Famine and Prosperity

Yes, we are back in Dublin for a couple of days at the beginning of our Ireland holiday.  Fog at Leeds Bradford Airport first thing this morning almost turned our plane flying in from Dublin but, thankfully, it cleared enough for it to land and have a quick refuel and we were away just half an hour late.  We dropped our luggage at the Premier Inn and took the VERY SLOW bus in to the city.  We hadn't eaten since a very early breakfast so we walked to the EPIC Museum complex which houses an avenue of varied eating places.  Fortified by pasta bake for Tony and Singapore Noodles for me, we walked alongside the Liffey to view the Famine sculptural installation.  Each time we visit we see this from a different angle.  It is a powerful group of starving Irish people walking along the quay,  to board a ship headed for America, Canada or Newfoundland in a bid to avoid death by starvation during the Great Famine.  Today I blipped the Memorial against the background of the Business and Financial buildings across the river, a very different view of this part of Dublin they would have had in their time.  There is an equally powerful installation in a small square in Boston, which we have passed several times on our visits, dedicated to the Irish Emigrants, demonstrating the strong bond between the two cities.

From here we went in search of tourist information and took a stroll through Trinity College, which is a stunning collection of buildings, statuary and greens, today being enjoyed by many peoples out in the sunshine.  We then went looking for walking maps for the third part of our holiday next week, sadly not successfully.

Tomorrow I am booked in to the Book of Kells Experience and very much looking forward to it.