Dublin

Despite all I have been told about Ireland's weather I have been greeted with twelve consecutive days of sunshiny spring weather.  Apart from a thirty minute downpour in Dublin its been all cloudless blue skies and balmy temperatures in the low teens!  I think the locals are as surprised as me but it has been glorious.  I must be one of the few people to travel in Ireland in late winter to emerge with a light tan. Spring is definitely here and It's turned out to be a great time to travel here.

Dublin was a revelation of sorts. I stayed near the famous 'Temple Bar' area adjacent to the river Liffey.  It was all music and pubs and cobbled streets with a real feeling of revelry in the air.
The pubs have a great vibe. Traditional music in a lot of them and live music in most, they have a superb atmosphere.  The Temple Bar itself (not to be confused by the name of the area) is ornately lit by hundreds of coloured lights organised section by section.  So one area will have red lights and another green and so on. If you happen to want a cigarette technically you have to go outside but I was astounded by the fact that there is an internal garden bar!  At least as much as there is a room sized whole in the roof where everyone is allowed to smoke.  It seems like a cunning loophole but certainly pleases the punters.

It is a real arts town and full of history.  Many famous writers were from here; Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and WB Yeats to name but a few.  It's apt then that one of the oldest surviving texts 'The book of Kells' is kept in Trinity College Dublin.  It's an 8th century illuminated gospel which was originally written by monks in Iona and then smuggled to Kells to keep in from becoming
more Viking plunder. Written in Latin on calf skin it's also a shining example of early Celtic art and it's still in a fine condition in the college library today.

I did visit Trinity College and also the national archaeological museum nearby which has a great many treasures, but in such a town of storytellers and music it would be remiss not to truly dine out on the rich cultural experiences available on the streets and in the town's many pubs.
The craic was here, in abundance in Dublin. And over the course of three nights I experienced amongst other things the silky splendour of true Irish Guinness, the effervescent friendliness of Irish men and women, and some of the best live music I have heard in a long time.  All culminating in a whirlwind final night in Dublin taking in an outstanding acoustic performance in one of many crowded pubs.

Some were sitting in rapt attention, some dancing, all drinking as this guitarist strummed away some of the finest covers from the last twenty years in the perfect tone.  The Pogues and Tracey Chapman went down well but I think for me the finest moment was Crowded House's Don't Dream it's over. My arms were raised in a kind of victory salute for the entire length of the song

They were playing our music; here! In this centre of the arts. How proud I was. What a feeling, what a night... I won't tell you about the next morning.