Tag Archives: R. Doug Wicker

Let’s continue where we left off on Monday. That would be Ha’penny Bridge on the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland:

And as I mentioned on Monday, Ha’penny Bridge is a great place to just people watch for a bit:

Heading into the Temple Bar district you’ll find a lot of great places to eat:

By the way, our favorite restaurant in this area is Quays Irish Restaurant — reasonably priced with great Irish cuisine and even better Irish beer (forget the Guinness; instead try Smithwick’s ruby-red Irish ale).

The locals look down on Temple Bar, with many considering it the tourist area, but I still saw many locals there despite those claims. It’s certainly a happening spot with lots of color, but make sure you price out the restaurants and avoid the pricey bars.

Our hotel was in this area, and we loved it. The rates were affordable, the digs comfortable, and the location superb. It was the colorfully appointed Blooms Hotel:

By now many of you are aware that both Ursula and I are avid fans of Hop-on/Hop-off busses. There’s not much better in most cities for getting one’s bearings and figuring out what one want’s to visit more in depth. So, after hoofing it about O’Connell Street Lower and a bite to eat we took our first Hop-on/Hop-off ride. Along the ride we passed beneath a foot bridge spanning market street that connects two structures at the Guinness Storehouse:

A short hop later and we found a destination we had to hit, and which you’ll see more in-depth next Monday. This is the Pearse Lyons Distillery, which is housed in the old St. James’ Church and a more modern adjacent structure:

Now let’s head back into Temple Bar for one last image:

This week begins a new travel photography series. It begins with a four-day stay in Dublin, Ireland. After that we flew to Amsterdam to catch a Royal Caribbean ship, Brilliance of the Seas, on which we headed to . . . Ireland. During this series I’ll be showing you many sights in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, after which we’ll go transatlantic to Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Reaching Tampa, I’m going to keep you captive for a back-to-back aboard Brilliance of the Seas for a look at the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá. So, stick with this series and you’ll see over the coming months quite a diverse set of cruise destinations.

We’re going to start our look at Dublin with some general sightseeing, starting with the statue of legendary fishwife Molly Malone of Cockles & Mussels fame:

But I’m taking things a bit out of order. Let’s head over to O’Connell Street Lower and have a look around beginning with this beautiful façade at the corner with Abbey Street Lower:

In the median almost directly across from the building above is a statue of Irish nationalist William Smith O’Brien. This statue was erected in the 1880s in Dublin’s South Quays area before making its way to O’Connell Street in 1929:

About 480 feet/145 meters north of Mr. O’Brien stands a 394-foot/120-meter stainless steel needle. This is the Spire of Dublin, which was completed on 21 January 2003. Not hugely popular when it was first proposed, it ‘in’spired (see what I did there?) several less than flattering nicknames. Those included “The Stiletto in the Ghetto”, “The Spire in the Mire”, and my personal favorite as told to us by our Hop-On/Hop-Off guide, “The Stiffy on the Liffey” (referring to the nearby River Liffey):

Heading back south toward the River Liffey is another monument. The subject of this memorial is Daniel O’Connell, known as ‘The Liberator’, who was the de facto leader of Ireland’s Roman Catholic majority during the first half of the 19^th century.

We’re now going to take in the sights along the River Liffey, which cuts Dublin in two and is home to some of Dublin’s residents:

Hanging a right and proceeding west we reach the Ha’penny Bridge, officially called the Liffey Bridge. This cast iron pedestrian bridge is a fun place to hang out for a while and snap some people photos:

Continuing on, make sure you zoom your camera across the river for views of the Temple Bar section of Dublin:

Today’s last two shots were taken from atop Ha’penny Bridge facing east. The second shot is zoomed in on the classically styled Custom House, and behind that building you can see the much more modern International Financial Services Centre: