Ireland – Travels with Ali

It’s been almost a week now since I returned from the UK. The jet lag this time has taken longer than usual, and I’m in danger of getting in a loop, going to bed early and having a nap in the day! It has to stop. For the first few days I generally take a sleeping tablet, but that’s something I don’t want to get used to. Hopefully I will return to normal soon.

So where has the week gone? I took it easy on Monday and was supposed to unpack, I will finish it soon just a case (no pun intended) of putting the clothes away.

Tuesday I was back at the Bridge table and after drove straight to my daughter’s for a spot of babysitting. Wednesday I had Rosie again for a few hours, Lachie has started school and I will miss my munchkin Mondays.

Thursday and Friday more Bridge, no wonder I haven’t fully unpacked!

View from the terrace where I play Bridge

Being back in Perth is wonderful, my dear hubby has missed me and is glad to have me back. I have missed the sun and the warm weather, I can’t cope with English winters anymore.

Photos for Natalie’s Public Art Challenge

On my last day in Dublin I went for a walk near the hotel to have a look at the murals located on the walls of The Icon Walk.

Left – Gabriel Byrne – hosted The Late Late Show on a Saturday night, known as The Housewife’s Choice and a gentle shepherd.
Middle – Thomas Crean (1877 – 1938) – Explored the Antarctic three times with Scott and Shackleton. Awarded the Albert Medal for bravery
Right – “Priests on a remote island off the coast of Ireland managed to encapsulate Ireland’s changing consciousness about the church and that delicate matter, that, the anoited ones might be as imperfect as the rest of us; only funnier”

This was a lovely walk and I wish I had had more time to properly look at all the descriptions of the various artists. Ireland has produced so many famous authors over the decades and continue to do so. My favourites are Dervla McTiernan, Claire Keegan and Marian Keyes.

“The Light Music of Whiskey Falling into a Glass – An Agreeable Interlude” – James Joyce

I always like to go on a Hop on Hop off bus whenever I’m in a new city, it’s a good way of seeing everything and hopping off whenever something takes your interest. So today that’s what we decided to do, I had a few places in mind I wanted to visit. Dublin Castle, Phoenix Park and the Guiness Store. We walked over to Dublin Castle but didn’t go inside and then onto the City Hall.

City Hall

Dublin City Hall was built between 1769 and 1779 and was originally used as a financial centre by the merchants of Dublin. Twelve columns support the dome of the Rotunda and the mosaic floor depicts the Coat of Arms of Dublin. A truly breathtaking building.

After this we hopped on our bus and our first stop was Teeling’s Distillery, not somewhere we had planned on going but our driver said there was a lovely coffee shop there, so we decided on a quick stop.

While we were drinking our coffee a very dapper old gentleman came up to us and wished us a “top of the morning, ladies”. He said he hoped we would be going upstairs for a proper coffee, and then introduced himself as John Teeling, the man himself. When we said we were not whiskey drinkers (blasphemy, indeed) he insisted that we follow him immediately. With that we were whisked through the entrance, no ticket required and he proceeded to give us a private tour, we actually interrupted a fully paid up tour and our man introduced us all to everyone.

While he was giving us a very in depth talk of how the place started and the way whiskey is made, I took photos of the beautiful artwork adorning the walls.

“Whiskey is Liquid Sunshine” – George Bernard Shaw

Entering the distilling plant itself we were met with a very earthy aroma! We peeked inside the fermenting mixer and watched the grains being mashed.

Next up was the distillery room itself, where the whiskey is distilled in the vast copper pots. Mr. Teeling proudly showed us the three huge copper pots with brass name plates and lo and behold there was one name after me! Well not me personally but his granddaughter.

Moving on to the bar itself, I think Mr. Teeling’s favourite place, judging by his enthusiasm to get us up there and insisting that we have an Irish Coffee. As we sat at the bar watching the barman make us very extravagant coffees, I was hoping fervently that our man wouldn’t stand around and make us drink every drop.

The Perfect Pour

I managed a quarter, which was good going as I’ve never drank whiskey in my life.

We all agreed that this was a highlight of our trip, we’ve obviously still got that certain je ne sais quoi!

Phoenix Park was next up our our tour, but when we arrived the bus driver turned at the start of the park and drove back! Deciding it was far too long to make the trek to the entrance we had a quick walk and waited for the next bus.

Getting off at the Epic Centre we had a quick coffee stop and then proceeded to walk along the river, over the Sean O’Casey Bridge and back to our hotel.

Sculptures depicting the Great Famine – 1845 to 1852, a period of starvation and disease due to the potato blight. A truly terrible time to be alive.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these three days in Dublin with me, I have many more photos but will post these another day! I think enough is enough at this stage. I’ll finish with one last quote: