Finding the craic in Dublin

We're back in Dublin for 2 days before we start part 2 of our Ireland adventure - hiking! While we love riding a motorcycle, it's fun to include something more active as part of our vacation.

Saturday we spent 2 incredible hours at EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum.  It's only been open about 18 months, and features 20 interactive galleries that explain why millions of Irish emigrated over the years, and how the Irish emigrants influenced other countries, including our own. Mike, Wayne and Colleen have Irish ancestors, and watching the stories of people who decided to leave Ireland due to famine, economics, or lack of opportunities was both heart-wrenching and inspiring as we learned how they created incredible lives for themselves out of often horrible circumstances.

Outside the museum is a group of bronze statues depicting people during the potato famine in 1845-1850 when 1 million Irish died from hunger or disease, and another 1 million emigrated. In 1840 there were about 8 million people in Ireland, and by 1871 after the famine and emigration there were only 4 million residents. The population has been under 8 million since 1840, with current population at about 6.6 million.

Sunday was a busy day with the Rock n Roll half-marathon for me and the 10K for Mike, Wayne and Colleen - the first race ever for Wayne and Colleen! We ran through the streets of Dublin with a band playing about every mile, finishing in Phoenix Park which at 1762 acres is the largest park within any European city. It was established in 1662 as a royal deer park, and there are still deer living within the park. The Irish president and US ambassador to Ireland live within the park, and the park also contains statues, monuments, and the Dublin Zoo.

On our way back to the hotel after the race, we stopped for lunch at the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub. It was established in 1198 and is a delightful warren of low-ceilinged, dark rooms with advertising memorabilia from centuries of beer, whiskey and other types of alcohol on the walls.

In the afternoon we took a tour of Kilmainham Gaol, built in 1796 as the Dublin County Gaol and operating until 1924. It depicts the history of the Irish struggles for independence from Great Britain, especially during the 1916 uprising where 16 of the leaders of the rebellion were executed within Kilmainham Gaol. The uprising and executions eventually led to Ireland declaring independence and the treaty in 1921 that established the Irish free state and Northern Ireland.

We immediately recognized the interior of the Gaol which was used in the original Italian Job movie, and could imagine Mr. Bridger walking down the stairs to the cheers of the inmates. 

We ended Sunday and the weekend with the fantastic Celtic Nights traditional Irish music and dance show at our hotel, where we learned 'lilting' as we attempted to sing along with the musicians and finally figured out that 'craic' (pronounced 'crack') is the Irish term for fun, gossip, and entertainment.

Tomorrow is an early start on the train to southwestern Ireland where we'll hike for 4 days on the Dingle peninsula. We thoroughly enjoy the frenetic pace of Dublin, and are looking forward to some quiet time hiking.

2 days in Dublin: water, barley and yeast

After a very long day - and overnight flight - we arrived in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday morning. Mike and I were here 5 years ago (check out our blog from 2012!) and this time we're meeting Mike's brother Wayne and his wife Colleen for a 2-week adventure that includes time in Dublin, a 5-day motorcycle trip, and 4 days' hiking.

We hit the ground running, trying to convince ourselves that we weren't sleep-deprived, with our first stop in Temple Bar for lunch and Irish beer. Fortified, we set off off on the Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour, dodging the rain as we went.

Next up was the Christ Church Cathedral, founded around 1030 AD by the Vikings. It has a long history of renovations, additions, rebuilding, and switching religions based on the whims of whoever conquered Ireland.

I love wandering through old churches, admiring the intricate craftsmanship and decorations, the gorgeous stained glass windows that even on a cloudy and rainy day radiated sunlight, and thinking about the millions of people who have walked these floors over hundreds of years.

Dublin's winding cobblestone streets make walking around the old part of the city a lot of fun. We ran out of the rain into the Dublin Castle, built in the 1200's and rebuilt several times over the centuries as it changed functions from a Norman castle, to a military fortress, prison, and seat of English administration.

We continued on the bus, enjoying the drivers' commentary and stories about the buildings we passed. After a short nap, we finished the evening with dinner at Lott's Cafe Bar and live music at The Merchant's Arch, a building dating from 1821 just across the Ha'penny Bridge from our hotel.

