Ireland day 0547. Wednesday 29 March 2023- Dublin Lunch
Today’s summary | It was 18 months today since we arrived in Ireland so we went into Dublin to do a bit of sightseeing to celebrate. Had lunch in the EPIC centre, then visited MoLi and and a sunny walk back across town via St Stephen’s Green | ||||
Today’s weather | Heavy rain in the morning, cleared up around lunchtime leaving a fine blustery spring afternoon with some sun. Moderate southerly wind. Appx 14C | ||||
Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route) |
Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): EPIC to MoLI |
Commentary
(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).
Unbelievably, it seems, it’s eighteen months ago today that we first set foot in Ireland – and what a blast it’s been! But we hadn’t got anything specific in mind to mark the occasion so we spent the morning lingering over breakfast and thinking about possible travel plans for later in the year (the Beara peninsula, in the far south-west, might be a possibility). The rain lashed down outside so we didn’t feel inclined to get out in a hurry but eventually it did start to brighten up, so we made a spur-of-the-minute decision to head into Dublin and do a bit of sightseeing.
In the end, we didn’t go anywhere new, though we had a languid sort of an afternoon revisiting some of our favourite old haunts. We started off by seeking refuge in the EPIC centre – a great spot, indoors, where there are loads of tables and nobody seems to mind if you sit at them to have your own packed lunch.
Afterwards, we walked across town, down to the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) and treated ourselves to a celebratory cup of tea and piece of cake in the lovely café there. Later, Val had a look at the recently-opened installation commemorating the centenary of the birth of Irish author Brendan Behan. I started to look at it but found it a bit too obscure so instead had a look round the beautiful garden (where I found the elusive March-flowering rose I’d been looking for) and chatted to one of the security officers.
All-in-all very enjoyable afternoon, rounded off with a walk through sunny and beautifully floriferous St Stephen’s Green on the way back to Pearse station to catch the train back to Malahide. The evening was spent on dinner (salmon salad – very nice) and a call with friends back in the UK. A lovely relaxing way to spend our 1½th birthday!
Today’s photos (click to enlarge)
Interactive map
(Elevations corrected at GPS Visualizer: Assign DEM elevation data to coordinates )
Max elevation: 25 m
Min elevation: 2 m
Total climbing: 84 m
Total descent: -85 m
Total time: 03:35:36