June 5th Westport to Dublin

We spent some time checking out Westport before we left. For 2 nights, we had seen Gavin's Café which was closed and made some jokes about Mike finally creating a brew pub for Ireland or for cousin Joe to ply his trade. But this morning it turned out to be open. It is a bakery and cafe run by a man whose last name is Gavin. His family is from Mayo and he has a son tending bar on 8th avenue in NYC.

 

We finally got moving with Mike driving much to my chagrin. Fortunately it was going to be 2 short blocks till he was on N5. I do not want another experience of being in the passenger seat with him driving one of the 2 way 1 lane roads.  Our   first and probably only stop is at the National Museum of Country Life. It traced a lot of the real life experiences and work of rural Ireland in the 19th and first half of 20th centuries.  It was really fascinating. The museum was a new four story building that was set next to the 2nd family home of the Earl of Turlough, the first being a ruin that we could see from the property. You were able to see 2 of the rooms of the manor house plus there were 2 green houses, one a vinery. But in addition to the fascinating museum and the house, the grounds were wonderful. I didn't see anything about it but I would not be surprised if they were the same formal layout of the original owners.

 

 

Because of the lack of wood, the museum showed how straw and other plants were used to construct so many of the things we associate with wood, like chairs and roofs. And how stones and mud were used for building.

 We ate lunch on the lawns and got a bunch of great pictures. It is surprising how few trees there are in the west of Ireland. Apparently they were all cut down over 2000 years ago, leaving the countryside barren. But there are reforestation projects which are seeing more and more trees planted. And I got lots of great pictures of trees which I want to do a quilt with.

Now we are following to many trucks through towns on the N5, so we will probably hit Dublin about rush hour. I am worried about how far away our hotel may be. I have reservations for 2 nights at an ibis which is part of the Accor group using my points that I earned at the DC Sofitel. So we may be spending our money on buses and taxis.

 

After check in, and I am not thrilled with this place,we went to find the tram or laus as it is called and head into Dublin for dinner. The laus costs about the same as the MTA but is much cleaner and less crowded. Even though we stood a lot, it was not 'breathing room only' like the subway often is.

For those who don't know, Temple Bar is an old section of Dublin and full of bars and restaurants…but primarily bars. It is totally about tourists and kids (18 to 30), but it is something everyone does when they go to Dublin and the guys wanted to do it. I had never done it since it is not something that you tend to do as a single female. So that is were we were headed Wednesday night. After a few false starts, we ended up in THE Temple Bar for sandwiches and beer. There was live music but it was American rock.

Afterwards, we went in search of another bar, hopefully with craft beers. We found it in the Mercant's Arch, a  really neat bar which had 2 floors. Upstairs, which we discovered first, was quiet but a really cool room, renovated Georgian with tables and chairs like modern hippy. Nice selection of beer, so with drinks in hand, we headed downstairs for music. It was down an interior marble staircase with rod iron and wood banisters. Downstairs was a funky bar with 2 guitar players, one of who was singing. For the most part, it was American rock and they guy's voice was okay but the guitar playing was really good. Incredible rendition of Hotel California!

No pictures from this night because we all forgot our cameras but lots tomorrow.