Dublin

Dublin, Ireland - September 3, 2015

We arrived in Dublin at about 9:30 p.m., so just went straight to our hotel -- the Airport Hilton. We used Air Miles to book the first night and paid cash for the other. It was a good deal. Beautiful, comfortable room, close to the airport. Free shuttle from the airport and only €2 to ride to the airport. Buffet breakfast included.

The next day, after a leisurely breakfast, we did some Googling, trying to figure out how to use the bus to get into the city centre. It was about 9 km away, so a little far to walk, and although Dublin has those rental bikes, there are no stations this far out of the centre. Finally, we decided that it would be best just to pay cash  -- maybe €3.20 each? 

A "Tesco Extra" -- similar to a Super Wal-Mart -- is right across from the hotel, and there is a bus stop there, so we went and checked the electronic board. The number of the bus we wanted was displayed there, so we figured we were OK.

Photo from this website

A bus came and we started to board, but a young guy saw our money and told us, "The driver can't take notes, only coins." Bummer. So we went into the Tesco and got change, came back out and waited for the next bus. It turned out the cost was only €2.60 each, so that was a pleasant surprise. 



I don't normally like riding the bus, but this ride was another pleasant surprise. It was a double-decker bus, so we sat on top and had a glimpse of the city: different types of housing, including cottages, semi-detached 2-storey homes, and some rather elegant 2-storey detached homes. We weren't sure exactly what to look for when getting off at "city centre" but we took a guess and ended up close to a pedestrian shopping street, which worked out just great. 


Our first stop was an information centre, where we picked up a city map and then we began exploring. The River Liffey runs straight through the city centre -- it is so straight that we thought it was a canal -- crossed by numerous traffic and pedestrian bridges and lined with old and newer buildings.




The tall domed structure is St. Paul's Church.

Once again, I suggested using the hire cycles -- these are sponsored by Coca-Cola, so I thought for sure Dave would go for it, but no. So we walked.

South of the river, we went to Dublin Castle. This complex dates back to the early 1200s and is still being used today. We enjoyed looking at the old buildings, courtyard, garden, etc., and learned a lot of stuff we didn't know about Irish history.

From here we wandered through the streets to 

St. Patrick's Cathedral (1191):

I don't know if I will ever get tired of looking at old buildings, but it certainly hasn't happened yet. I can't get over my amazement that people back in the 1100s could construct something like this -- so beautiful, so intricate and so durable. 

There are many plaques like this, acknowledging people who are buried on the site -- apparently more than 500 of them. The only name I recognized right off was that of Jonathan Swift. 

St. Patrick's Churchyard

The Liberty Bell Sculpture

As we walked a little farther, we came to Christ Church Cathedral, another old and fantastically beautiful church. It was built even earlier than St. Patrick's -- in 1030. I especially liked the "fully integrated stone bridge" -- a covered walkway leading to the hall across the street.

The Church of Immaculate Conception

This building also caught my eye. "Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers Society. Founded AD 1790"  

Dublin also has some pretty decent bike lanes and bike boxes; I think I will have to come back on my own some day and try them out. 

There is so much more to see in this "fair city" that I was sorry we only had the one day.

We ended the day by eating dinner in a pub. Dave had "bangers and mash" and I had the soup of the day. These were the sinks in the classy, but not so clean ladies' room:

Brussels - part 2

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

After touring the Royal Palace and the garden across the way, we started our walk back towards the train station.

On the way we saw this awesome bike lane. Sadly, just as in Paris, Dave refused to try the "Villo" bikes. I liked the play on words of this name, and the first half hour of use is completely free, but I simply couldn't persuade him.

We also walked past another entrance to the Royal Palace, a gate complete with lions on guard. 

We walked across the Place du Luxembourg:

and sort of stumbled upon this tower, called the Hallepoort or Porte de Hal, a gate from medieval times. It was pretty fascinating, but we didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't go inside, just walked around and admired it form the outside.

 This modern skyscraper, such a contrast to all the old buildings we had been admiring, stands right next to the Gare du Midi train station.

The Tour du Midi or Zuidertoren - the South Tower

We ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant next to the station -- Dave had a steak & fries and I had "tuna toast" -- both with salad. Everything was yummy, and there was plenty of opportunity for people-watching.

And finally, we went back into the train station, said so long to Tintin and his friends, and boarded the train for Zaventem airport. 

au revoir, Paris; hallo, Brussels

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Today, after a leisurely breakfast and one of the cafes near the station, we took the train from Paris (Gare du Nord) to Brussels (Midi), a ride of about 1 1/2 hours. Strangely enough, there was a Canadian guy on the train, sitting just a few seats away (and talking the whole time.) Small world.

Disembarking at Brussels, the first thing we did was duck into the tourist office where we could purchase a map for €1. Maps have been free everywhere else, but hey, it's better than wandering around with no idea where you're going.

Of course, I wanted to find the Grand Place -- or Grote Markt -- depending on the speaker. We began by heading in the right direction, but somehow we got off track and drastically overshot the mark. The area is much smaller than it looks on the map, so it is easy to cover a lot of map in a short time. 

Turning around, we headed back towards the square, following the map carefully this time so as not to go wrong. And suddenly, we were there: 

The Town Hall (1400s)

The market was just getting set up and it was kind of cold, so we didn't hang around for long -- just walked around the square admiring the fairy-tale style buildings.

   

The Museum of the City of Brussels  (1868)

The architecture of the buildings is pretty cool, but the gilding elevates them into the realm of something special.  The building on the right is called la Maison du roi, the King's house, in French; but in Dutch the name is Broodhuis, the breadhouse.

These buildings have been rebuilt over the years since the 1400s, but they are still impressive.

Other buildings in the square are guildhalls.

The square itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

More of the Grand Place

Another fantastically elaborate building -- which seems to be simply a pharmacy!

And of course we had to check out the Manneken Pis, apparently a symbol of the rebellious spirit of the city. Imagine posing in front of this with your young daughter! (No, I don't know that guy! He just got in the way as I was snapping the photo.)

Near here we also ducked into a waffle shop, where I sampled a filled waffle, with Belgian dark chocolate. It was good, but nothing really spectacular.

Next we walked up stairs and steep streets to the Kunstberg or Mont des Arts (hill of the arts) -- beautiful gardens, statues and more historic buildings. Also a great view of the city.

Mont des Arts Garden

Church of Saint Jacques-sur-Coudenbourg 
OR Sint-Jacob-op-Koudenberg
1780s

Then we went on to the Royal Palace:

Since the king and queen and the royal children were away on holiday, we were allowed to go inside and walk around, but we were not allowed to take flash photos. Ask me how I know.








I was pretty impressed with all the chandeliers. Can you imagine cleaning these things? I didn't see even one cobweb.

Some of the rooms had gorgeous paintings, including scenes of Venice. The wooden floors were also impressive.

And the green stuff on the ceiling and walls of this room is made from wing cases of beetles. Amazing!

This is the front gate of the palace grounds:

 

Across the road from the palace is a lovely garden with a big fountain and many statues, including this one of Diana, or Artemis, goddess of the hunt.

This building, across from the other side of the park, is the Brussels Parliament Building. I liked the police officers standing guard, in their orange vests...

and these bicycle police in their orange helmets.