Ireland Trip - Christ Church Cathedral



Contruction of Christ Church Cathedral first begin in 1030 a.d. under Dunan, first bishop of Dublin and sitriuc Silkbeard, Norse king of Dublin.   In 1170 the Normans gain control of Dublin and the rebuilding of the Catheral begins in 1186 in a Romanesque Style.   Seven years of restoration work were done starting in 1871. 



A closer view so you can see some of the details.



Double-click so you can see the flying buttresses that support the upper sidewall.



The floor was beautiful.



The screened in area for the choir and the high stand where the priest delivers the sermon.



The wooden organ was made in 1984





One of the stained glass windows in the cathedral.  We also visited the crypt.  There are a few tombs in the nave including Strongbow, who was buried here in 1176.



Ireland Trip - Dublin Castle



This is the coach house.  Dublin Castle was established by King John of England in 1204 a.d.   This Norman Castle was built within the south-east corner of the pre-existingViking town, which had been founded in the 10th century at the junction of the River Liffey and the River Poddle.



This photo, shot from the middle of Dubhlinn Gardens, shows part of the Record Tower and the building that contains the Revenue Museum. 

Colorful modern buildings attached to parts of the older castle and Octogonal Tower.

Once again facial sculptures flank the windows.



Double-click to enlarge for reading.



Corner Tower



Cork Hill gate is where we exited the castle ground.  The scuplture on top looks like Lady Justice with a sword and scales.




The other gate had a Roman?? soldier.  We didn't take the tour so I didn't get the details.



Ireland Trip - St. Patrick's Cathedral



St. Patrick's Cathedral



The entrance for the tour.  Notice the heads on either side of the door.





Double-click this photo so it enlarges enough for you to read about the church, its construction and history.



I'm assuming this area behind the speaker at the front of the church is for the choir.  It's enclosed with pews that face the middle of the church.



The church is full of memorials to people. 




The floor was very interesting.




I'm assuming this is where the priest stood while giving his sermon.



This beautiful spiral staircase was in a corner.



The congregation sit in these chairs that were hooked together instead of pews.

Ireland Trip - Around Dublin



This is St. Ann's Church.  It is at the end of a street so it's a great view as you walk toward it.




You can see some of the details better in this photo.




Just a street scene with a pretty flower display.




An interesting building.




This is the building next to the hostel - the one right outside our window although what we could see was the side to the left of this photo.  It's a Carmelite Church.  The bells would ring on the hour.  But 6 p.m. was 18:00 so the bell would ring 18 times.




Aungier Street just north of the hostel.  Like how the cars are parked? 



The flowers on these two buildings were beautiful.

The old church that is now used as a visitor information center.



Just look at the staircases running from the first floor to the sidewalk.  Cool!




Jolene (in her yellow rain coat - you're going to see a lot of it) at a post office.  I guess green is for the post because they were all painted green.




Another look at one of the double-decker city buses.




The River Liffey and the Ha' Penny Bridge.   It got it's name because the toll in times past was a half penny.  It was mostly stairs leading up to the peak and stairs leading down so we didn't go on it.  We are standing on the Millennium Bridge.



Looking upstream from the Millennium Bridge.



Jolene enjoying the view from the Millennium Bridge.

The riverwalk hung out over the north side of the river.  We walked along it up to the O'Connell Street Bridge.



After crossing back to the other side of the Liffey, we went to a pub.  While there we both visited the wc.   Look at that tank mounted clear by the ceiling.  A real water closet.



Jolene's first Guiness in Ireland.  Of course I was drinking water.   Jolene said the Guiness was a lot better in Ireland.




We walked through St. Stephen's Green in the rain.   The park is beautiful.




Flowers in St. Stephen's Green.



Ireland Trip - Avalon House Hostel in Dublin




Avalon House, the hostel Jolene and I stayed at in Dublin.  The hostel entrance is actually on the side (behind the car).  There is a cafe in the front.  Our room was on the first floor although we would call it the second floor here in the states.  The window in the room is located directly above the AA sign above the cafe entrance.

 



Our room was small but it did the job.  I rented a wheelchair to get around since I had knee surgery 6 1/2 weeks before the trip.  The wheelchair ended up behind the door.  I am standing in the doorway.  We rented a private room with its own bathroom.  Only my checked bag arrived with us so I did some clothes sharing with my sis to get her through the night and next day.

 

The bathroom was dinky.  Of all the lodging we stayed at while in Ireland, only one had a normal sized sink.  Most were small like this one.  The white outlet above the sink was only for shavers.  None of the places we stayed at had electrical hookups in the bathroom for a hair dryer.  This room and one other had an exhaust fan.   You would think there would be more in a humid climate like this one.   Anyway, when you sat on this "throne", your feet were in the shower.



The view to the left our our window.   It overlooked the alley.




The view to the right out our window.  All the city buses were double decker.  Not all had a place for a wheelchair.  When we took the bus back to the airport to pick up our rental car, we waited over 40 minutes for a handicap bus to pull up.  Double-click this photo and check out the vegetation growing out of the chimneys across the road.



Avalon House had computer available so people could get online.  We used them to email family.  Compare the keyboard to the one you are used to.  I know I wasn't hitting the keys right since some of the ones like @ and / are in different places.

Oh, in case you didn't know, the electric is different in Ireland (and many other countries).  This is what the outlet looks like and I don't think I saw one that you couldn't turn off at the outlet.

Avalon House water fountain.   Weirdest looking water fountain I've every seen!   Only one we saw like this in Ireland. 

All the heat registers we saw in Ireland were flat like this.  I guess I did see one that was a double thickness.