Ireland, Day 7, Last Day

We had one last day in Dublin and had so much to see, we made up a schedule the night before.  It took a bit of pre-planning to get to everywhere we wanted to go.  Our list included the National Museum, National Library, Chester Beatty Museum, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Marsh Library, The Irish Writer's Museum, and the James Joyce Center.  We also wanted a bit of last day shopping in the middle and take the last day to drink some more yummy Irish beer. We walked through St. Stephen's Green and started out at the National Museum where we saw Ireland antiquities preserved in the peat and beautiful Irish gold jewelry, as well as remnants from Viking and medieval times.  The coolest thing was a long (log) boat 60 ft long.  After that we walked into the National Library and up to the Reading Room which has green lights on the tables, just like at Penn State's Paterno Reading Room.  After that we did a bit of shopping and headed off to the Chester Beatty Museum where they're having an exhibit (very nicely done) on ancient China and a look at their permanent collection of religious displays from religions around the world.  We decided to then head up to St. Patrick's and the Marsh Library, but we arrived just as the Marsh was closing for the day.  So we went into St. Patrick's and lo and behold, there was a concert by a young people's choir from the UK going on.  We sat and listened for awhile, transfixed by the loveliness of their voices and the fantastic acoustics at St. Patrick's. 

After that, we started making our way to lunch and to the general vicinity of the Writer's Museum.  Dublin is separated to the North and South by the River Liffey .  We were in the south during the morning and headed north for the afternoon.  We shared some fish and chips, had a beer, and then walked down O'Connell St. towards the Writer's Museum.  Dublin has a rich heritage of writers such as Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Sheridan, W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, and Synge.  We took a grand audio tour which left us both wanting to go back and read and read.  On our way to the writer's museum, we walked by a march supporting the abolishment of racism.  The week before a 15 year old boy, star soccer player, was killed by two men in what was a senseless act of violence.  We sat on a rock and watched as people of all races passed by.   After the writer's museum we made a quick stop at The James Joyce Center is quite small but has some interesting memorabilia. 

We headed back towards the south end of town for one last and a stop at the Stag's Head and a stroll through Trinity College.  We also visited Merrion Square and the Oscar Wilde statue, just before closing.  Merrion Square is a very green, beautiful park surrounded by relatively stark Georgian buildings.  We were looking for Toners, and a bite to eat and a beer.  We had a great meal of duck pate and smoked salmon salad and then headed back to the room via St. Stephen's Green. 

This was a marvelous trip for two reasons - because Ireland is beautiful, and because Lauri and I got to spend time together.  She's such a wonderful traveling companion...highly organized and patient with my, "can you repeat that?" or "are you sure we're going in the right direction?" questions.  She made tea for us each morning, and walked slower to keep up with my shorter gait...not to mention being a wonderful woman and great pub crawler.  We thank Mairéad for her helpfulness as we were choosing places to go. Now as we read books about Ireland or by Irish authors, we'll have a context and appreciation for the complexity of the Irish heritage and culture, and for the beauty of Ireland.