The day dawned, not surprisingly, sunny and clear on this my last day. Perfect weather until mid-afternoon, when it normalized to cloudy with a cold breeze.

Today I visited the national Library – less visited than the library of Trinity College and in some ways just as fascinating. For one it is free and has a reading room that is not quite as impressive as the Long Room of the Trinity Library, but almost. There is also a freje electronic genealogy area, with helpful staff, if your roots are Irish. The building itself is also of architectural interest.

I then spent some hours in the national Museum – Archeology. This is also an architectural beauty. Indeed the building and it’s interior is worthy of a visit just for this. The flooring is intricate Victorian mosaic tiling, a significant proportion being lost under the display cabinets. I would move the museum contents elsewhere and use the building to better purpose.

I also discovered the Dublin equivalent of Rundle Mall – so I was content! Seething with shoppers and all the familiar universal brand shops and food outlets. Buskers abounded, one could have one’s photo taken with a leprechaun. A delightful elderly Irishman, in costume, performed traditional Irish dances and jigs (tap dancing sort of) on a board no
More than one meter square.

I am at the Dublin airport, the queues are daunting but to give credit where credit is due, they move with great speed. The efficiency of the facility to check in on-line or at the kiosks in the terminal is detracted from by the need to then join a long line to “bag drop” which are manned.

I wondered why the planes to America always have a FedEx cargo plane parked adjacent! It’s for the golf clubs and buggies! Every american has twice the luggage of everyone else. Still I have taken my bike to Europe on at least one occasion, so “let him who is without sin, cast the first stone”.

In case you assume i did not enjoy Ireland please be reassured that I had a delightful time. It was so very different compared to Spain but that was part of the appeal. Riding in he rain I’d not enjoyable no matter where you are but that was only on one day.

San Francisco here I come!