If you’re looking for an exciting Sunday blog post today, you’re going to be disappointed. My intention was to take another day trip out of the city but I wasn’t feeling motivated, so I spent the day in Dublin instead, where I walked a lot and ate a lot.
I started with breakfast at Jay Kay’s Cafe, where I had a pulled pork eggs Benedict that was excellent. I was thankful it wasn’t a large breakfast so I could continue to eat and drink my way through Dublin for the day.
After breakfast, I followed the second part of Rick Steves’ audio walking tour up O’Connell Street on the north side of the River Liffey. The tour included a stop at the General Post Office, the scene of the Easter Rising of 1916, where you can still see the bullet holes in the columns.
14 Henrietta Street was one museum I was hoping to see during my visit, so I was glad I was able to get a walk-in ticket for the 10AM tour today. Similar to the Tenement Museum in New York City, 14 Henrietta Street tells the story of the home’s inhabitants over the course of two centuries. The home was originally built by Luke Gardiner as an aristocratic home, but when the Irish House of Lords was merged with the British Parliament, many of the aristocrats moved to London. The home was eventually purchased by Thomas Vance in the mid-1800s and broken up into 17 tenement apartments; conditions deteriorated quickly. Aside from the residents, the front door was always unlocked, so others would come in and sleep in the hallways and stairwells. At one point, 100 people called 14 Henrietta Street home. Eventually, the last of the residents were forced out in the 1970s and the home fell into ruin until acquired by the city and turned into the museum it is today.
I stopped at Keogh’s Cafe for “lunch”, an apple walnut scone with butter and cream and an iced mocha. I sat outside and did some people-watching while I ate. Then it was off to the grocery store to stock up on some European candy and snacks to bring home followed by a walk along the Grand Canal back to my hotel.
My plan was to embark on my own version of a Sunday afternoon pub crawl. My first stop was Darkey Kelly’s for a half pint of Rockshore cider and some trad music. There were about ten musicians assembled, taking turns playing solo and in small ensembles. I sat at the bar for about 45 minutes and enjoyed the pub atmosphere.
My second stop was a bust because it was too crowded with no place to sit and I was getting hungry. I abandoned the pub crawl when I walked by Cirillo’s, a Neapolitan pizza restaurant just up the street. Suddenly, I was in the mood for pizza. I ordered a pizza with Parma ham and parmesan and the tiniest bottle of Coke Zero I’ve ever seen. The pizza was very Neapolitan, with the crust a little dark for my liking, but the flavor was there.
I had been planning for an early night, but ice cream sounded really good, so I walked back to Murphy’s Ice Cream and indulged in a cup of Dingle Sea Salt and Kieran’s Cookie for dessert before settling into my hotel for the night.
Traveling with Laura 