In Dublin's Fair City …….. Part 2

 I thought I'd finish posting about Dublin before I forgot everything we did there! A good way to get around the city, is to use the hop-on, hop-off double-decker bus which is great to use, especially if you have limited time. It also gets you to and from the airport with no hassles.

Of course we had to sit at the top or 'the upper deck' so we wouldn't miss a thing!  O'Connell Street is the main thoroughfare in Dublin and everyone and everything converges here :

A statue of Charles Stewart Parnell, the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. He was one of the most important figures in 19th century Great Britain and Ireland.

The Dublin Spire, a great pin-like (and ugly!) structure commissioned in 1999 as part of a street layout redesign and also to commemorate the Millennium. It's also known as the Monument of Light and actually has won some awards!! To Dubliners it is known as "The Stiletto in the Ghetto", "The Syringe in the Binge" and other not so complimentary names!! The latter name is due to the presence of druggies on the street, not that we saw any!

O'Connell Street has often been the centre stage in Irish history and forming the backdrop to the Easter Rising of 1916, the Irish Civil war of 1922 and to many public celebrations,protests and demonstrations throughout the years.

Daniel O'Connell, an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century. He campaigned for Catholic Emancipation - including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament and the repeal of the Act of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland. What a pity he came to such an
ignominious ending!!!

The famous River Liffey which bisects Dublin.

And no trip to Dublin would be complete without a visit here -the home of Guinness!!

These are the famous gates that are featured in the Guinness ads.

The Guinness factory

The tour was great if you really are into the strong dark stuff… which we weren't!!!

Our favourite part was remembering all the old TV ads that Guinness used to run:

We both remembered the toucan but not the kangaroo!!

I loved the fish on the bicycle:

I don't know if this came from the 60's and Women's Lib!!! But it struck me as funny:

So I gave the fish a hug!! Phyllis, if you read this, Irish fish can ride bikes!!!!

Another Guinness ad that I liked and oh, so true!

Chris did the buxom barmaid/wench thing REALLY well!!

And the other best part of the tour!!!

A very polite barman at the Gravity bar on the top floor!

And because I REALLY don't like porter or stout aka Guinness and because this was an interactive tour and the gift shop was full of Guinness products but no shampoo, I added this comment. With apologies to Guinness for not even spelling the name correctly!! Guinness was actually discovered by an error, someone roasted the hops for far too long, resulting in a burnt and bitter brew! I rest my case!

 Just to show that I'm not totally out to lunch on the shampoo thing, this is the stuff I used years ago. Oh, I do miss the little barrel!

 This lovely place was just across the road from our hotel! Who could resist!!The Irish literary tradition is one of the most illustrious in the world, famous for 4 Nobel Prize winners and for an abundance of other writers of international renown.

These are authors, playwrights and poets, that, as English school kids, we grew up with: Jonathan Swift of Gulliver's Travels, Richard Sheridan, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, W.B.Yeats, James Joyce,

Samuel Beckett and of course:

Edna O'Brien, the doyenne of Irish Literature. I remember reading The Country Girls trilogy years ago. The book is credited with breaking silence on sexual matters and social issues during a repressive period in Ireland post world War II. The book was banned, burned and denounced from the  pulpit and O'Brien left Ireland behind. It was published in 1960. As the ad says - "we've come a long way, baby"!!

And remember this young man, posted on guard outside our bedroom door?? It turns out that he was the bodyguard to Michael Collins, an Irish revolutionary leader who was shot and killed during an ambush in 1922 during the Irish Civil War

Thank you, Louise and Suzanne, for the history lesson!

And just because I've been saying this for years…….. I have to share this with you…..

It seems someone has been listening!!! A very kind and thoughtful gift from a co-worker in North Bay prior to my travels. Thank you SO much Yvonne. Your turn will come! And yes, I did have a Guinness lager and blackcurrant served by a barman with an Irish twinkle in his eyes!!!

And remember……  life is the dancer and you are the dance!

A big thank you Chris for being such a great travel partner!!! Where to next?

Talk soon

Zoe