Touring Dublin and a musical pub crawl

We went out on a walking tour again this morning, in two groups.  Some had seen Dublin Cathedral yesterday; I went with the group that visited it today.

Here's the path our walking tour took today.  The long journey to the north was to the Writers Museum, and part of that was made by bus.

On the way to the cathedral, we passed a set of terraced houses that have bas relief terra cotta tiles celebrating Gulliver's Travels, specifically about Gulliver among the Lilliputians.

The cathedral is adjacent to a park that has memorial plaques for famous and not-so-famous Irish literary figures. The "1988" is on the gate in front of each plaque, and is the official millennial year for Dublin, even though it was founded a bit earlier than 988 by the Vikings.

The park is beautifully landscaped, with flowers everywhere.

We didn't learn what this oriental-looking bell was about.

Dublin Cathedral is not a Catholic church, as one might expect in Ireland, but a Church of Ireland church.  The Church of Ireland is part of the Anglican Communion, as is the Episcopal Church in the United States.

By the entrance door.

The nave.  One man meditating in the back row.

The walls are covered with richly-colored stained glass windows.

Here's the same window, but as a "high dynamic range" composite of different exposures to show both the glass and the stone framework of the windows.

Jonathan Swift was Dean of the Cathedral, and is buried here. T. T. Faulkner, Esq., seems to have thought pretty highly of himself.

One of many plaques dedicated to those killed in the various wars.

Stained glass on the rear wall.

Two views of the choir, and one of the altar.

I was intrigued by the stone forms of the architecture.

As we left and moved up the street, I noticed that all the lamp posts have this ornate form.

Some interesting signs along the street.  Don't you wish you could just say "I'd rather not receive junk mail"?

This plaque was on the wall of a building halfway up the hill.

These buildings and others were constructed by Arthur Guinness so that his workers would have a decent place to live.  They are on land that used to be one of the very worst slums in Europe.

We're on our way to see Christ Church Cathedral, but this part of our group didn't get across the busy street in time.

We saw the exterior of Christ Church Cathedral.  The two cathedrals are both Protestant (Church of Ireland), built at about the same time, and are only a few hundred yards apart.

Leaving the cathedral, we passed this woman busily engaged in painting a Viking on street furniture.

Now why does Fishamble Street sound familiar?

Here's why:

Street scenes.

I wonder how much headway Coors Light makes in the city famous for the world's darkest beer.

I liked this poster for Guinness.  Look closely to see what the map of Ireland is made of.

Here's another beer delivery truck, complete with pillow:

I hope that walking past this fellow doesn't count as one of our musical events.

Flowers everywhere as we walk to lunch.

This couple was trying to decide whether to take one of the hi-tech pedal taxis.  They went for it.

An alternate form of transportation.

A delightful lunch at Café en-Seine.

We took a city bus to our last destination of the day.  Holger paid all our fares, and ended up with all the receipts.

It seems a shame that a house called Gainsboro House with a beautiful bay window should be just above a Pizza Hut.

Holger gave us directions on getting back to the hotel -- walking, by bus, or by taxi.  We then visited the Dublin Writers Museum.  No photography in the museum.

After the museum visit, we were free until our dinner excursion.

A musical pub crawl

At dinner time, we walked from our hotel to the Ha'Penny Bridge Inn for some libations and music.  Two Irish musicians gave us an excellent introduction to Irish music.  I shot some video, but it will take a bit of time to edit that so there are still photos only for now.  The music was really excellent.

After an hour or so, all of us and the musicians traipsed off to another pub, this one called the Bankers Bar.  More great music, including performances by two of our own tour members: an operatic aria by Jocelyn and a vocal and guitar piece by Rob.  A great evening.

Where today's photos were taken.

Tomorrow morning we leave Dublin and travel to Kilkenny.