Wanderung 30

We were not scheduled to arrive in Dublin before noon, so I had a very relaxed morning which I spent writing our journal as I was a bit behind. We even had an early lunch and returned to our cabin just as we entered the channel in the bay leading to the Liffey River that runs through Dublin, so we got some decent pics of our approach. Right before the last bridge over the Liffey before the bay, our Captain spun the ship around to moor at a container ship dock, but not without the help of two harbor tugboats--the tug on our side was named "Beaufort", although his friends probably just called him "Bo"!

Mpnika had bought tickets for the Hop-on-Hop-off bus for Dublin and was just happy that our changes in schedules did not change the date for Dublin. Since we did not know where we were going to dock or how easy it would be to get downtown, we had bought (expensive - $8 per person per ride) shuttle bus tickets. We took the shuttle into town. We later found that the new Dublin tram system has one line ending just outside the port area, so we could have easily walked out, taken the tram for 1.70 Euroe and saved at least 15 Euro each! Ouch! Still, the shuttle dropped us off to one side of Trinity College, and right next to the college campus, which is huge by the way, we found our Hop On Hop Off bus. The driver exchanged our voucher for tickets and we got on and went to the top but under a roof. The best of both worlds, safe from the elements and great views.

For the next two hours we meandered along the narrow streets of the old district of Dublin and enjoyed the sights from the top of the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus. We just remained on the bus for one loop past all the old familiar sights: Trinity College, the castle, Christchurch, St Patricks church, Guinness Brewing Company, the famous prison, the extensive park at the east end, the bridges over the Liffey of course, and finally back to O'Donnell street.

There we got off and ont a new route: the Docklands route. The Docklands section of Dublin reminded me of Hamburg's "Hafencity", a new high end development in the old warehouse district right next to the river. I was surprised how close to our cruise ship we were at one point of that loop. But it turned out that there was public transportation even closer to where our ship was docked, a new tram system that ended only a block from the port exit! Some passengers took that into town and said it cost only 3 Euro each way. Well, if we had only known we could have saved ourselves a few bucks! But we filed that information away for our next visit to Dublin.

I am fascinated by the sheer variety and architectural diversity of the bridges the span the Liffey every couple of blocks. They are extremely different, ranging from an ultra-modern white bridge resembling a harp's strings that you can see from the cruise ship dock, to a couple centuries old bridge built for the convenience of King George (not sure which one).

The Hop-On-Hop-Off bus was definitely better than walking while it was raining, but once the sun came out we decided to amble around the center of Dublin a bit. We focused on some side streets off of O'Connell Street that had an eclectic collection of shops. Sad to say, we hit one tourist trinket shop where I found a key ring and coasters with a rather nice rendition of the O'Callaghan family crest which is part of my ancestry, and a pewter pocket compass. Monika found a nice earrings and necklace set.

But several doors down the block we found a real camera shop that featured Nikons, and finally I bought an official Nikon cable to charge both our cameras. I don't know if Nikon makes the Medion camera sold by Aldi, but we found by experimenting that the same charging cable works for both of them. As we were both on our last batteries , we were relieved to find it and put our cameras on to charge as soon as we returned to the ship.

But the nicest thing we saw before going back to the ship was St Stephen's Green, a small but beautifully landscaped park just off the main drag. We had seen it from the H-O-H-O bus and we were told there were statues of a lot of Irish writers inside. It was truly a delightful little park to walk around, complete with a lake in the middle, home to a lot of squawking sea gulls. Nicely groomed footpaths meandered through flower beds, and there was a pretty fountain in the middle. It was so nice to explore all the winding paths and viewpoints over the small ponds and flower beds, which were at the peak of Spring blooming. The whole park was peaceful after all the hustle and bustle in downtown Dublin. So pretty!

By now it was six and although we could have stayed till nine, we decided we had a full day and were ready to get home (meaning our cabin). We went to the bus stop, caught the next shuttle, and back we went down the Liffey to our dock. We were in time for a show by a local group called "The Gaels Afloat": three men on guitar, an Irish bagpipe and three Irish dancers. They performed Irish classics, both singing and dancing. After that we were too tired for much else; we just went to the buffet for a snack and then to bed afterwards. Of course, we did not forget to start charging our sadly depleted camera batteries with the new cable!