Dublin trip

There appears to be two Long Halls in Gt George St. One is on the corner of
Gt Denmark St, which is a few yards from our hotel, the Belvedere. Is one
better than the other?

 

It's all free so you can drop in for a short look at the highlights
(Caravaggio and Yeats in the National; Bacon in the Hugh Lane) and
feck off it you're not impressed. The Chester Beatty Library is good
too, in Dublin Castle (Far Eastern art and manuscripts).

Don't know it, but if you like comedy, the home of stand-up in Dublin
is the International, near Grafton Street. I suspect it's a bit hit
and miss but a lot of the big names started there. The local
equivalent of Time Out is In Dublin.

 

I'm thinking of the one at number 51, the old one with a short front
that goes a long way back from the street. Also, you might like
Whelan's which is also one of my favorite music venues, and The Front
Room at one end of Temple Bar, opposite City Hall, which is comfy and
stylish without being up itself.

And watch out for the Blacks in the Jacks.

 

"Why did the donkey cross the road?"
"To get the potatoes to the other side."

etc.

 

God love the English when they try to be witty.

 

I'll second the Botanic Gardens. Reasonably spacious, with interesting
things growing in the old (but recently restored) hot houses. Once
you've worked up a thirst there, pop around the corner to the bar (not
the lounge, which is nothing special) in the Gravediggers pub (real
name Kavanaghs) on Prospect Square. It's as old fashioned as they get,
and not particularly prone to tourism.

http://tinyurl.com/mcxwl3

I think a rented car is required for this - the bus service gets you there
and back, but it's a long long walk to get into interesting countryside.

Brian.

 

$:

cheers Bryan, I've put on the list. Must get a map...

 

Dublin Bus to Enniskerry is okay, or Saint Kevin's bus to Glendalough
or Roundwood (might not leave much time to look around) or Dart to
Bray (miserable Hibernian version of a low-rent Blackpool) and wander
round Bray Head.