After a very welcome sleep in a real bed instead of trying to scrunch up and sleep in an airplane seat, we started Sunday by walking to the Guinness Storehouse tour.

Our self-guided tour started at 9:45am, which may seem a wee bit early to sample Guinness, but by the time we wandered through 5 floors of Guinness history and brewmaking demonstrations, we were ready to sample a pint in the Gravity Bar,  a round, glass enclosed space 7 stories above Dublin.

Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease in 1759 when he started brewing beer in this same spot in Dublin, and over the years the brewery grew from 5 acres to 62 acres in the heart of Dublin. We learned how water, barley, yeast - and one additional ingredient, hops - are combined to make Guinness.

We climbed down the stairs at Guinness back to ground level, and rode the Hop-on, Hop-off bus around Dublin, sitting on the top deck of the greendouble-decker bus whenever it wasn't raining. Our next stop was a tour of the Teeling Distillery, where descendants of the original Teeling family are once again distilling whiskey in Dublin.

Once again, we learned that water, barley and yeast are combined to produce whiskey. Teeling whiskey, like all Irish whiskey, is triple-distilled to make it extra smooth, and then aged for at least 6 years to develop the unique flavors.

To continue with the theme of sampling Dublin's alcohol history, we stopped for a very late lunch at Ryan's Bar to celebrate the return of the Ryan brothers to Ireland.

After a very welcome early evening nap, we enjoyed dinner in the Temple Bar area, choosing to make this an early evening so we can pack and get ready for our motorcycle trip that starts tomorrow. Instead of walking or riding a bus, we'll be on BMW motorcycles, wandering around Ireland. Stay tuned!

Celts, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and the Irish

It's going to be a great day when the bus driver sings "Molly Malone", Dublin's unofficial anthem:

In Dublin's fair city,

Where the girls are so pretty,

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,

As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,

Through streets broad and narrow,

Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

"Alive, alive, oh,

Alive, alive, oh",

Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh".

After singing, he went on to tell us that Molly is fondly known as "the tart with the cart," "the dish with the fish", or the "trollop with the scallop" alluding to her daytime profession selling fish and her nighttime profession as a prostitute. We're learning that the Irish love a good joke and have a great sense of humor.

Trinity College

We walked to Trinity College, founded in 1592 and home to the Book of Kells in the beautiful Old Library. Neither Mike or I like to wait in line, but we made an exception today.

The Old Library's Long Room is home to over 200,000 of its oldest books, with several on display in glass cases and the rest housed in stacks on two different floors. The bookshelves reach so high narrow ladders are necessary to access the tallestest shelves.

The main event in the Library is the Book of Kells, an ornately illustrated book containing the four New Testament Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - handwritten on vellum in Latin by Celtic monks in the 9th century. Before we could view the actual book, we walked through an informative exhibit that explained how the monks painstakingly wrote the book using quill and ink and illustrated  it with vivid, beautiful colors that make up intricate designs. Photos of the book can't compare to the intensity of the colors in real-life, but they give an idea of the detail and time that went into this book.

We walked out of the quiet, dark Old Library into bright sunshine - something of a surprise in Dublin, where rain and showers are more common than sunshine, but welcome nonetheless. We took the CitySightseeing Dublin yellow line tour today, which included the Molly Malone song and other interesting tidbits:  the Natural History Museum is known locally as "The Dead Zoo", the statue of local politician and proponent of Irish sovreignty Daniel O'Connell is filled with dozens of holes from gunfire during the 1916 uprising, the 398' tall Spire installed for the 1988 Dublin Millenium is known as "the stiffy on the Liffey" and the ships filled with Irish emigrants to America in the 1800's were called "coffin ships" because of the horrible conditions on board.

the Spire on O'Connell Street

Dublin is home to two famous churches, and we spent time in each. Christ Church Cathedral was originally built in 1030, but has been rebuilt several times into a combination of Romanesque and early Gothic architecture.

We descended into the Crypt below the Cathedral, the oldest surviving structure in Dublin. It feels like a cave lined with rough stones that also make up the curved celing and the heavy pillars that carry the weight of the entire Cathedral above. The Irish sense of humor continues with a giftshop aptly named "The Foxy Friars" and a cafe called simply "The Crypt".

