What you see here is an emerald facade but here I am in the Land of Eire. Upon arriving in the Emerald Isle, I've come home to my motherland. My first photo is that of a door, and little did I know that the doors of Dublin are famous.
Whilst there isn't much point in sleeping in when you're in a place for only a week but when your body is in "shutdown mode" there isn't much choice. For my first lengthy walk in Dublin, I got some Chinese food, found a few geocaches, and then headed for Dublin Castle. The original castle was built in the 13th century but was destroyed by fire in the 19th century, therefore it's not as spectacular as many other castles.
The castle itself didn't knock my socks off but I enjoyed the bit of history about the Great Famine, also referred to as the Irish potato famine. Few people think of the impact of the Famine; more than one million Irish died as a result and a million or so more emigrated, resulting in a large Irish diaspora similar to that of the Armenian Genocide causing a large Armenian diaspora. Caused by blight, The Great Famine was the last major famine as a result of other than politics or war.
Founded in 988 and known as Baile Átha Cliath in Irish, Dublin was originally a Viking settlement and is situated on the River Liffey. Like London, Melbourne, and other large cities, Dublin is extremely multicultural with African and Asian influences amidst the traditional Irish pub scene. Across the pond I brought more than 100 euros worth of coins, and I was able to change them easily today to get some weight off my back. A virtual geocache would lead me to Trinity College Dublin, Ireland's oldest surviving university.
Even if you're not a student, the university is worth a wander. Ireland is referred to as the "Emerald Isle" even though emeralds are not mined in Ireland (the finest emeralds come from Colombia). William Drennan, an Irish physician and poet, used those words referring to the Irish countryside in his poem When Erin first rose. Just about every photo of Ireland depicts the green and lush nature of the island.
The power boxes are painted with an interesting array of artwork.
For tea this evening, Dara and I would call in at Leo Burdoch's fish & chip shack. For more than 100 years this legendary joint has been serving up "greasies." Irish chips are slightly different to their English and Kiwi counterparts, with a hint of black pepper and being a bit lighter in flavour. Afterward he'd have a beer and I'd have a wine whilst we chatted about our day. I really enjoyed my first day in Dublin, wandering streets that have existed for many centuries. When you think of history, the USA and Australia are only a little more than 200 years old yet many cities in Europe have existed for more than a millennium and some cities (notably Rome) have been around for more than two millennia.
A day of Dublin's 1,000-year history is in the books, and I'm keen for another colourful twilight on the River Liffey
