The First Weekend

Hello from Dublin on Sunday evening. . . it's been a great two days filled with no plans but much "serendipity" as Mark likes to call it.

We set out after lunch on Saturday after having a leisurely morning watching the wind blow the seagulls off course outside the apartment windows. . .

First order was to explore our new neighborhood.  First to the west - - St Patrick's Cathedral is all of a block away.

St Patrick's Cathedral

We checked out the Mass schedule and found Sunday at 11:00 to be the most likely for us, but not this weekend as we had already planned to attend a concert on Sunday at noon.

So, off to the shopping area of the neighborhood.  We found a green grocer, several meat shops, a supermarket, a flower vendor (we'll have to buy some houseplants to make Mark happy after giving away his "babies" before leaving Indy) - - thanks to all the adoptive parents . . here are some of the plants he's missing. . .

Stopping in at a sweet little shop we ended up with spices, olives, wine and chocolate, and had to make our way back home for a download before continuing our walk.  This is the street as we walked home.

After a cup of tea and some of that chocolate, we headed out again, walking down streets just to see where they would take us . . . to our surprise, the street we were on took us directly to the hotel where we stayed in the summer of 2010 - our first trip to Dublin.  As Mark said, the longer we are here, the smaller this city will get.

South Leeson Street

After a little more shopping, we walked around the St. Stephen's Green area and Grafton Street a bit more to take in some atmosphere before heading home for dinner.  Passing another church, we found we were right on time for 6:00 vigil Mass, so we went in.  The strains of organ and violin music led us to know that it was a good stop. 
For our choir friends - - - we didn't have to worry about knowing the new translation responses, as they were all sung in IRISH!! What a beautifully musical language!

A good dinner at home was all we needed to cap off the day.

Sunday dawned another beautiful but windy day.  After a late breakfast we headed north of the Liffey to the Hugh Lane Dublin City Gallery where we attended a choral concert given by the Irish Youth Chamber Choir.  What we had expected would be a children's choir, much like our ICC, was, in fact, an adult choir ages 18 - 28.  The program was varied, the performance impressive, and the space wonderfully live acoustically.

Dublin City Gallery

Wandering the galleries we also found that the "modern" art aspect was modern as of 1908 when the museum was founded.  There was some contemporary art, but most of the collection was from the early 20th century.  We especially enjoyed some whimsical stained glass by Harry Clark - - didn't get that particular postcard, but here is an example of his work.  It reminded us of Tim Burton.

"The Snow Queen"

Outside the museum we found ourselves in the "Garden of Remembrance" paying tribute to those who died in the cause of Irish freedom . . . Close by the the monument to Parnell.  My readings have given me some appreciation for the history of this place, but I intend to read much more before it's all over.

Garden of Remembrance

Back across the river and through Temple Bar area, we decided to see what tickets were available for next week's "Trad Fest" - festival of traditional Irish Music. . . we were delighted to find tickets available for Ralph McTell.

We also stumbled upon a Chinese New Years celebration complete with Dragon Dance (if you were tall enough to see over the crowd - - some could, others could not).

Back home then to write this blog before I forget everything, do some laundry and pack to leave again in the morning.    .   . heading to Manchester England for a conference.  We'll be back Thursday in time for Trad Fest.  .  .

Cheers!