Weekends are for list-checking

With only two weekends left before our return to reality, we are busily checking off the final items on our "to do" list here. . .

Saturday was a typical Dublin weather day (that is to say, cool, windy and chances of rain) so we stayed in the neighborhood for the day. . .

Horse Guards at Dublin Castle

Huguenot Cemetery - 1693

Government Buildings - Office of the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister)- no photos allowed

Photo from Internet - main staircase and stained glass window

We took the guided tour of the Government Buildings which included some really beautiful artwork, as well as some more history (of course). . . but probably the most entertaining part came while waiting at the gates for the tour. A guard coming back from lunch break stopped to spend 15 minutes regaling us with tales of visitors to the offices, including Bill Clinton (who he misses) and Barack Obama (who was nearly stuck in Ireland due to the Icelandic Volcano). . . wish I had been smart enough to ask for a photo op with him. . . he was a joy!

We re-visited the National Museum Archeology to complete our tour upstairs - - The Vikings and Medieval Ireland - - good exhibits, no photos allowed.

But on Sunday, we made up for the "no photos allowed" by finally having suitable weather for the Wicklow Mountains National Park.

We packed a picnic and boarded the bus with a large group of very young and very not Irish travelers for the hour and twenty minute ride south to the Wicklow Mountains. . .

Our stop in the visitors center equipped us with a trail map and off we went!

By my calculation we walked about 8 miles during our 4 1/2 hour stay, including an uphill climb of 1500 feet - - the knees are feeling it Monday morning as I write this!!

Enjoy the views!

Poulanass Waterfall

Heading uphill

Arriving at the crest

Top of the world

Heading down - 580 steps!  Yes, I counted :0

Back in the valley looking up toward the boardwalk

The other main reason people come to the park is to visit the monastic colony of St. Kevin - founded in the 6th. century. . .



Monastic site

And finally, the valley walks were a nice way to wind down before heading back to the bus to Dublin. . .

Lower lake - like a mirror

Bog

Luck o' the Irish!

Have a great week, my friends!



Mid-May

Good morning Saturday!

Not much to report from here since returning from Vienna - - - did some shopping and laundry, of course. 

Mark is working on his final report for presentation at DIT next week - - used this Blog as his starting point - - so I guess I've been useful after all :)

I had some client work to complete and hope that is a sign of things to come!

Entertained another DIT colleague for dinner - - nice evening.

Hostess flowers - always appreciated!

And, made some reservations for our June travels when we return - - it keeps on going and going!

Now we're hoping the weather gets better for some outdoor adventures this weekend - - see you on Monday!

And - - GO PACERS!!!

Vienna!

Three days in Vienna is just NOT enough!

We did NOT - - have Vienna sausage, do the Viennese Waltz, go to the Vienna Opera, or cruise down the Blue Danube!

We DID walk and walk and walk, take hundreds of photos, go in some amazing museums/palaces/churches. . . and celebrate Klimt, Klimt, Klimt!

Here is a photo journal of the trip. . .

Mozart statue in Burggarten

Views of Imperial Palace

Vienna State Opera

The Plague column

View from Leopoldmuseum

150th Anniversary of Klimt - no photos allowed

Karlsplatz - Otto Wagner Pavillion

Secession - more Klimt - the Beethoven Frieze

From the website - The Arts, Choir of Angels, and Embracing Couple

Gustav Klimt, Beethoven Frieze: This Kiss to the Whole World
Loan from the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere

Upper Belvedere

Lower Belvedere

Views of Belvedere Gardens

From website - "The Kiss" - probably most famous Klimt, but not my favorite

St Stephen's Cathedral - outside

inside

washed and unwashed - - -they were cleaning buildings EVERYWHERE!

Anker Clock - we missed the "show" at noon

Rathous -- Town Hall

Looking across Volks-garten to National Theater

Danube

Klimt everywhere - our hotel room!

Sooo, there's a quick look at three busy days - - took many more photos, but must get to work sometime today!!!!

Have a great rest of the week!



Short week, long plans

Taking advantage of every minute now. . . we headed over to "The Little Museum of Dublin" for a quick tour of the 20th. century.   Housed in a Georgian townhome on Stephen's Green, the museum is a collection of artifacts donated by the people of the city of Dublin.

A first edition of Ulysses was open to the back page because "most Dubliners will admit that they have read only the first page of Joyce's masterpiece . . . visitors can say that they have read the last".  Inspired by that, I finally bought a copy of Ulysses.

And, I'll use it as reading material on our flight tomorrow to Vienna, Austria!  We finally decided where we would head for our continental adventure, so lots of photos will follow, but not until late next week.

Stay safe, Happy Mother's Day to all my maternal friends (and in my book that includes aunts, cousins or anyone who loves the children in their lives), and keep enjoying your Springtime, wherever you are.

Double rainbow out my window

Cheers.

Another Holiday Weekend

Back on the bus for a trip to another County - - great bus service here!

