Dublin: Trinity College, Grafton Street

The bus driver wasn't accepting fares, either the machine was out of order or it was in sympathy with the UK strikers. The trip back to Dublin was uneventful, but the train was packed. I swapped seats with a man so he could stay with his group, but the rightful occupant came along later and they had to separate anyway.

It was colder in Dublin than Belfast. I found Il Capo, a recommended pizzeria near Connolly and had a good pizza for lunch which you can see.

By the time I got to Trinity College, the check-in for the accommodation was open. I was issued with a card key to access my room. I didn't figure out how to lock my room with the card until later, but I was the only lodger in that group of rooms which had a keyed entrance so it didn't matter much.

Trinity College is an enclosed space and you pass through the main door to enter. That door is closed in the evening, and you have to use a side entrance. There are a lot of tourists during the day, some to see the Book of Kells in the Old Library. Lodgers like me were issued with a card to show security stating that we were staying in the residences.

I also took the opportunity to get access to the laundrette. It was a pity the rooms were several minutes walk away from the office and laundrette. It was a shorter distance in the other two college residences.

The tower you see in the photos is the Campanile at the west end of library square, the patch of lawn visible.

After resting, I wandered out to the pedestrian shopping street, Grafton Street. I found Bewley's and tempted by the cakes, I went in. It was a fairly posh place.

They have memorabilia under the tables you can look at while waiting for your beverage and pastry. The tea and cake were fairly good but not something you need to go out of your way to try.

Dunnes Stores again.

I took pictures of whatever took my fancy during my walk of Grafton Street and nearby streets, so there's not much narration.

Hairy Lemon pub. This was actually on the way to the Lidl supermarket on Aungier Street.

Cafe and pub.

Truth in advertising?

The road outside the Gaiety Theatre.

The front of the theatre.

Stephen's Green shopping centre.

The opposite side of Grafton Street there.

Both near the entrance to St. Stephen's Green.

Street florist.

McDaid's. Maps has just informed me that it was Brendan Behan's favourite pub. He's famous, but I know little about him. I like his witty self-description as "a drinker with a writing problem". Drink was indeed the death of him, at 41.

Another bar with an attractive front. It being Friday evening, all the drinking spots were well patronised.

Boodles is a jewelry store.

This would be Ann Street with St. Ann's Church in the distance.

Another florist.

Weir and Sons is a jewelry and watch store.

Seating spills onto the street.

The cold weather was a bit tiring and I had to get my laundry done so that was the end of explorations for the day.

Panoramas, in roughly reverse order:

Ennis and Bantry

Ennis is just another form of Inis which means island. This prefix can be found in place names all over Ireland, for example Innisfree. As you may recall I skipped this town the first time going south in favour of Tralee because it was a little out of the way. So I was just tying up one loose end.

This is the fountain in the centre of town depicting a couple of farmers, a cow, and a dog.

The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

You might be wondering about my strange driving itinerary, starting in Limerick, going south, working my way up north, then heading south past Killarney to Bantry and eventually Cork. It was partly influenced by the day of the week when I would be somewhere, availability of accommodation, the need to do laundry after 10 days or so, and other factors I forget now. Fortunately Ireland is not a large island. You could drive from the north to the south in 4 hours on the motorways; it's the country roads that slow one down, but the best scenery are definitely not along motorways.

Ennis' central street is narrow but has character.

It was Sunday so fairly deserted.

The cathedral in the distance.

I had a cup of tea in a cafe that was open on Sunday. After that it was an uneventful drive down south.

I did make one stop in Charleville, just inside County Cork, for lunch. There was very little choice of eateries. It's a sleepy country town serving the agricultural sector with no tourist sights. I gave up and got a burger at Supermacs, one of the major chains in Ireland. It was tasty enough for the hamburger genre.

The route to Bantry involved many country roads and to get there I was used as a guinea pig again by Google Maps. I finally checked in at my B&B and drove into town to get takeaway pizza to eat in the B&B's kitchenette. But first I had a look around the harbour before placing my order. This is the statue of St. Brendan the navigator in the town square.

The Bantry Church of Ireland to one side of the square.

I think the pizzeria was one of these restaurants at this corner of the square.

New Street, one of the roads exiting the square.

The tavern closer up.

I hope they are tasty at least.

An anchor from the French armada force of 1796 discovered in Bantry Bay in 1980.

The small Stella Cinema.

Bantry seemed to be living up to its reputation of being a neat town.

Colourful buildings on one side of the harbour.

Looking back from the harbour.

Mná is Gaelic for women. If I'm correct, the other side should have fir.

Panoramas with varying distortion: