Teaghlach.

We did more exploring of Dublin today, Kaff, Alex and me. As a treat to the painter in our group, we visited the Hugh Lane Gallery and the relocated and eerily preserved studio of Francis Bacon. Slobby, yet lovely:Not a cheery place to hang, overall pretty sobering: Kilmainham Gaol.Wines, spirits, Ireland.A view of Dublin from above, at the Guiness Storehouse:Cutest couple known to mankind:By the way, I think I may have found one of the (many?) reasons why British and Irish cuisine gets a bad rap; behold, Exhibit A:
"Brown sauce"-?? I mean, what the heck is that?? Sigh.
By the way, I sampled it to find out - and, well, it tastes brown. Decidedly.

Siúr.

Whoo! Caught up with my sister and brother-in-law, ready for some Dublin stuff. Yay Dublin! We lucked out with some crazily beautiful sunny warm weather – unusual for a place accustomed to much sogginess. Here are Kaff and Alex in goooorgeous St. Stephen’s Green:In case you were uncertain, this next one is the Temple Bar in the Temple Bar section of the city. Just to clarify. No confusion.
Alex took this one of Kaff and me on Grafton Street:
I think it's the ".com" on this that killed me:Poor little swan, picking through the garbage to feed itself on the River Liffey:More tomorrow.

On the loose in Dublin.

WHOOO Dublin!!

I must say, it's nice to be back in a country where I speak the language, and therefore can understand the clever wordplay in the advertisements. Very punny, indeed:

And this - finally, a coffee joint that tells it like it is:You may have noticed that I have a fondness for wig shops... I am especially fond of ones that tell me not to worry. OK! Not worried. I'm definitely not worried about there being any shortage of wigs, should I ever be in need.Here's a slice of some of Dublin’s charms. Charm away, little doors:Some ladies hanging out in Dublin:Travel can be exhausting. Found this guy on the lawn at Christchurch cathedral - it looked like a good idea, so I assumed a similar position on a nearby lawn (but kept my shirt on).

Technical difficulties: please stand by.

Ok. I’m having trouble with the wifi connection at my apartment, so I will have to make these updates from a remote location temporarily.

In the meantime, here’s a message for you from the Dublin airport:

I was relieved, SO relieved, to know that I wouldn’t be dragging around any Irish cooties on the soles of my shoes. It must be said that the Paris-Beauvais airport offered no such promises, however… so for all I know, by now I could be infected with all manner of French germ.

I’m ok with this though.

Infected but still unconnected,

-d.