This time our destination was County Kildare for a visit to another Heritage Ireland site, the largest Palladian style mansion in Ireland, designed by Italian architect Alessandro Gailiei. 

Casteltown House was built in 1722 by William Conolly, a self made man who became the Speaker of the House of commons and was, at the time of the home's construction, the richest man in Ireland.  Unfortunately, he didn't live to see the completion of the home (he was 60 when he started construction) and his widow carried on.  But it was his great nephew and wife who completed the work in the 1760's and had the greatest influence on it's final form.

The home purchased in the 1960's by the Guinness family who brought it back to splendor.  It has been owned by the OPW since the 1990's.

Castletown House

Floating Staircase (photo from website)

On the way back toward Dublin, we got off the bus in suburbia so that "Mark the housing nerd" could visit the European version of Home Depot . . interesting to see all of the differences in electrical, plumbing, appliances and building materials.  Have to say, I enjoyed it too.

Even the colors scream "Home Depot"

Back toward the bus-stop we dropped in at the mall to see if dinner was a possibility. . the mall was shuttering up at 7:00 p.m., and there were NO out-lot restaurants as we would see in the States, so we headed back to try another of our neighborhood offerings.  REALLY wish we had found this one earlier in our visit.  . . best meal since arriving in Dublin!  Two chefs in a kitchen no bigger than my closet at home!  The food was amazing.

When we were at Castletown on Saturday, the ticket agent told us that we MUST visit the Casino Marino just north of Dublin - - -so on Sunday, we did.

The Casino (meaning "small house") is a party house built as part of a larger estate.  It is a neo-classical building mixing Greek, Roman, and Egyptian influences into a sweet mixture of fun.  While it is designed to give the impression of a single room in one floor, it actually contains 16 rooms on three levels. The views across Dublin Bay were fantastic!

Only two small panels of the "door" open - part of the illusion

The big picture

Looking across Dublin Bay to the great Sugarloaf Mountain

Leaving the Casino grounds, we entertained my "urban planning nerd" by walking through the community of Marino.  Built in the 1920's as part of the Garden City movement (which preceeded the Greenbelt movement in the US) - - it was interesting to see 90 years later what has worked, and what has not.  I add this link for my future reference - but my planning buddies may enjoy it as well http://www.theirishstory.com/2011/09/07/a-garden-city-the-dublin-corporation-housing-scheme-at-marino-1924/.

Designed to be the first major public housing in Ireland to "empty out" the ghettos, by the time it was constructed it had priced out the ghetto dwellers and was automatically a middle class enclave.  The green spaces are still there . . . .

Central green space

but the "pedestrian" streets have cars parked on the sidewalks on both sides, and many of the front gardens have been paved over for parking.

Aerial view of Marino - early days

On Monday the promised ran showed up, so we stayed a little closer to home.  One more Heritage Site was in store, with a visit to the nearby St. Audoen's Church.  Built in the 12th. Century in the heart of the walled city, it is the only remaining medieval parish church in Dubllin.

yes, this is a rainy day - - just wait 15 minutes!

As a pre-reformation church, it was originally Catholic, then Church of England, now Church of Ireland.  Once the Church of England took it over, the congregation shrank, and parts of the roof were removed as a smaller and smaller sanctuary was needed.

Roof removed

Church still in use

Once Catholics were again allowed to worship in Ireland, there was a "new" St. Audoen's Church built TEN INCHES away from the old (Church of England) building!  Built in the mid 1800's at the height of the famine, it was built to dwarf the old medieval structure, and is now home to the Polish chaplaincy in Ireland.

"new" St. Audoen's - Catholic dwarfing Church of Ireland (on left in photo)

History continues . . . .

Final countdown in reverse

It has just hit me that in less than a month I'll be "Back Home Again In Indiana" . . .

Sunset from our apartment

 

So, with a renewed sense of urgency, we are re-setting out to explore more of our neighborhood, near and far.
We visited the Dublin City Hall - - great rotunda and some interesting artwork. . .

City Hall Rotunda

 

Then back to the Chester Beatty Library - - from their website:

"Described by the Lonely Planet as not just the best museum in Ireland, but one of the best in Europe, the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin is an art museum and library which houses the great collection of manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and some decorative arts assembled by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968). Its rich collections from countries across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe opens a window on the artistic treasures of the great cultures and religions of the world. Chester Beatty Library was named Irish Museum of the year in 2000 and was awarded the title European Museum of the Year in 2002."

Wandering along the Grand Canal again, we found some neighborhoods which we hadn't yet explored, and were almost surprised when we found ourselves looking straight into St. Patrick's Cathedral park again . . . it's hard to get lost here!
Since most of our dining out has been done when we are "away" from the neighborhood, I thought it would be fun to find out what the restaurants in our neighborhood are like --found some really great pizza that way!
Friday night was back to entertaining - - a DIT friend and spouse - - and celebrating his special birthday. We can't convince him how YOUNG 50 really is :)

Party time

 

Monday is another "Bank Holiday" - - - seems to be one every month.  I know we'll find something fun to do, so see you on Tuesday!!