Rainy Day

 We woke this morning to a miserable grey day with the rain bucketing down. All we could see out the window was water running down the windows with a grey Dublin in the background. This, this needless to say, was not the sort of weather we were hoping to see. However, it'd what we got. 

So we set out to try and make the most of it. We wrapped ourselves up in our weatherproof gear and trotted down to the local bus stop for a bus trip down to the EPIC, the Irish Emigration Museum. This documents the Irish diaspora that led to 70 plus million people around the world claiming Irish heritage. It was very interesting to see the combination of political, economic, societal and climatic drivers that forced or encouraged so many Irish to travel to a new life around the world.

In particular, it was amusing to see how the Irish claim the achievements of those who were one, two or three generations removed from Ireland. And we even got the opportunity to buy Ned Kelly t-shirts in the shop afterwards. The justification for a focus on Ned Kelly was both his own Irish Heritage and that of Sydney Nolan, the artist who painted lots of Ned Kellys.

After a bite to eat we headed out to visit Dublin Castle. This incorporated a ride on Dublin's tram system on trams that look remarkably similar to the C-class Citadis trams we see in Melbourne – maybe because they are basically the same. Unfortunately, the trip included 10 minutes of walking in the rain, so we were feeling a bit soggy by the time we got to the Castle.

Dublin Castle was originally a fortress within Dublin and for around 900 years was the focus of British rule. We toured the State Apartments, where the British Viceroy lived and ruled over Island on behalf of the British monarch. The apartments include a throne room, which was the symbolic location from which the Viceroy ruled until the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, when the complex was ceremonially handed over to the new Irish government. The Castle now hosts the inauguration of each President of Ireland and various State receptions.

We were intending to visit the Book of Kells however the only slots available were quite late and we didn't really feel like tracking a kilometre through the rain and then another km or two back to where we were staying, so instead we decided to immerse ourselves in some more Irish culture and visited the Brazen Head pub (along with the rest of Dublin getting out of the rain). This is reportedly the oldest pub in Dublin, and legend has it that there's been a pub on the site since 1193. But it seems to be mainly hearsay as there is no written evidence of a hotel before the late 1600's.  Still, it's a fascinating older Irish pub with excellent beverages and really nice food as well. 

After a couple of hours of hiding from the rain and fortifying ourselves with the few drinks and an early dinner we hiked back up the hill back to where we are staying. Fortunately the rain had eased off by then, so we arrived home basically dry.

Time for another early night I think tonight as we both have the sniffles, presumably from our 24 hours inside a metal tube with several hundred other people and very little humidity high up in the air.

We pick up our car tomorrow and head to the SW of Ireland - hopefully we get a break from the rain.

Catch you soon.