Dublin on my own

WAC-6 is officially over now and this morning I left the UCD halls for good

I moved to a tourist hotel, a nice former townhouse, all wooden floors and nice old furniture. My room is named 'The Broken' although it is not yet true. However, one never knows, Dublin is indeed quite expensive ;)

I spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon in the National Museum of Dublin. Unfortunately you can't take photographs. Which is a sad thing, since it hosts wonderful artefacts. Here are just some appetizers:


the macehead from the passagetomb of Knowth:






the Tara brooch:

Arnold 1977

The shield from Lough Gur:

and many other splendid things, gold lunulae, decorated stones, high crosses, Egyptian artefacts, Cypriotic vases, and, and, and...

After a short break at the museum's café and nut-and-lentil roast I was energized enough to have a look at the Chhrist Church Cathedral; It was originally begun to be built in 1038 by King Sithric Silkenbeard, the Danish Viking King of Dublinthis. Howeer it was intensively remodelled and renovated, especially from the 16th century onwards and so hardly any original details remained. This is a view of the bell tower:

The stained windows in the Cathedral (Patrick is wearing pink :)) )

The beautiful floor tiles:

And the 'Enterprise' in the crypt:

I finished the day with 'The Weir' at the Gate Theatre:

From their webpage (http://www.gate-theatre.ie/prog.html)

The Weir, by acclaimed playwright Conor McPherson, premiered at the Gate in 1998 to critical and successful acclaim. This atmospheric tour de force, set in present day rural Ireland, finds Valerie, on arriving at a small country bar, spellbound by an evening of ghostly stories from the local bachelors. Their tales, both funny and chilling, are a mesmerising mixture of rumour and local legend. However, much to their surprise, she has her own story to tell…