10 Questions About…

Another glorious day in Dublin. OK, we got caught in one little rain burst but otherwise – sunny, warm, breezy – amazing. I started my day at the Phoenix Park. We’re not too far from it so it was an easy hike. My goal was to find the wild deer. Apparently, there are 600 of them, so it sounds easy. But the park is almost 3 square miles – not so easy. I was about to give up when I saw them. I see a lot of deer in Minnesota but these deer are different. Their antlers are spectacular. I got pretty close, actually much closer than I probably should have – but I live to tell the tale.

Then I stopped into the Museum of Decorative Arts and History. It was a quick trip but I’m a sucker for any kind of reenactment setup. And there’s a room full of “overflow” silver and art is amazing.

Next, I met up with the girls in Temple Bar. Sadly, the Market isn’t really what we remember from when they were kids. It’s much smaller now but always fun to walk around that area. We caught lunch and headed to the National Gallery, a big favorite from when they were kids. They’ve moved so many things around but they still have a nice mix of old and new art. Some of my favorites: Shield with Head of Medusa by an unkown artist (seen with Aine below), Late Late Show host Gay Byrne by John Kindness, Sinead O’Connor by Jane Brown and a mirror (featuring me and Aine below) in one of the majesty galleries.

Because we were back in the neighborhood we knew, we stopped by Merrion Park to see the statue of Oscar Wilde. Years ago, I heard they were going to add an audio component of him (or someone) reading his most quotable quotes. I hope that happens someday. Then we headed home. We stopped by the charity shops where I got two new dressed. (Score one for the usually bad shopper!) The next statue was musician Luke Kelly, posing with me below – later posed with Phil Lynott.

I took a long walk. Saw some amazing street art and then went to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, where I saw all of the awesome outside art the girls love when they were little and I saw the Irish Coast Guard land a helicopter. I watched for a minute, hoping it was an art installation. It wasn’t but I didn’t see much happen after the landing. The IMMA is built in the old Kilmainham Hospital. So some irony there.

At night we went to the Port House, our favorite tapas restaurant and then on search for the perfect pub. We went to a couple. It was heartening to see so many people at the pubs – post pandemic and really post Celtic Tiger. I haven’t seen the pubs fill so fast in a very long time. Also through the day saw some awes street art!