If it’s Sunday, it must be Dublin, the capital of Ireland with a population of 4,205,000 people. It is the largest city in the Emerald Isle. Once again, Ian, our port guide, gave a running commentary as the Amsterdam entered the harbor from the Irish Sea. And there were Pot-of-Gold Rolls, juice, and coffee served to those who chose to attend.
There was another cruise ship in port, the Crown Princess. At 116 gross tons, this large resort ship has from 3114 to 3782 passengers, and was launched in 2006. The majority of their guests must have been on tours today, since we never did see any other possible cruise passengers in town.
We were docked by 10:30am, and we seem to remember that the sun was out early, but as the day advanced, clouds moved in and it got chilly. Most of the tour groups were leaving after noontime, and all of them were of short duration. So we decided to take the complimentary shuttle around 11am. It took us to the city center, Merrion Square North, one of Dublin’s grandest Georgian squares. This area has a public park with Georgian houses and 2 museums. The statue of Oscar Wilde can be seen reclining on a large boulder in one corner of the park.
There was an art fair set up on the outside of the park’s fencing. We strolled down to the corner enjoying the colorful framed works, which were quite nice. These vendors even accepted major credit cards. While we were admiring some colorful oil paintings, we spotted some large pigeons creating a nest in the tree limbs overhead. These were plump wood pigeons, unlike the ones we have in California. This was the perfect park for them since they live on seeds, green shoots, and young plants. They can also cause major damage on local farmlands, so they are not encouraged to over-populate the area.
Continuing onward, we walked past Trinity College, the country’s foremost university. It is a cobbled masterpiece of Georgian architecture, and home to the Book of Kells. Close by we found another good info office to get maps and brochures. The best map was the ho-ho bus flyer. Their one day pass was 22 euros. Or this same bus ride could have been bought on the ship for $25, which was the same, no more.
Following the street signs and a map, we made our way up to the River Liffey, where we found some nice benches that were not occupied. Good place to study that map and get our path charted. We were searching for Fleet Street which would lead to Temple Bar. We were ready for lunch, but did not want to duck into any pub that happened to be opened. With today being Sunday only half of the places were opened. That went for many of the shops as well.
We did find what we were looking for, and that was the last Hard Rock Café we would see on this world voyage. We go there mainly to collect t-shirts, and if the menu has what we like, we stay for lunch. So that worked out fine today, as there was still room to seat us. We ordered two Tiger beers….pints of course. We shared the haystack salad, although there was no choice for the type of chicken used. Normally, the chicken is either grilled or Tupelo fried. Today it was simply diced. But just as good. The cute Irish waitress recommended the apple cobbler, and we agreed it was good. We found our t-shirts, then went off for further hiking.
The one and only time we have visited Dublin was back in 2006, and at that time, we took a tour. So we did not remember much of the city, since we drove through most of it, stopping only at the major sites here. We had been given an hour to explore on our own, and we did recognize some of the shops that were here like Knobs and Knockers. It is a hardware store selling the special door knobs and knockers like you see on the old doors here.
We did make a few stops on the way back at a bakery for some biscotti cookies, and a candy shop for some chocolate nut clusters. The sweater shops were interesting with beautiful knits, but we seldom need the heavy clothing when we go home. The bus ride got us back to the ship by 4pm, with some time to work on photos before dinner time.
Other happenings on the ship was the arrival of Sarah, the luggage shipping rep from Seattle. She is responsible for getting our luggage back to our homes after the cruise is over. Many folks have limited or unlimited shipping, however, some have to pay extra for this service. We will need to pay her a visit since we cannot ship our luggage from Ft. Lauderdale, because we will be staying on to Seattle. Everything will have to be sent from there.
The other thing we learned from one of the head waiters is that the cute little lamps that appeared in the dining room a few nights ago will replace the floral centerpieces on each table in the dining room. Don’t know exactly when, because right now, we have both. Many of us old-timers figured this is more cost-cutting attempts for the company to save money. Now we wonder about the future of our florists onboard., and we are afraid to ask.
This was one of the subjects of discussion at our table tonight. Also it eluded us as to why there were so many Mexican items on the menu, which made us all happy, by the way. That’s when it hit us that today was Cinco de Mayo. We ordered the chimichumgas, tortilla soup, but sweet and sour chicken for our entrees. Skipping dessert, Slam still brought the pates of biscotti cookies, and Marco brought plates of ginger from the yum-yum girl, Summer. Since she is not always at the exit when we leave, Marco has used this as an excuse to visit with her and get the ginger before it is gone. He is crazy like a fox maybe? Good for him.
There was no live show this evening, but a big screen movie was shown called Free Solo. All aboard was 9:30pm and we were pulling away from the slip 15 minutes later.
Tomorrow we will be in Cobh (Cork), the third city we will visit in Ireland.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Report #107 Dublin, Ireland May 5, 2019 Sunday Mostly cloudy & 51 Degrees
