Dublin Trip

What can I say? I was a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of Dublin. I think that the Philly girl has turned into an Irish village lass, who is used to the quiet, beauty, and serenity of Dunfanaghy. I just couldn't believe how big Dublin was...I hadn't been there in years, and it was much bigger than I remembered, noisier, and filled with too many people in the city streets. I did have a good time though, but it wasn't easy with my leg, which was aching from the hamstring tear. The bus stopped at O'Connell Street right before the big spike that is there. I walked all the way up O'Connell Street to the Powerscourt Shopping Centre, which would have been a doddle, had I not had a torn hamstpring. It took me about twenty minutes, and I finally got there. Here is the entrance to the Powerscourt Shopping Centre where This is Knit was located. I had to go down Johnsons Ct. off of Grafton Street to get there, and boy was I lucky to find that! I had two musicians playing as I walked towards the entrance to Powerscourt. The course took longer than the scheduled half past three. We were not finished till around 4:15, so I didn't have much time till the bus at 5:45. I took pics around Grafton Street, which is a pedestrian street of many shops, and too many people. LOL

I was amazed at how many people there were and you will get a sense of it with the pics .

I sat at Bewleys and had my cup of coffee and a slice of Bewley's coffee cake, and just looked at the the bustle of Grafton and then took the pics. I had to get to the bus quickly, so I could not stop at the places that I had planned to go to. They will have to wait another time. I did stop at the shops along Grafton, and found this wonderful Turkish Teapot...and I got it for the price of 3 euro...I couldn't believe it. I think that the man at the stall felt sorry for my limping and seeing me with a walking stick.LOL He could see how much I wanted it, and he gave it to me for a wonderful price.

I left Grafton Street, I took a pic of Molly Malone, who you may know from the song about Molly Malone who sold cockles and mussels from a wheelbarrow. Here are The Dubliners singing the song. Well, I then only had 45 minutes to get to the bus. Needless to say with my hamstring being torn, I wasn't going to make it, so I took a taxi, which got me there lickety split.

As to my knitting, I now know how make a heel. We have to finish the heel, and knit down to the toe, and of course that is our next lesson. This is what I did over there, and I have lots of homework to finish....I will be sitting in my lounge chair with my bum leg up and knitting away.

Well, I got to the bus, and met a French lady who was living, funny enough in Donegal. We sat together on the bus and chatted. She no longer had a strong accent, and I heard a bit of the Donegal accent. She said that I had a bit of the Irish lilt. I have heard that so many times, it must be true. You know how it is...you never hear your own accent.

I decided that Joe and I would have to go back to Dublin one day together. I wanted to see it all when I was not in a rush, but also Joe was born and grew up there in the Liberty area near St. Patrick's Cathedral, and he would show me the town in style. I would love to see the Liffey at night, because I had to cross it to go to Grafton Street.

Here is a pic of it at night that someone took. It really is lovely.

That was my trip...too quick, too long( 5 hours travel each way), but I was excited to see Dublin even for a short time. I was so tired when I got home, my leg hurt, but it was well worth seeing Joe at the the bus stop waiting for me, ready to give me a hug and a kiss. What a lovely way to end off my day!

PS: Here is a panoramic view of O'Connell Street where I was...enjoy it!
http://www.lookaroundireland.com/dublin/spire.php You can see the spike there and get a good view of what I saw in Dublin.