As we came back up the winding stone staircase from the Crypt into the Cathedral, we saw a crowd of children and young teens gathering near the altar. We sat down as they started to sing, and were treated to a lovely acapella concert by the Voices of Eve 'N Angels choir from northern California. We learned that the Cathedral has a centuries-old tradition of high-quality music, and that tradition continued as the children's voices echoed through the building.

After a quick lunch we visited the Dublinia exhibit next to the Christ Church Cathedral to learn about the Celts, Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons who shaped the early history of Dublin.

early Celtic figure

Vikings first visited Dublin around 820, and built a permanent settlement in 824.  Olaf the White of Norway was the first king of Dublin, and the surname "McAuliffe", which means 'son of Olaf' stems from his rule. More Irish humor:  a realistic-looking Dublin resident from the 900's sitting in his outhouse, audibly moaning, grunting, and farting was part of the exhibit.

The Anglo-Saxons invaded Ireland and transformed Dublin into an important medieval city. I learned that merchants and their families ate their meal using a pewter plate, their apprentice used a square wooden trench that gave rise to the phrase 'a good square meal', and their servants used a large slice of brown bread as a plate for the rest of their meal. The servants then gave the used piece of bread to the poor - nothing went to waste.

Our last stop for the day was St. Patrick's Cathedral, built on the site where St. Patrick supposedly baptized the first Christians in Ireland in the early 400's. A small, wooden church was first built here, and the present cathedral was built in the 13th century.

Jonathon Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels which was published in 1726 and holder of the post of Dean of the Cathedral, is one of the many famous and important people buried here.

We had a rare, sunny day with no rain and we enjoyed every bit of it. Tomorrow we pick up the motorcycle and head northwest to Donegal for the start of a 4-day motorcycle trip with Celtic Rider. We're ready to get on the road and explore Ireland!

Ireland: the next adventure

We were home for three full days after our trip to the BMW Rally in Sedalia, MO and yesterday boarded a plane in Boston for Dublin, Ireland. We had a blast riding 3146 miles from Vermont to Missouri and back, met new friends and experienced beautiful scenery. We're looking forward to more adventure in Ireland.

Arlington Hotel, our base in Dublin

Our plane landed at 5:10am Dublin time, which translated to just after midnight at home. Neither one of us could sleep on the plane, yet a brisk walk around the center city of Dublin gave us renewed energy - and a great-tasting Irish breakfast added a bit extra oomph. 

Our hotel is right on the River Liffey, which flows through the energetic center of Dublin. Baskets of bright-colored flowers brighten the area, and there are several bridges that cross the river making walking back and forth easy. The Ha'Penny Bridge, named because originally the toll to cross was a half-penny, is a short walk from our hotel.

Ha'penny pedestrian bridge

We took the advice of the guys from Celtic Rider and bought a 2-day ticket for the Dublin City Sightseeing bus tour that has 25 stops and allows unlimited hop-on, hop-off opportunities. We made only two stops today to sample the most famous Dublin beverages:  Guinness and Jameson. Both tours gave an interesting historical perspective on these iconic beverages, and both ended with opportunities for tasting.

water from the Wicklow Mountains used to make Guinness

enjoying Guinness in their 7th floor tasting room

triple distilling process gives Jameson's whiskey it's smooth taste

Every person we've met today has been exceptionally friendly and helpful. The bus driver from the airport to the hotel at 5:30am fave us tips on how to spend our time so early in the morning and dropped us off as close as possible to our hotel. Carmen, in charge of the hotel breakfast dining room, explained the breakfast options in detail, made sure we had everything we needed, and suggested favorite breakfast foods. The man selling tickets for the Red Line city bus tours had more enthusiasm and joy at 7:30am than I ever expect to see. Freddie, who poured our half-pint of Guinness after their factory tour took our picture and spent time talking about our trip. The waiter at dinner greeted us like old friends.

With no sleep in over 24 hours and plans for a busy day in Dublin tomorrow, we called it an early night.We pick up the motorcycle Tuesday morning, and are looking forward to getting out of busy Dublin and into the Irish countryside.