21 March, 2009 (Sat) - Dublin, Ireland - Day 10

After breakfast this morning, I went scouting for the route from my hostel to the Dublin Port, where I'll take a ferry over to Holyhead, Wales. It was quite a long walk and the route is sort of deserted. With reference to the simple map I had, the port is located towards the far end. When I reached the far end, there is a wide road leading towards the motorway and there was a road leading somewhere on the opposite side but there was no sign board whatsoever indicating where it leads to. After some time, I still couldn't find it so I gave up and head back. On my way back, I met 2 security officers at the O2 building who kindly gave me the direction. I am supposed to make a turn and walk all the way into a road I've passed by just now. I didn't went on to confirm the route to the terminal for 2 reasons: first, I'm not sure I'll be able to walk so far with my backpacks and second, I needed to use the toilet really bad. So off I went rushing back towards the city centre but it was so far away!!! I don't think I could wait until I reach my hostel so I just walked right into the first hotel I saw, acting as if I am one of their hotel customer and use their toilet. Hehe...

After relieving myself, I walked along the Liffey River's Millennium boardwalk and then cross the Ha'Penny Bridge to Temple Bar. The Ha'Penny bridge is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey, made of iron cast. Originally called the Wellington Bridge (after the Duke of Wellington), the name of the bridge changed to Liffey Bridge. The Liffey Bridge remains the bridge's official name to this day - though it is still commonly known as the Ha'penny Bridge. Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, across the Liffey.[1] The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years.[citation needed] Initially the toll charge was based, not on the cost of construction, but to match the charges levied by the ferries it replaced.

Temple Bar in the day is relatively quieter than the night. Tourists wandered around taking photos, there is some street performer singing away in the alley, some sat at the café enjoying their breakfast. There are 3 markets going on today at Temple Bar area. The first is the book market (Saturday and Sunday) at the Temple Bar Square, which only has around 5 stores. Then I head to the food market (every Saturday) at the Meeting House Square which was not as big as I thought it would be. There were only around 20 odd stores selling various types of food i.e. cakes, muffins, breads, cheese, fruits and vegetables, olives, oysters etc. I bought a huge blueberry scone for €2. The National Photographic Archive is just next to the food market. There is an exhibition showing the works of D James Galbraith's Ireland 1970 - 1997, with quite a good photo collection showing the life in various Ireland towns between the years. After the viewing, I went to the fashion and design market at Cow's Lane (every Saturday). It is the largest designer market in Dublin offering handmade, one-off original designs. The market sells everything from silk custom made underwear to art prints to funky clothing.

Besides the markets, you can also find the Dublin Wall of Fame (Temple Lane South), a monumental tribute to some of Ireland's favorite musical heroes being acknowledged and celebrated in a permanent outdoor photographic exhibition.The artists featured on the Wall of Fame were judged by several criteria - not record sales alone, but also for their genuine pioneering work in contributing to modern popular music and for showcasing the quality and range of Irish musical talent on the World stage. It is by no means a definitive list of the Irish top 12, but each act has been highly influential in the Irish music scene past and present.

After that I visited the Chester Beatty Library, established in Dublin in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present library, on the grounds of Dublin Castle, opened on February 7, 2000, the 125th anniversary of Sir Alfred's birth and was named European Museum of the Year in 2002. The Library's collections are displayed in two collections: "Sacred Traditions" and "Artistic Traditions". Both displays exhibit sacred texts, manuscripts, miniature paintings and art on paper from the world's great oriental and western religions as well as secular items. It is such an impressive collection with lots of information and details. Outside the library, is a beautiful garden where I rest and ate my scone. There are also some cheery blossom trees around adding the beauty of the garden.

My last destination of the day is the Guinness Storehouse. It was quite a long walk there and I passed by the St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Augustus Church and also a street market just opposite of the St. Augustus church before finally arriving at the Guinness Storehouse. There was quite a queue inside but the Guinness TV advertisements on show were very entertaining. The admission fee is €15 which includes a pint of Guinness at the end of the tour. I was given a floor map as it is a self guided tour and off I went with the crowd entering the exhibition hall. The exhibition inside is very interesting and informative. Coincidentally, the year 2009 marks the 250 years anniversary for Guinness brewery. The first room I entered showed the 4 main ingredients used to make the Guinness; malt, barley, hops and water. There are malts and barley on display where you can touch and smell them. There are also short films explaining each process of brewing the stout. Some of the machines used were also shown. The air was filled with the sweet scent of malt, barley and hops. Suddenly the bell rang and apparently they are just preparing to launch the next half a million bottles of Guinness. A lucky visitor was chosen to push the button to start the launch. There are a total of 5 floors in the building where you can gain much insight into the whole brewing process, the machinery used, the process of producing the big wooden barrels to hold the stout, the history, the marketing strategy, the advertisements, the Guinness cartoons, etc. There is also a tasting lab where you get to taste the different types of stout produced. Here, I learned that Guinness Stout is first exported to Malaysia from Liverpool in the late 1880s.

Towards the end of my tour, I'm ready to redeem my pint of Guinness. There are several bars that you can go to; one of them allows you to pull your own pint into the glass. I originally intended to try that out but the queue was just too long hence I decided to just to get my pint elsewhere. I went up to the Gravity Bar which was a glass-paneled window bar providing a 360 degrees view of Dublin city. It was quite a clear weather day hence a good view round Dublin city. However the bar is so crowded that it is hard to find a spot to sit down. After enjoying the view, I went off to another bar, ordered my pint of Guinness and sat down to savor the fine brew. Slainte! (Cheers in Irish)

After my pint, I walked back to my hostel, down along the Liffey River again. I stopped at the souvenir store to get myself an embroidered Irish Badge. Tonight, I bought a sweet & sour chicken rice to go with my broccoli. Quite a tiring day with all the walking but a very eventful one.

Photos of Dublin, Ireland