20/8 2021. I make a slow start, as my first site only opens at ten. I take the small roads, and despite the lack of sun, it is a nice drive. It is apparently where they grow the barley for whiskey and beer, and most have been harvested by now. Here are no bedrock, hardly any stonewalls, but lots of scattered small forests and hedges on the huge, flat hills. A sign show of to Fourknocks Passage Graves Megalith Tombs, and
I bite. It is a huge, green hill, way out on a field, made between
3000 and 2500 BC. To judge from the drawing,
I can't postpone it anymore; Dublin, here I
come. The first site is The National Botanical Gardens,
and it is open, though not the huge and great looking greenhouses. I
guess, I
could
find a way to get in, but after seeing the succulent house from the
outside, I don't bother. They have a single impressing Stephania
venosa, that is
I do the outside, from the scientific family-collections over the geographic collections, pass the colourful flowers and the arboretum. Here is a walled-garden along with some display of the Celtic farming. Here are several lakes, and apparently, it is a big thing, the swans are here: First time in 20 years. I'm more impressed by the flowers of the Globe Artichoke; Cynara scolymus, which I can't recall seeing in full flower before: They are huge!
While I am on the peninsula, I do a tour down
the the town of Howth. Here is a weekend marked, but I don't
think I can talk myself into driving down here the next two days for
that. The town is nothing special, but the harbour
I reach the hostel a bit before two, but
apparently, they guy can only let me in at three, despite he is in
the apartment. I sit and work in the car, but at three, he postpone
it to four o'clock. Well, I have work enough to do, and don't feel like
leaving my stuff in the car, in this area. I ditch my stuff, and walk a bit towards the centre of this big city - only a kilometre away. Here are an old elevated rail-system, trams and double decker busses. Walking is the this, causes problems, as the traffic is rather intense, and the light crosses immense slowly to change. I
21. I'm up early, but the grey morning does not really make Dublin attractive. I do a lot of office-work, waiting for the sun. Give up on it at ten, and start on the central part of town.
Here
Many of the older buildings have real nice ground floor facades with ornamentation and bright coloured doors, while the rest of the building is so dull. Many of the side streets and alleys have copplestones, especially in the dock-area.
I
Grafton
Street ends at a huge, old mall;
A bit further down the road, I find Iveagh
Gardens; I seen less interesting botanical gardens! It have
palms, a rose-garden and the biggest Holly ;Ilex aquifolium
trees I
have ever seen, Half a meter in diameter stems. I am not really shopping, but I do enter some of the more interesting shops. One with traditional English wears, some with antiques and rarities- or odd junk. I try to enter one of the big churches, but it is Catholic, and a quarter is filled up by the shop, selling the same green plastic-junk, as the souvenir-shops. Further more, I have to buy a ticket! Well, they can keep their plastic and odd female goddess.
The sun shines for a first today, as I head out,
but only for five minutes. Then is start pouring down Dogs & Cats
again. Within a minute, my paper-bag with the old shoos
disintegrates, and I stick to the new ones. I pass the area next to
the docks, and here are real cosy. Then I aim for home,
figuring I have seen enough city for one day.
Day 20. 22. My last full day, and I do consider heading down to the farmers market on Howth and out to Powerscourt Estate, but I feel, I have seen enough by now. Especially, as the forecast don't show any signs of sun - before the next three days. I do some work at the computer, then a stroll in the old centre of Dublin. It is really quiet this Sunday morning! I have the best intention on only making a few, but real good photos - that didn't work.
I turn into the old centre, which is real dead
this Sunday morning. At ten, few shops are opening, but the streets
and sidewalks are empty. At noon, a little action starts, mainly due
to a football match between green Limerick and red Dublin. It is in
good spirit, the colours are mixed, and I don't see any Garda;
police at all.
I hear several locals, talking with what sounds like American accent, and so many names are familiar from America. Here are Kenneys, O'Brians, Regan, Monroe, Adams and so on. At one hostel, I listen to a radio for a long time, before I figured it wasn't American - despite I wondered why on earth we had to listen to that!
I find my way back to Grafton Street, but even it
seems dead at ten. Around
That leads me to an area with real elegant, old
houses, like Bank of Ireland's building. Some look a bit odd, like
castles en´miniature in-between more normal city-buildings. Then I'm
back at the docks, and head over the river.
23. I get up rather early, eat some breakfast and head straight to the airport to return the car. I have three hours to spend, but rather that, than three minutes too little.
I have
Ireland is such a beautiful and friendly country, and I could actually consider to return one day - if the forecast promise a fair amount of sun. HIGHLIGHTS of Ireland
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