I wish I could remember the name of the pub where I took this picture as well as the previous one – down one of the first streets in the Temple Bar area. Anyway, both the bar itself and one of the tables were covered in brightly polished copper.
I was determined to try to capture the beauty and the light.
As I’ve mentioned in the first Ireland-post, most of the time my picture taking would be limited by how far I could fall behind the family. Once a day, however, I had plenty of time – when we had our pub stop.
There was no way Peter was going to miss out on good beer while in Ireland, and thankfullt the laws around allowing minors into pubs are quite liberal. We would usually find a much needed seat around 4 p.m. and hang out for a good hour before leaving again. There was just a limit to how much walking could be done in one day.
Spending that much time relaxing in one place also gave me time to take in my surroundings and go for that challenging shot that usually only patience and trying every angle will get you. Here’s one of them.
Seán Heuston Bridge – that’s where the last lattice was from. I noticed the iron work when we crossed the bridge to catch a bus to the center and decided I had to come back and take some shots. With the hotel only a few minutes away it was no groundbreaking decision and the sun even came out for me.
This photo shows the view towards the center – the Guiness Brewery. Yesterday was a completely different story. That view looked more like a old fortress.
Enough of lattices. I didn’t find any other worth taking pictures of though I’m sure there must be plenty around for me to discover on my next trip to Ireland. However, it’s not the fall break to Ireland 2012 – more to come tomorrow…
And yesterday’s lattice was from… National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street branch. This was one more free museum. I loved this about Dublin. We visited two branches of the National Museum.
One was right next to the Ashling Hotel and featured “The way we wore” about dress and accessories through centuries. The moment the kids caught sight of a computer screen as part of the exhibition, though, it was hard to get them to move. I don’t think the exhibition made much of an impression but they loved the touch screen – big sigh. I try to tell myself that if just one item in a museum makes an impression on either of them it’s a succes.
The branch in Kildare Street is a good size, not too big. The building is beautiful, and they have a magnificient collection of gold from the bronze age. I loved it. The children loved the museum store 🙂
Isn’t this just pretty?
Yesterdays lattice was from… St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre on Grafton Street. If you’ve looked beyond the shops I’m sure you could recognize it. We didn’t spend much time. Most of all we needed a public restroom. But the lattice was pretty and I found the whole design of the mall light, inviting, and decorative. It’s a fun idea to go Victorian rather than modern. I would not have guessed that it was built in the ’80.
Yesterdays lattice was from… Dublin Castle. We passed the garden on the way to the Chester Beatty Library.
The Chester Beaty Library was one of my attempts at insisting we saw some sights of cultural value as well. Somehow children’s go tired the moment they hear the word “museum”. That’s why I only go for museums with free admission. At least we don’t have to get into the argument of how much we paid to get in but can leave fast when required.
The Chester Beatty Library was a hit, though. There was the most beautiful exibition of handwritten and handpainted manuscripts and miniature paintings through the ages. I adore the islamic miniature art of which we have a fine collection in Copenhagen (David’s Collection) and I could have spent days studying the collection in Dublin. I’ll have to return some day because time (and the patience of my family) only allowed for a fast walk-through.
The kids did enjoy themselves as well, though. There was a table on the landing outside the manuscript collection with crayons and postcards you could colour. And what a wonderful idea to leave out two carefully coloured examples of the oriental motive to inspire. Even my 11-year old son refused to leave before he has finished. Which left time for Peter and I to take coffee in another covered courtyard.
Here’s a second shot from todays mystery lattice.
The lattice in Post 1 was from Powerscourt Town House, off Grafton Street. We had coffee there and enjoyed sitting outside inside. Doesn’t make sense? A 1774 town house has been restored and converted to house more than 60 boutiques, and the original open courtyard has been covered in glass and steel – home of the café.
This second lattice is the least conventional of the ones I have photographed in that it is not a repeated sequence. This is so clearly handforged and just beautiful in its own right. I’ll let you know tomorrow where I found it.
How do you photograph a city? You can’t really. I tend to find a theme through which I can illustrate at least part of my experience of being in a place. I found several even during our five day trip to Dublin and Galway, and here’s the first – lattice. I’ve got five different ones for you and two dublicates. I wish I’d had time to find more but with a husband and two younger kids along there was a lot of point and shoot happening.
I’ve noticed that I have the honor of several Irish checking up on this Ireland thread. Wanna play a little game? Where was this photo taken? I’ll tell you tomorrow. No prices I’m afraid, but you earn the right to brag about your superior knowledge of Dublin if you get them all right 🙂
Last shot from the zoo but certainly not the last from Ireland.
These girafs were kind enough to postition themselves acording to size. There were many girafs, more than I’ve ever seen before, and we were present right when they were let out on the ‘savanna’ practically running around with joy. A treat!
Our last stop at the zoo was the restaurant. That was another first for me. One side of the restaurant was covered from top to bottom in glass panels and on the other side was an entire population of meerkats. What made an even more interesting spectacle than the meerkats was the line-up of art students sitting on chairs, trying to draw the meerkats. I really wondered who was watching who. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take a good photo of it.
Just one more ‘cat’ – a shy snow leopard. It had a lot more privacy than the tigers and had us running back and forth between the window panels at either end of it’s living quarters, trying to catch a glimpse of it.
Karins Fotos 