Ireland day 0691. Sunday 20 August 2023- Guests 03 *

Ireland day 0691. Sunday 20 August 2023- Guests 03

Today’s summary	Had a look round the Model Railway Museum in the morning then into Dublin for lunch at the National Gallery in the afternoon. Returned on the H2 bus and then drove to the airport so our friends could return to the UK
Today’s weather	Dry sunny and breezy. Moderate south westerly wind, declining later. Appx 22C

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Town and demesne in the evening after guests

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

Today was the last day of our friends’ visit. After breakfast, first on our itinerary was – of course – a visit to the Casino Model Railway museum. Our friends and I had a look round while Val chatted to her colleagues on the front desk.

After our first museum visit of the day was concluded, we decided to take a diesel into Dublin – which we did, but it seemed to take forever to get in to Connolly. Eventually though we did get there, so we eschewed the bus or DART to get across town, and walked instead in the pleasant sunshine across the Liffey, up Dawson Street, along past the Shelbourne Hotel, and down Merrion Street to the National Gallery of Ireland.

By the time we got there, we were starving (which is a bit surprising as we had a massive Thai dinner last night, and a substantial breakfast this morning). So we sought out the café and I for one enjoyed a beer and Irish Stew. All very tasty. We spent a good hour afterwards having a look round the gallery, and then convened about 3pm near the shop. From there, we took a walking tour of some of the highlights of Dublin including of course Molly Malone.

By the time we got to Connolly, all the Malahide trains seem to have disappeared from the departure board, so we decided not to take our chances waiting for the train but rather to get the H2 bus back instead – we couldn’t afford to get stuck on delayed trains as our friends had a plane to catch in the evening. As usual the bus was slow but with stunning views, which passed the time very quickly. There were just a few minutes back in Malahide for a quick cup of tea and slice of cake before piling in to the car and hot footing it to drop our fiends off at the airport. As it was, we arrived with two hours to spare. Still better safe than sorry.

Once they had safely departed, Val and I had another cup of tea back at the flat then rounded off a tiring but very satisfying weekend with a quick walk amongst the dispersing crowds from the cricket match (India beat Ireland) through the town and back via the castle.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


In Trinity College	Val checking out Van Gogh

I love the way the interconnecting halls in the National Gallery look like the infinitely repeating patterns you see in two mirrors facing each other	In Trinity College

One of the Great Halls in the National Gallery of ireland	Beautiful yew tree in someone’s front garden in Church Road Malahide

The omnipresent Spire in O’Connell Street