Ireland: Day 4

With public transportation finally at our disposal, my sister and I left our parents behind to make the most of our one day in Dublin. One day is not nearly enough for a satisfactorily thorough Dublin experience, but as that was apparent at the outset, we did our best to maximize our time spent there.

We covered much of the city centre south of the Liffey on foot throughout the day, including the Guinness brewery, the old Jameson’s distillery (the only stop we made north of the Liffey), Christ Church, Dublin Castle, and Trinity College, with time to spare for some exploration of book and record stores. I wouldn’t be surprised if we walked an excess of ten miles today.

Here’s the lowdown: I’ve never been terribly fascinated by the production of alcoholic beverages, and the old Jameson’s distillery tour may have left me even less interested. Thankfully, we skipped the outrageously expensive Guinness brewery tour, but we did have a walk through some of the 64 acres it takes up. The primary attraction at Trinity College is the Book of Kells, and that was probably the highlight of the day. Sections of the original manuscript are on display in a sizable exhibition with boatloads of information and history. Upstairs from the Book of Kells was the Long Room, the massive main chamber of the college’s old library. It was impressive, to say the least. Trinity is also home to the city’s obligatory Calder sculpture.

I combed a couple bookstores, found a record store that carried nothing but metal (and refused to organize its collection in any way), checked my e-mail (since it’s almost difficult to avoid finding a cyber cafe), and met the folks for dinner at O’Neal’s Pub.

Noticing froma couple local A&E rags i picked up that there was nothing especially noteworthy going on in the entertainment district tonight (both The Dillinger Escape Plan and Billy Bragg and the Blokes had just played a couple nights before), and satisfied that I had had a reasonably full day, I decided to call it a night.

Dublin’s been the best part of the trip so far; I’m skeptical it will be outshined.

Stuck in my head: Shudder to Think – “X-French T-Shirt”