Day 13 Tuesday 26th May 2009 A Day in Dublin

Day 13. Tuesday 26th May 2009. A day in Dublin.
Today the sun is lighting up the scene a little and the city does not look quite so grey. Our hotel is situated about 2 miles from the City Centre. Just outside our hotel is the River Liffey and on each side of it are two one way main roads that lead to and from the centre of the city and on to the port. I needed to cash some traveller’s cheques so I set off along the road. Beside the hotel and on a separate road running parallel to the main road is a tram track with frequent well patronised trams. I had no Euros so I set off on foot. Within ten minutes I was looking at shops on the way. The pastry shops were lovely, but oh the price of sandwiches and cakes; sandwiches were on average about €5.00 ($NZ12.50). After a while I managed to find a bank that would cash my cheques for a small fee, but woe is me, I had brought Fay’s passport rather than mine. Just as well I have my new Westpac worldwide debit card; it is really useful. It gives $US in America, Pounds in Great Britain and Euros in Ireland and Europe; all on the one card. As I wandered along I found a pedestrian mall full of interesting shops and street vendors. There was a specialist soap shop; all the different handmade soaps filled the air with an overpowering fragrance. The meat shops were colourful but wow the price of meat is high; one large (10kg is my estimate) leg of pork was €49.99c ($NZ125 approx.) There were several old grand ma mas pushing perambulators. They did not have their grandchildren in them; one had bananas, one had pears and one had lovely red cherries; yes they were selling them to passersby. Men were sitting on chairs holding placards advertising nearby business. One was for an Irish fortune teller. One busker was playing lively music on an accordion and another was singing as he played his guitar. One cake shop was particularly enticing; I bought a lovely butterfly cupcake liberally covered with cream and took it for Fay who was having a day of rest back to the hotel. I had walked all the way over a period of 5 hours. The hotel we are staying at is a Best Western, the Ashling Hotel. It has recently been refurbished. The rooms are large and comfortable; the fittings are mostly chrome even down to the power points. There are two large mirrors; fay is intrigued that she appears many times off into the distance as she sits in bed watching the nice flat screen LCD Television. We had a splendid dinner in the hotel restaurant.