We started our second full day of sightseeing in Dublin at Mickey D's ... as we will start tomorrow as well ... gotta eat breakfast somewhere and the hotel prices are pretty pricey ... by the way here is a picture of the front of our HQ in Dublin.
It is well located to the tram station and Mickey D's ... other than that it's kinda in a residential/industrial area.
So ... we had bundled up our dirty clothes to this point and boarded the tram with bundles in tow to drop them off at the laundry for pickup later in the day. When we arrived at the laundromat a well dressed older gentleman with an umbrella was standing outside the shop door with a small bag of what was obviously his own dirty laundry. He advised us that the laundry operator was apparently gone for a bit but he expected him to return shortly as the lights were on in the shop.
CRAP! So we stood there wondering how long this was gonna take but in just a few minutes the proprietor walked up and unlocked the door. He took the gentleman's small bag and told him when they would be ready ... clearly a regular customer. A young woman rushed up with her bag and she dropped them off with just a brief greeting to the operator and he assured her he would text her when they were ready. So now it's our turn ... we handed over our bags, and asked him when they would be ready he asked when we wanted them we advised him after 1PM he said "no problem" and stashed them behind the counter ... I asked if we needed some sort of 'claim check' and he said "no ... it's a fool proof system ... they will be ready when you return ... I close at 6pm." ... so .... we left, discussing among ourselves how he was gonna know whose laundry was whose, and how would we make our laundry claim upon return ... but .. we decided since it was
"fool proof" we had nothing to worry about. It's a pretty small operation that does shoe repair and makes keys ... all one guy as far as I could tell ...
We walked down to the
Hop On Hop Off stop and waited for the bus. We rode down to what is apparently the city center and did a little 'tourist shopping'.
One thing that I took a picture of was the meat in a butcher shop ... it all looked really good and fresh. I hope I can zoom in enough to figure out what the price is per pound vs Euro per Kilo.
A few treasures were bought (no telling secrets here!!) and we Hopped back on for a short ride to the
Christ Church Cathedral stop.
Christ Church Cathedral started its history as a Viking cathedral built around 1030 ... merely 980 years ago!!
The present shape of the structure dates back to the 1180s ... a few pictures here, the link above directs you to more detail information. Many more pics in the gallery.
As I said there are several other pics of Christ Church in the gallery.
Since this was started as a Viking installation we toured the
Dublinia exhibit attached to the cathedral. This exhibit basically told the story of how the Vikings influenced the development of the area of Dublin ... basically they started the whole thing.
The link gives you plenty of information about the exhibit ... what I can say is I had no idea that any part of Ireland had any connection at all to the Vikings and the exhibit really opened my eyes to how influential the Vikings actually were ...
The exhibit also covered lifestyle in the 11th and 12th centuries ...
There are a few more pics in the gallery of the Dublinia exhibit.
We stopped for a soup and sandwich meal at a local pub and then toured the
Dublin Castle . This is still an 'active' public building today and several important government ceremonies are held there on a regular basis ... see the link for more detail. A few pics ...
Our last stop of the day was
St. Patrick's Cathedral .. a few more pics
We Hopped back on the bus ... made our way to the laundry ... made it before 6PM by about 45 minutes, paid 8 euro each for our clean laundy and rode the tram back to the hotel arriving JUST before the rain started.
So ..... in for the night ... then we check out tomorrow and head to Waterford to tour the crystal plant and then find our lodgings for the night.
