Well I did threaten that there would be a second episode of Dooblin coming, so here be it:
Won't bore you with details of Marketing Alignment Meetings; suffice is to say that I realize that America and Europe are totally aligned on paper... oops!... on PowerPoint. Being aligned in spirit is a different matter altogether...
The good part of Ireland, of course, is Guiness. And, if one tires of the dark beverage and is hankering for "Bood Leight", then Smythwicks is just "aboot" the ticket. Having imbibed weeknights, one set out on the weekend to explore the city.
Damn! Fookin' 30 Euro in cab fare! I swear I'm finding a cheap way to come back.. but that's a problem for a later time. Right now: Dublin, here I come!
Well, there's this tour bus that for more Euro will let you ride unlimited times in an endless loop, and that seemed like the best idea. It starts from O'Connel St. and takes you on a circuitous ride through Dublin town, visiting such places of pilgrimage as the hallowed halls of Trinity College (complete with Oliver Goldsmith looking permanently bemused in stone, just outside).
I couldn't really have done all the stops, so I decided to do Trinity College anyway, and then ended up taking pictures of St. Patrick's Cathedral, followed by a tour on foot of Dublin Castle. Took a break to do a Chinese lunch special, and then moved on to Killmainam Gaol. Killmainam Gaol reminds one of the infamous "Cellular Jail" of the Andaman islands (if you were an Indian kid growing up in post independance India, the historians made sure you knew about it).
What doesn't often make top-of-mind, is that this little city is home to so many Nobel Laureates for Literature: William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heany (not sure that last one was a Dubliner... though, even if he was Irish). Throw in Oliver Goldsmith, Joanathan Swift, James Joyce... pretty prolific, if you consider that the Irish really have their own language and did not start out by speaking English in the first place. Lisa, staunch Irishwoman that she is, told me of the English: "You guy's (read: Indians) did a good job kicking them out in two hunderd years; it took us eight hunderd!" So, I guess the English influence is understandable.
Long story short, thoroughly enjoyed Dublin. Even managed to find a Brooks leather saddle for my bicycle at Cyclelogical. Cost 64 Euro!!!
No wonder I took the bus back from Ashton Quay. For the princely sum of 1 Euro and 80 cents.
[All posts ©opyright of the author. Syndication rights reserved.]
Won't bore you with details of Marketing Alignment Meetings; suffice is to say that I realize that America and Europe are totally aligned on paper... oops!... on PowerPoint. Being aligned in spirit is a different matter altogether...
The good part of Ireland, of course, is Guiness. And, if one tires of the dark beverage and is hankering for "Bood Leight", then Smythwicks is just "aboot" the ticket. Having imbibed weeknights, one set out on the weekend to explore the city.
Damn! Fookin' 30 Euro in cab fare! I swear I'm finding a cheap way to come back.. but that's a problem for a later time. Right now: Dublin, here I come!Well, there's this tour bus that for more Euro will let you ride unlimited times in an endless loop, and that seemed like the best idea. It starts from O'Connel St. and takes you on a circuitous ride through Dublin town, visiting such places of pilgrimage as the hallowed halls of Trinity College (complete with Oliver Goldsmith looking permanently bemused in stone, just outside).
I couldn't really have done all the stops, so I decided to do Trinity College anyway, and then ended up taking pictures of St. Patrick's Cathedral, followed by a tour on foot of Dublin Castle. Took a break to do a Chinese lunch special, and then moved on to Killmainam Gaol. Killmainam Gaol reminds one of the infamous "Cellular Jail" of the Andaman islands (if you were an Indian kid growing up in post independance India, the historians made sure you knew about it).
What doesn't often make top-of-mind, is that this little city is home to so many Nobel Laureates for Literature: William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heany (not sure that last one was a Dubliner... though, even if he was Irish). Throw in Oliver Goldsmith, Joanathan Swift, James Joyce... pretty prolific, if you consider that the Irish really have their own language and did not start out by speaking English in the first place. Lisa, staunch Irishwoman that she is, told me of the English: "You guy's (read: Indians) did a good job kicking them out in two hunderd years; it took us eight hunderd!" So, I guess the English influence is understandable.Long story short, thoroughly enjoyed Dublin. Even managed to find a Brooks leather saddle for my bicycle at Cyclelogical. Cost 64 Euro!!!
No wonder I took the bus back from Ashton Quay. For the princely sum of 1 Euro and 80 cents.
[All posts ©opyright of the author. Syndication rights reserved.]
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