2003.12.13 Dublin and Dalkey
This was our last full day in Dublin, and our only day to really spend all day being tourists. In the morning, we went shopping in the City Centre on Grafton and Powerscourt, and then took the commuter train (the DART) to Dalkey, where the rich Dubliners live. Now, we're exhausted and ready to go home.
This is the train bridge that leads into the DART station.
What a happy coincedence! A train, and a guy hanging out of it!
This is the Take 5. It's very bright, and always very busy. We haven't eaten there yet.
The building to the left of the big sign is the National Gallery of Art. We didn't go in there either.
"Pure Chemicals" - Who sells "impure chemicals" in Dublin? What makes them so pure?
This is Nassau Street. Trinity College is behind the fence on the right.
That's Sean. Sean walks faster than I do, and we're two wide when walking next to each other. We keep running people over. So, Sean leads (he also has the map) most of the time and I walk behind snapping pictures.
This is the Dublin Tourism Information Office. It's in an old church. There are tons of old churches in Dublin.
The front of the tourism office.
The other side of the tourism office.
That's a street off of Powerscourt (I think that's the street name...).
Powerscourt Centre is down this street. Most of the side streets in Dublin are one-way and super narrow.
And traffic is bad. Walking is a good idea.
Isn't it purdy?
The lobby of the Powerscourt Centre. It's a old Townhouse block turned into an indoor mall.
It's open in the middle... see?
This is Grafton, the walking street. It was packed.
Grafton is full over extremely over-priced shops.l
This is the bottom of Grafton. The arch marks the entrance to Stephens Green (a big park).
Looking down Stephen's Green.
That's the arch (I know, you're sick of it by now), but I think that's the last one, really.
Insomnia is a coffee joint. It has a catchy name, and apparently a website.
We didn't take a carriage ride, but it was nice to know it was available.
The don't walk signs frequently tell you how long until you can walk, which is kind of nice.
That kid was practically towing his dad across the street... It was funny.
The lights often don't give you much time to cross.
Dublin is full of walls covered with ivy.
The following (there are a couple) were in front of a hotel that overlooks Stephen's Green.
This was at almost 10:30. Notice how low in the sky the sun is... crazy.
We're pretty sure this building is the seat of the government of the Republic of Ireland.
And there are no more public tours, so we couldn't go inside.
That's Sean, laughing at my hat and because he just took a picture of me wearing it. Oh yeah?
I can take a picture of me in my stupid hat too!! See?
This is a former surgeon general in front of the Natural History Museum. He has a gun, which I think is kind of funny.
And there it is, the Irish Museum of Natural History.
I have no idea what's down that street, but the trees on the left are part of Merrion Square.
That's the National Museum of Art, I think.
Another wall topped with wrought iron for my collection.
The house on the right corner formerly belonged to Oscar Wilde. It's now the American College of Dublin.
The fire trucks are so polite... this guy had his lights on, but not his siren.
That's a rakish statue of Oscar Wilde.
And again...
See? I told you it was Oscar Wilde's house.
There was a fire across the street from our hotel last night, and I didn't even know about it until we saw the burned out second floor this morning.
More fire damage...
A bunch of little Irish Scouts on their way somewhere.
More little Scouts.
There is construction going on all over Dublin. Maybe that's why traffic is so bad.
This is the inside of the DART station. It's prettier upstairs.
Told you.
And the other way.
The ceiling.
Me, and my stupid hat, waiting for the train. I swear, it's a warm as it is stupid-looking.
Across the platform, that guy didn't look too happy.
This dog wasn't on the train long, but he sure was cute.
He flirted with me.
And then he mocked me. This is when I started hating the little dog. I didn't have to beat him up because he got off the train shortly after sticking his tongue out at me.
This is the Quays, where you can dock a boat if you've got one.
That's the Gasworks. I have no idea what it's for.
The roofs of Dublin. There's a stadium coming up.
And there's the stadium. I'm pretty sure they play rugby and Gaelic football there.
On the other side of this train, there were a bunch of guys playing Hurling. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you a picture of it.
There's another rugby pitch.
The woman sitting behind Sean was so cute. She kept smiling at me, and then falling asleep.
Look Jen, the beach, the beach, the beach!!
More beach...
And even more beach.
Booterstown just makes me laugh.
There's Dublin Bay.
Another quay, this one with boats in it.
And more boats.
Ahhh, this is Dalkey. It's cute.
They have a library.
And cute shops.
And a butcher
And, holy cow, they have castles!!
And a Mercedes.
And the Church of the Assumption.
This is where the Queen gets her drink on. She's a mean drunk.
This is a mini castle. I assume it's a castle shed or something.
McDonagh's is actually an Australian restaurant. We ate lunch there. Sean had a Kangaroo Burger. I cried because he ate Kanga and made Roo motherless. Sean has no heart.
Dalkey has a purple house, which made me nervous.
This is a Smart car. I would never drive one, but I like that they exist for little tiny people without anything to carry.
Beware children in short pants carrying books, the sign seemed to say.
The bay's over there, see it?
That's the Castle Day School back there.
That's Bulloch Castle. So, Dalkey has TWO castles.
This is that mini castle from before. We were walking on this side of the street on the way back to the DART, so walked around the mini castle.
This is the inside of the mini-castle. There was a cardboard box on the floor, which I thought was kind of strange. Maybe it was the feudal lord's shed.
I bet Dalkey Castle had Christmas lights on it in the middle ages too..
This is the view of Dalkey from the top of the train platform stairs (so you can cross from one platform to the other.
Look, a rainbow! And that's shortly before it started raining. It rained for the rest of the day, but that was OK because I was worn out after our walk.
Everything in Dublin is cute, even the train stations.
There are windsurfers out the window, actually surfing on the water. They're all insane.