A Day Spent in Dublin with Thousands of Americans

Friday, August 29th

Amazingly, after a bit of Google maps preparation, we traced our steps from hotel 2  to hotel 1 in a much quicker fashion in order to drop off our luggage before returning the car. We phoned Brian and Nicholas in their room and met for breakfast learning that they had not arrived until after midnight. Their hydrofoil crossing the Irish Sea had been cancelled due to bad weather and their subsequent ferry was delayed. Learning that Brian's BMW has only four seats we extended our car rental for another day.

Back at the Wonderful Barn the weather was marginal but there was time to walk out the lane and see the structure close up. The area is derelict with a lot of blackberry bushes and No Trespassing signs. In addition to the large conical barn there are two smaller conical buildings and several other buildings connecting them. All empty shells with their former uses unexplained. Difficult to get good photos, so Mike boosted me up a wall and I tried to find foot holds, focus and hang on. 

Wonderful Barn

 With unexpected wheels for the day we headed into Dublin. Our intention was to join a tour at the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. What we didn't know was this was the weekend for a Penn State vs University of Southern Florida football game and there were thousands of Americans crowding every nook and cranny in Dublin. Temple Bar was the site of an enormous pep rally. We thought we would retreat to the quiet of Trinity University. Sadly the please be quiet and respectful signs were pushed aside and replaced with tour the campus ticket booths. Time to escape the city!

With a bit of time before picking Lucy up at the airport we drove a looping route through Phoenix Park, the largest intercity park in Europe. Filled with lovely old trees and expansive meadows, we viewed more than a hundred fallow deer grazing in one large group.

Lucy collected we headed back to the hotel for dinner with Brian and Nicholas - five Hands at one table.

Ancient trees in Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park