Friday, August 30, 2019

Sightseeing in Dublin - Day 2, part 2

After our visit to Trinity College we did some more sightseeing.


We found the Liffey.
It's a river that runs through the center of Dublin.


This seagull was looking for chips he could steal.


For lunch we had a cheese platter and I got to drink a really nice dry cider.


Next we visited Dublin Castle.


A cool gate.


Let's see what that gate is about.


It was sunny, but cloudy.
That did make for some cool pictures though.




This tower is all that is left of the 'real' Dublin Castle. Everything around it is much more modern.


More modern than the tower that is.


A view at the tower from the other side of the building.


And from afar.
An Irish dude who may or may not have been drunk told me queen Victoria stayed in Dublin Castle and was annoyed that somebody else was more popular than she was.


On our way back to the cottage we saw Saint Patrick's Cathedral.


The clouds made it look extra impressive.




We spotted a building with all kinds of quotes by Irish authors.
I just had to pose with this great quote by Oscar Wilde.


After a short rest at the cottage we went to a pub for:


Cider!

It was funny to see that they have the same kind of cider in Dublin as we have in the Netherlands. Only the name is different. In the Netherlands it's called Apple Bandit, while in Ireland it's called Orchard Thieves.


And we had chicken strips with chips!
It was yummy and the pub where we ate was really fun


On our way back to the cottage we visited a grocery store and I bought several really yummy ciders.


Coming next: Worldcon Day 1

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Sightseeing in Dublin - Day 2, part 1

The convention would start on Thursday, so on Wednesday we had time for some sightseeing.


First we found a place to have breakfast.
I had hot chocolate and an egg sandwich.


Then we walked towards the city center.
We spotted a couple of beautiful churches along the way.




We found St. Stephen's Green.
It's a park in the center of the city. We had to explore it of course.






This statue is called famine and I think it's in remembrance of the big Potato Famine in the Nineteenth Century (1845-1850)

After visiting the park we went in search for Trinity College, because we wanted to see the library and the book of Kells.


I spotted this statue of a guy named Baron Plunket!


We found Trinity College and sat down for a drink. There was a really long line of people wanted to get tickets to see the book of Kells. Luckily we got tickets online.


Cool owl sign!


There was a exhibition on the book of Kells.
This shows how people used quills to write in the past.


An old book.
Not the book of Kells though.


I found information about animals in the book of Kells!

We weren't allowed to take pictures of the book of Kells, because if someone would use a flash it might damage the book.
The book is a masterwork of Western calligraphy and from the early ninth century. It's very beautiful!


Next we got to see the library of Trinity College.
It was really beautiful and impressive.






I wouldn't mind having a library like this.




Another Plunket!
I wonder if he's the same Plunket or a relative.


Coming next: More sightseeing


Tuesday, August 27, 2019

I Travel to Dublin!


On August 13 we left early to catch a train to Schiphol.
We were going to travel to Dublin!
I got something to drink and a book to read.


Once on Schiphol my owner checked out luggage and then we needed to find the gate were our plane would leave. I spotted a plane, but it wasn't the right one.


We found our gate and our plane came riding up to it. Can you see it?


We had a window seat, so I could look at the airport and the other planes while we made our way to the runway.




And off we go!


I love flying.
It's so cool to see the clouds in closeup.




And landing again!
I can see an Irish carpark!

We were greeted by Jeffe and David and they rented an Irish car, so we sat as passengers in the left front seat while Jeffe drove us on the left side of the road to the cottage we were going to stay. It was weird and fun.


The cottage turned out to be not a cottage as I imagined it, but a small house in a row of small houses. But it looked great inside and our bedroom had a nice comfy bed.


Our bedroom for the week.


After settling in we all went to look for dinner.
And I got this really yummy plum & ginger cider.


Our Fish & Chips turned out to be a lot of fish with hidden chips, but it was delicious.


After dinner we sat in the small back garden of the cottage and relaxed after a long day of traveling.


We didn't make it too late, because the next day we had some sightseeing to do.