Ireland day 0547. Wednesday 29 March 2023- Dublin Lunch *

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)

In the EPIC centre – a good spot to shelter from the elements and enjoy your sandwiches Val on the Sean O’Casey bridge over the Liffey, with the Jeannie Johnston (the sailboat) behind
Hyacinths in magnificent – a beautifully perfumed – bloom in the Elizabeth O’Farrell park I love the solution to the problem of getting the high power cables energising the electrified DART trains, into Pearse station.   Just remove a couple of the upper windows and thread them through!
In the lovely café at MoLI The Brendan Behan installation at the MoLI.   Like most art installations it went a bit over my head, so I left Val to enjoy it and went off to chat to one of the guides in an adjacent gallery.   Got his entire life history – and a lecture on the merits of moving UCD to its new campus, as well as a discourse on the relative merits of measuring GDP vs. GNI.   It was quite interesting, actually.
I was a bit worried that March was going to let me down in my quest for an Irish rose flowering in every month of the year.   But, just in the nick of time, I spotted this one in the gardens at MoLI.   Looking a bit battered, but undeniably a flower, nevertheless.
Interactive map

(Elevations corrected at  GPS Visualizer: Assign DEM elevation data to coordinates )

Total distance: 4438 m
Max elevation: 25 m
Min elevation: 2 m
Total climbing: 84 m
Total descent: -85 m
Total time: 03:35:36
Download file: Across Dublin compressed corrected.gpx

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