Greetings from Dublin

We're enjoying this bustling cosmopolitan city.  It's easy to get around on foot and the weather has been a little better than expected (i.e. more sun than rain).  We've had our first taste of Guinness--it's got an interesting mouth-feel and is a little sweeter than I expected.

Lloyd is attending a conference at Trinity College and I get to explore.  Yesterday I walked along the River Liffey in the old Docklands area (now completely refurbished as apartments, offices, shops, bars and restaurants but unfortunately many empty storefronts) and came across the Famine Statues.  This memorial is on the docks from where many desperate people left on ships in the mid-19th C.

These statues are taller than life-size but very skinny making this a very poignant memorial.

Lloyd and I took the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) to one end of the line last night and spent a lovely evening on the seaside at Howth.  We were able to sit outside on the patio (white wine for me, Guinness for Lloyd) for a dinner of locally caught crumbed haddock.

The ruins of the 14th C St Mary's Abbey above Howth Harbour

I'm just about to walk off my second Irish breakfast.  We're staying at Shelbourne Townhouse.  Even though our room backs onto the DART line, it's very quiet, maybe because these are electric trains.  I can hear birds chirping in the garden and the wind in the trees.  It's about a 20 minute walk to Trinity College.

The DART just about to pass along the back of the garden