed by the Post Office, then north/northwest-ish to catch Dorset back, having mediocre pizza at a restaurant on the corner by the Dromcondra station. It was a good bit of walking and a mostly wet, drizzly day.

So let's continue my adventures on the north side of the River Liffey.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

A picture of the river and the Bridge Street bridge I crossed.

I don't think I've mentioned much about the potato fascination the Irish have. It's a stereotype, but it's definitely got some grounding in truth. On any normal menu, every dish, every dish, will have some form of potato as a side dish. This includes potatoes. No. I'm not joking. I got shepherd's pie (stew with potatoes on top) and it came with a side of fries. I got a sausage on top of mashed potatoes, and it came with boiled potatoes on the side. It does make sense how completely devastating the potato blight would have been in 1847 given that a huge amount of their diet would have been blasted away. The thing is, you'd think that in the 150 years since the famine, they would have cultivated additional things so they're not as reliant upon potatoes, in case Monsanto or whoever decide to engineer the next Blight.

I admit, I got a bit sick of potatoes, and it had only been a handful of days. Anyway, there was a non-descript, gray concrete building on that gray, rainy day. And I noticed that the word "potato" was spelled out twice across the windows. This interested and intrigued me. "UEK" is on the flag and some of the windows. At the top the words "Usual Excuse" are visible, but if there's a third word (a k-word), it's obscurred by the building. I must admit, I've no idea what it refers to and maybe the potato thing is some deep political or philosophical statement. But I was had had enough potatoes for a while and seeing the word on the building amused me.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

There's a big Farmer's Market. But the banks had gone on their holiday (perhaps to the beach) and it was Halloween, so every-fucking-thing in the city was closed. I took a picture of the outside of the building, a picture through a window of the inside, with forklifts and the like lying idle (I think those are bags of onions...I'm sure the potatoes weren't left out like that, as they wouldn't be safe), and a picture of the inactive warehouse. The black shadow on the right side of the third picture is from the metal bars on the window I through which I was taking the picture.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

Up until now, almost everywhere I wandered was near-deserted. It was like a scene from "The Omega Man" but pehraps less cheesy. I arrived at Henry Street, which is a big touristy, shopping area. And despite it being Halloween, a national holiday, the banks and grocery stores out sick or on vacation, stuff was open and there were lots of people around. The first picture shows Henry Street, looking east with the O'Connell Street Needle visible in the background. Same sort of thing with the second picture. There are ... some kind of festive holiday lights strung up across the streets, but not turned on yet.

The third picture is by the Tourism office by the corner of Henry Street and O'Connell Street. I asked them for a bus map. The woman there said that they don't make bus maps anymore, because they change the routes and people get confused. This seems like the perfect reason why bus maps would be NEEDED! She had an one that was several months old that she gave to me, saying that it might not be up to date but could be used as a starting point. Huzzah.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

There was a store that had some cool ads in the window. They buy and sell electronic stuff (and DVDs and phones and games). I was quite amused by the three ads.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

I took a picture of the base of the O'Connel Street Needle. It's pretty amazingly tall, given that it's a free-standing structure. There are some cool patterns on it at the bottom. Because it's so tall, I didn't bother trying to take a vertical panorama of it, as the perspective wouldn't do it justice (and there's nothing around it that's more than a few storeys tall.

Then I walked by the Dublin Post Office, which is known for being a place of violence during the independence war. Apparently there are bullet holes still visible in the building. I didn't look. I took a picture of one of the entrances, and the tall columns.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

Another picture of the Post Office, this time looking up at the columns. And then a picture showing the base of the column, and finally a wide angle shot of the whole building.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

There are various statues on O'Connell street. The first picture is of Jim Larkin with the Needle behind him. He was...um...let's see...a labor organizer in the early 20th century. He helped unionize workers and was instrumental in the "Dublin Lockout" of 1913. The second picture is of the author James Joyce. The third is of a sculpture of a BIG hand...I'm...not quite sure where it's located.

bigger huge

bigger huge

bigger huge

Finally, before getting to Dorset street, I passed an old building, which looks like a church, now for rent as office space. Again, I'm not quite sure where it is.

This page last modified Dec 24, 2011.
Home

feed