We had booked tickets for the Irish Museum on emigration (EPIC). It was established by an American to document the history behind and achievements/contributions of Irish immigrants around the world. We set off an hour early to walk so we could have a coffee before our timed entry, given the website said the cafe opened at 7am. It doesn’t. It opens at 10, along with the rest of Dublin on a Sunday morning.
I was unrestricted in my ability to take photos from the middle of intersections and to walk freely along the riverbank. It was good to get out and have a decent walk in any event. We did eventually find a cafe for a coffee although neither Mike nor I were hungry.
The museum is interesting and we learned a lot but it was pretty selective about what it chose to present. The entire place has 20 different galleries all under the floor in the basement of a former customs warehouse. The exhibitions are hugely based on audio visual presentations of one type or another and the computing alone must be worth millions. In short, the Irish are responsible for practically everything that is fine in the world today in every field you can imagine and all world leaders worth a mention can trace their family back to an Irish ancestor. I loved the display that showed the GAA sports and now have a better understanding of what happens in Hurling and in Gaelic football! I’d have liked more information about the potato famine (I can’t believe an entire population lived on nothing but potatoes) and also on some of the political reasons behind the various discriminatory laws that used to apply. I also loved the exhibition on music and dance and how that influenced other (US) culture. Apparently it was an Irish scientist that was the joint first person to (artificially) split the atom in 1958. Not sure what artificially means. I’m pretty certain that Rutherford did that quite some time earlier but maybe he did it by non artificial means!
After the museum we found our way to a cafe for soups and toasted sandwiches for lunch and then split up to mooch the city. I think Steve and Fiona were off to a modern art museum and Mike and I checked out the environs generally.
We found Trinity College, which is not at all what I expected.
We also found the expensive shopping street with exclusive labels and guards at the door. We were not tempted!
The city itself is very walkable, though you do have to watch out for buses, trams and the occasional car! The buildings are interesting and quite a number have been repurposed with shopping malls inside.
We had booked in for dinner at a nearby seafood cafe. They unapologetically served nothing but seafood and desserts. We all sampled the local oysters. They had 4 types and we tried three of them. One variety was the size of bluff oysters and another had the taste but none managed the full package. Three of us had the scallop risotto for a main and Mike had the sardines with tomato salad and all were very happy with our meals. Would visit again 🤗. And the hostess has given us a suggestion for a brunch place to try tomorrow where locals would love to go. We’ll drive!
After dessert (Tiramisu for Steve and lemon tart shared by Fiona and I), we decided to check out this whiskey bar called Bowe’s that Paul Middlemiss had recommended. Fiona headed back to the hotel and we set off in the other direction. Well we should have gone with her as it is only 300m down the same road as our hotel. It’s a great bar that is quite small and in an alleyway just around the corner from the Westin Hotel. We sampled 2 different whiskeys which were good but no better than Talisker or the whiskey from Dingle! There were plenty of options though and the barman was very helpful. A great atmosphere.
