Back to School at Historic Trinity College in Dublin

Day 23, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure

Saturday, June 3, 2023; Dún Laoghaire/Dublin, Ireland.

Another Irish restaurant, another bowl of fish chowder, this time with a side of mussels and a local pint, as they say.

This time the chowder was heavy on the potatoes, but the flavor was great and there was plenty of fish mixed in. The mussels were about the smallest I have seen, so it was a lot of work for little reward, but they were good. And I was glad to have the typical brown bread to soak up the juices.

The streets of Temple Bar were crowded, as our streak of great weather continues – sunny and in the high 60s.

Now that larger cruise ships aren’t allowed to dock in Dublin, we anchor off the suburb of Dún Laoghaire, tender to shore and take a commuter train into the city.

Since I had just been in Dublin a month ago, I had planned to spend today in Dún Laoghaire, visiting the Irish Maritime Museum, the People’s Park and other nearby places of interest. But I do love Dublin, so decided last night that I would take the train in.

Deciding to leave early was a good decision, as I hear that long waits for tender tickets developed once the ship excursions started to disembark. When I asked where everyone was as I got my ticket (a No. 2) at 8 a.m., the response was that many of the passengers had booked excursions.

I found myself on a tour of Trinity College, led by an enthusiastic student. I have visited the campus before to sketch, but the tour added context. It was fascinating to hear about it from a student’s perspective. Makes me want to go back to college! Well, maybe not. She told us that the mirror-image Georgian buildings (on either side of the above photograph of the bell tower) are known as Heaven and Hell. Heaven has the chapel; Hell has the examination rooms.

The Museum Building is encircled with a row of carved wildflower blossoms – each one native to Ireland and each one different. The stunning interior features different Irish granite and other stones, as well as the skeleton of a Giant Irish Deer.

Our tour ended in the Old Library building, where we filed by the Book of Kells, an ancient illustrated manuscript of the Gospels, believed to date from around 800 AD. Today it was opened to a blank page opposite a beautifully drawn and painted page of Celtic designs. No photos allowed.

The Long Room that normally holds tens of thousands of old books is almost devoid of the volumes. After the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the college decided its library needed better protection. Workers also are cataloging all the books – something never done before. According to our guide, they were arranged according to size. Unbelievable.

After the tour and a bit of sketching, I practically retraced the steps my sister Elaine and I took in Dublin exactly a month ago (except no Marks & Spencer clothing purchases). I stopped for photos at the statue of Molly Malone and then by Oscar Wilde’s statue in Merrion Square.

My high school and college friend Carla posted a picture there earlier this week. She is on a Viking ship, visiting the same ports but never on the same day we are. Two other friends are separately touring the British Isles right now, and I am missing them by just a day or two. After running into another high school friend in late April in Portree, Scotland, you just never know.

The four members of the musical group Cantaré left this morning to move to another Holland America ship. They performed three times on my initial 16-day cruise after the world cruise, and then the same three performances this last week. It won’t surprise me to see them again late this month and perhaps even in July, as I am cruising on four segments this summer. That is one disadvantage of sailing on back-to-back cruises. The entertainment repeats. So does the menu, but then, so does my menu at home. Just something I notice.

I passed on dinner in the dining room tonight. One of the Lido managers brought me a bowl of Cheerios – my go-to dinner when I am not too hungry. Cereal is out in the morning but not in the evening. It was just what I wanted.