Sara and Mark at the famous Temple Bar.
We were walking by this bar after dinner and decided that we had to stop in and have a glass, not a pint, of Guinness. The place was a madhouse and it was only 7:00 PM on a Thursday evening.
Sara got to the apartment at about 1:15 this afternoon. We wandered around Dublin and had a drink at the Palace Bar and then had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant, II Vicoletto, that Sara found on the internet. Sara and I shared a burrata appetizer. For my main course I had pasta with a lamb ragu. After the waiter brought my dish to the table, he shaved thin slices of black truffle over the pasta as a finishing touch.
The service was fantastic and the food was sublime. Sara does such a great job finding outstanding restaurants.
Sara wasn’t scheduled to arrive until early afternoon so I got up early and went for a walk to find a place for breakfast. I found this place a couple of blocks from the apartment.
I am an adventurous eater but I don’t think I am ready to eat pudding for breakfast. It looks like it is bacon pudding and I have never had bacon pudding. But I like the maple bacon donuts at Voodoo Donuts, so maybe I would like bacon pudding.
As I kept walking and searching for a good old American stick to your ribs breakfast, I stumbled upon the Peace Park in Dublin.
This park is dedicated to all those who gave their lives during the struggle for Irish independence. It was a beautiful, peaceful park and it made me realize how much I don’t know about Irish history.
From the Peace Park I continued to walk and found myself at the old Dublin City Hall. Inside there are four statutes of men who played a pivotal role in the struggle for Irish independence.
This is a statute of Daniel O’Connell who fought for Catholic rights in what was then an Ireland ruled by the Protestant landed gentry.
As I was walking back to the apartment to welcome Sara to Dublin, I walked by a shoe store. It appears that the Camino is very big in Ireland.
When you think about it that makes sense. Ireland is a very Catholic country. The Camino has been a Catholic pilgrimage route for over 1200 years. Why wouldn’t the Camino be big in Ireland?
Speaking of Ireland being a very Catholic country, I have noticed that the sidewalks in Dublin are thronged by mothers pushing prams with a baby laying in the bed of the pram and groceries stacked on top of the baby.
The babies don’t seem to mind being buried underneath a load of groceries and the moms check on the babies every once in a while to make sure the babies are still breathing. All in all it seems to work well for the babies and the mothers.
My back has been stiff and sore the past couple of weeks. As I was walking back to the apartment to greet Sara I spied this enticing advertisement that promised relief for my back pain and muscle aches.
I decided that there was an overwhelming and unreasonable amount of pink involved here and pink is not a color that I am comfortable with. I would love to get a legitimate massage but this place screamed trouble with a capital T. My better judgement told me to avert my gaze and walk by this tawdry establishment without stopping and inquiring about their prices or their offering of services.
That’s it from Dublin for today. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thursday. Tomorrow Dana flies in from Iceland.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 
We went to the Temple Bar when we were there. Cool bar but also very crowded.
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When we first got there it wasn’t too crowded but when we left it was a madhouse.
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