September 9 – Dublin

Trinity College

We had breakfast in our Harding Hotel restaurant. Eggs were our choice today.

After breakfast we walked down the street to Trinity College and took its 30 minute student-led tour. We got a good overview of the history of the college and some of its buildings from a student’s perspective. Our guide was very personable and sprinkled his delivery with humor to keep our attention. Students are trained for guide talks. During the tour, they must wear loose fitting ugly brown academic robe. To our surprise, one of the buildings that we saw was the Berkeley Library. Ann was please because she was a librarian at our Berkeley Public Library. At the end of the tour, we were routed into the Old Library to see the exhibit of the Book of Kells. We also walked through the Long Room Extension where thousands of old manuscripts were shelved. Ann was aghast at the books’ organization. Small books occupied the top shelves while the larger book were on the lower shelves. No Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress catalogs.

After leaving the campus, we walked over to Grafton Street, Dublin’s famous shopping street. It is a pedestrian mall lined with retail stores, bars, cafes and restaurants. We decided to stop and eat lunch at Bewley's, a well-known institution. My toasted ham and cheese sandwich was forgettable as was the flavored chips that came with it. Ann’s Salad Niçoise was better. As we left the restaurant, I spied the scones and other treats which would have been good replacements.

Next, we walked a few blocks to see the statue of Oscar Wilde sitting on a boulder. This was the more literary part of our walk.

We then hopped on the hop-on hop-off bus. Ann got off at our hotel. I continued to the Guinness Brewery. The brewery has an excellent self-guided tour. Even though there were several hundred people in the storehouse, I was able to move at my own pace and not felt rushed. The tour ended on the seventh floor in the Gravity Bar. This bar is all windows where you can see all of Dublin. You can also drink a pint of Guinness which is included in the tour price.

When I got back to the hotel, Ann was there and reported on her tour of Christ Church which is across the street from our hotel.

Dinner was at the Boxty House. Its specialty is potato pancakes. Along with a pint of Murphy’s stout, I had The Boxty Platter - A Trio of Boxty – Sautéed Boxty Dumplings in a Cashel Blue Cheese Sauce, Pan-Fried Boxty Pancake and Boxty Crostini with a Black Olive Tapenade & Tomato Topping. Ann had the soup of the day – spicy tomato and chick peas. For dessert we split Bailey’s ice cream which had caramelized boxty chunks in it and chocolate sauce on top.

Now it’s time to get organized for our flight to Pisa tomorrow.