Dublin Ireland

Arriving in Dublin last Wednesday morning after the overnight flight from the US, Beth and I had most of the day to wander the streets before meeting Jacob and Nicole, who had spent the previous few days in Berlin visiting the site of her semester abroad in 2007. We headed for the tourist information center--not a very adventurous move but providing a scenic walk from our hotel on Kildare Street.

We proceeded to City Hall and through Temple Bar and came to the River Liffey. I'd say we were in awe of our surroundings or just plain tired--I'm not sure which--but the scenery was fascinating to these first-time visitors.

My next stop was a visit at the old parliament building, now an office of the Bank of Ireland, my former employer via their purchase of First NH Banks in 1988. I'll talk about my visit at BOI in a later post.

Across the street is Trinity College, pictured below, and we strolled through taking pictures at strategic locations and noting the whereabouts of The Book of Kells for Beth and Nicole's visit later in the afternoon. (Jacob and I had another mission, picking up some luggage at his host family's house in Dun Laoghaire, south of the city) It turns out they are very compatible in terms of museum visits. Trinity was estblished in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I of England on an expansive property outside the city but now is surrounded by the city

Unsuccesful in an attempt at early check-in at our hotel, we strolled down Kildare Street to the current Parliament Building, Leinster House, where we would have dinner later, to the National Museum of Ireland, dedicated to Archaeology & History of Ireland, and including Bronze Age and Iron Age gold artefacts and "the world's most complete collection of medieval Celtic metalwork," according to Lonely Planet.

Though tired from the long trip, we were sustained by the fascinating collection and did not hurry to leave. I have no argument with LP's assessment.

To be continued...