Dublin Wrapped

 Our last day in Dublin started off cloudy and cool but finished clear and warm, though our excellent host Jack would call it hot.

As we needed to get back to the airport by 3pm to pick up our car for the rest of the holiday we only had until 1.30 to complete our tour of this engaging city so relatively early we set off for Phoenix Park one of Europe’s largest designed urban spaces some 4 kms or so away.

The Wellington Testimonial, a 62m granite obelisk dominates the area of the park we explored. It was constructed from 1815 - 1865 and is a testimonial to Arthur Wellesley, the then Duke of Wellington

This is a statue of Sean Heuston an Irish Republican who took part in the Easter  Rising of 1916 and was executed for his troubles the same year.

Leaving the park we continued on to the city centre, stopping for a coffee in a cafe where we watched a gent pour at least 5 sachets of sugar into his coffee. We joked with him about that and he said also jokingly he wasn’t satisfied until his spoon stood up straight in the cup!

Crowds of tourists were in the vicinity of the Temple Bar taking photos (as did we again, this time of the references to those after whom the area was named)

The story of William Temple is fascinating and can be read at https://thetemplebarpub.com/history/the-amazing-story-of-sir-william-temple/

After lunch we walked back to our accommodation, picked up the documents for picking up the rental car and took the bus to the airport and drove away with a Kia Sportage Hybrid.

It was only when we were back at the BnB I realised it was a PHEV and that at the handover no mention was made of the charging process or where the lead was etc. so will need to consult a manual tomorrow.

By now it was 5pm so we walked into the city for the last time to have a meal in one of the many lively pubs which soon filled up as the music played 

After dinner we had one last stroll through downtown Dublin saying our goodbyes and then caught the bus back to Drumcondra and our accommodation.

Having walked 18.9kms today in very nice weather I think sleep will come easy tonight and hopefully we will be fresh enough in the morning to start our planned journey around the rest of Ireland.