October 7th, 2022
We woke up late this morning after struggling to stay awake or asleep last night. From my experience it’s easier to adjust to a 5 hour time difference than it is a 3 hour one. Coffee helps. So does falling back asleep after waking up in the middle of the night. While Lena and Riley finished getting ready for the day I headed around the block to grab a morning latte and read for a while by the river. It felt early to me but there were a bunch of construction workers who stopped at the cafe for lunch at the same time.
Lena and Riley caught up with me after a little while and we headed West to find a place for lunch. The morning sunshine was nice and warm which helped us get moving. After wandering for much too long, we finally settled on a place to eat. While we are we made more solid plans for the rest of the day. We had three specific items on the list: The Old Library at Trinity College Dublin, Dublin Castle, and meeting up with our friend Luke. We’ve known Luke for a few years now. Whenever we come to Ireland (which is more often than we thought it might be) we get together with him to see some sights, get a quick Irish history lesson, and catch up on life. Thankfully he still hasn’t lost his New York accent or his sense of humor.
While we did manage to accomplish all we set out for today, we saw a few extra things as well. I forgot to mention that I usually give Lena a hard time about carrying extra water bottles everywhere she goes. Today was no exception. And in addition to the four bottles she put in my backpack, we also did some shopping at a local bookstore where we picked up five books. After my initial complaint and a few random remarks throughout the day, I carried the pack silently. I definitely earned my keep today.
Next on the list was The Old Library at Trinity College Dublin. We actually went to the college in the early afternoon but found out we had to book our tickets online a certain amount ahead of time. Since we had failed to do that initially, we booked tickets for a later entry time and took a walk to see St. Stephen’s Green Park (the neighborhood nearby is also called St. Stephen’s Green). It’s a beautiful park where some very persistent pigeons and seagulls hang out dive-bombing patrons who might be willing to share some of their food. We saw a few people get chased down, including Riley who had to duck as to avoid getting a pigeon to the face. A few times throughout the afternoon we saw raindrops and sunshine trying to take up the same space but we stayed nice and dry. While we were tucked safely inside the Long Room in The Old Library, a rain squall hit the campus. By the time we made it back outside the ground has begun to dry up and the sun was peeking through the clouds.
St. Stephen’s Green
Trinity College Dublin and The Old Library
Coffee in the City Centre and Dublin Castle
We wanted to at least make it over to see the grounds of Dublin Castle before closing time so we headed that direction. It turns out the place was open later than we thought and there was plenty of time before the last guided tour. Again we had to buy tickets and wait. So we took a few photos of the courtyard of the castle and then went to get some coffee. While looking for a certain coffee shop we stumbled upon a place that claimed to be “Dublin’s Oldest Shop.” The coffee was tasty and the service was friendly. After refueling, we headed back to the castle where we thoroughly enjoyed a guided tour, learning about some of the fascinating and storied history of Dublin, its castle, and Ireland.
Meeting Up With Luke
As we left the castle and headed back out on the streets, the rain began to fall as the clouds began to obscure the sunshine. We hid from the rain under a canopy at the entrance to a shop as we waited for Luke to arrive. We found a nice little Italian restaurant in the neighborhood and sat and talked between courses. After dinner Luke gave us a tour of some historic churches in History Core and The Liberties neighborhoods. We headed back towards our hotel through the Temple Bar neighborhood. That’s where the nightlife of Dublin seems to be. Other than the one fight we saw and a few drunken hooligans on the street, it was a pleasant way to end the day and begin the Sabbath.
– Lewis VanAusdle
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