Celenga Apt. Dubrovnik Review

Celenga Apartments

Pros:
Large studio, kitchen, modern clean
Location, location, location
No stairs to climb inside the old city
Good WiFi

Cons
No daily cleaning service

Arrival Dubrovnik

On to Dubrovnik.....I could not sleep...i seem to be either charge up or jet lagged.  I had a 4:30 wake up to catch a 5:30 taxi to the airport. My flight, again on Aer Lingus is leaving at 7:40 and arriving at Dubrovnik at 11 am. The plane had about 20 people tops flying.  The flight was uneventful which is to say a good thing. A few hour plane ride and a world of weather difference.  Dubrovnik is hot.

I arrive at Dubrovnik and look for the local bus to take me into the city. I asked a few airport workers and even the bus driver about the bus but everyone seem to have a surly attitude. A far cry from the friendliness of Dublin.  I found my. Us, paid 6 euro, took my seat in the overcrowded bus and relaxed.  I tried talking to the person next to me but she seem not friendly. Probably an American.

The bus ride would have been or even was glorious  but we hit road work traffic and that slowed everything to a crawl. However, the drive open up where you had a beautiful, panoramic  Adriatic coast.   We arrive and immediately I notice the throng of people and the magical walled city. You cross a draw bridge to enter the town, walk down a flight of stairs and you are on the main road of the city.

I do reach my room, a good size studio apartment.  Elena gave me the 411 and I was off to unpack and relax.

 The lobby

 The bedroom and bath

The Harding Hotel: Review

Th Harding Hotel:

Pros:
Great location
Very reasonable $62 @ night
Helpful staff
Large clean, modern room

Cons: and only if you are picky

Lighting by bed is dim
Towels like all budget establishments are small and not very soft or absorbent.

Belfast...and The Ship of Dreams

The train from Dublin to Belfast took 2 1/2 hours and cost 40 euro standard, read 2nd class ticket.
The ride was uneventful but at time picturesque.  I had my kindle with me so I was good.  My stop was to visit the Titanic Museum. Belfast was once the world's shipping leader and producer of linen. Sadly, no more. The museum had some nicely done 3D visuals where you were taken throughout the ship. A ride took you below decks to see how men work on putting the ship together.
Here are some images.

An Irish Day..

I could hear the morning rain hitting my outside window.  I am going to visit the sites of the Irish rebellion.  My stop was the Post Office where the 1916 Easter Rebellion took place.  It was a nice 25-30 stroll from my hotel.  I crossed the river for the first time. I was told that the river is a dividing line between working class, north and affluent clash south.
The post office still retains the numerous bullet holes from the gun battle. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. You can still see the bullet holes in the building below.

Breakfast...

The start of my second day and other days begins at The Queen of Tarts. A renowned cafe that sells addictive deserts and eye opening coffee.  The Queen is on a side alley street on the way toward--everything....

Dublin Evening

The great thing about Dublin is that everything is within a 15 minute walk. You roll out of a pub at 2-3 am and all you need to do is take a short walk home.  The rain continued to come down but mostly in a mist or light way.  The rain glistening off the cobblestone streets creates and atmospheric walk through The Temple Bar area.  There is a Temple Bar and it is also a neighborhood like SoHo or Park Slope.  Outside you have workers hawking their establishments seeking out the curious and gullible mark/tourist.  I make sure to always pass these places by as an established place needs no barker outside luring people to stop in and eat or drink.

I hear music coming from across the street and make my way to see what is going on. The Quays pronounced Keys is what I am told is a lively pub with good sounds. I walk in head to the bar and order a  Corona with lime. the place is crowded with people having a good time.  The band or few guys keep everyone either clapping or foot stomping,

Two women or seem American are sitting together chatting their beer glasses close to empty.  I hail the bartender and tell him to buy them a round as I order another for myself. My back toward them I continue to dig the music when I feel a tap on my arm, a friendly smile and a thank you.  I find out that they are from Boston where I am given a hard time because I am a Yankee fan.  Boston of course is in the World Series which I hope they lose.

It seems they are related an aunt and her just graduated college niece.  This was her graduation gift.  What a wonderful aunt.  Their names are Auntie Merry and Megan. This is Megan's first time in Europe or abroad. We talk, laugh, drink and listen to music the night away.  I left about midnight as I started getting tired from still being up all day. A great first night in Dublin and now it is time for me to retire to fight another day.

Dublin arrival Day IV

At St. Patrick's.....

Dublin Arrival Day III

Still feeling spry I walk down Grafton Street toward St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Grafton street is the major shopping street and where I took a fall on the wet cobblestones.  The day was still raining on and off and the stones were slippery.  I got up check that I was more embarrassed than hurt and went on my way.  I starting walking around in circles and decided it was best to hop a cab to the site.

Dublin Arrival II

I was feeling good and decided to keep touring. I walked down King Edward  street toward Trinity College and the Book of Kells.

Trinity College Dublin was created by royal charter in 1592, at which point Dublin Corporation provided a suitable site, the former Priory of All Hallows. Its foundation came at a time when many universities were being established across western Europe in the belief that they would give prestige to the state in which they were located and that their graduates, clergy for the most part, would perform a vital service as civil administrators.  The establishment of a university was an essential step in bringing Ireland into the mainstream of European learning and in strengthening the Protestant Reformation within the country.

The Book of Kells is celebrated for its lavish decoration. The manuscript contains the four Gospels in Latin based on a Vulgate text, written on vellum (prepared calfskin), in a bold and expert version of the script known as "insular majuscule".

The place of origin of the Book of Kells is generally attributed to the scriptorium of the monastery founded around 561 by St Colum Cille on Iona, an island off the west coast of Scotland. In 806, following a Viking raid on the island which left 68 of the community dead, the Columban monks took refuge in a new monastery at Kells, County Meath. It must have been close to the year 800 that the Book of Kells was written, although there is no way of knowing if the book was produced wholly at Iona or at Kells, or partially at each location.

It is difficult to appreciate the original beauty of the book of Kells .  The book under glass and no overhead lighting combined with the fading of the beautiful colors make it hard to see. Let alone there are so many people surrounding the book.

However, I loved the long room. The main chamber of the Old Library is the Long Room, and at 
nearly 65 metres in length, it is filled with 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books. When built (between 1712 and 1732) it had a flat plaster ceiling and shelving for books was on the lower level only, with an open gallery. By the 1850s these shelves had become completely full; largely as since 1801 the Library had been given the right to claim a free copy of every book published in Britain and Ireland. In 1860 the roof was raised to allow construction of the present barrel-vaulted ceiling and upper gallery bookcases.

Marble busts line the Long Room, a collection that began in 1743 when 14 busts were commissioned from sculptor Peter Schemakers. The busts are of the great philosophers and writers of the western world and also of men connected with Trinity College - famous and not so famous. The finest bust in the collection is of the writer Jonathan Swift by Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Other treasures in the Long Room include one of the few remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic which was read outside the General Post Office on 24 April 1916 by Patrick Pearse at the start of the Easter Rising. The harp is the oldest of its kind in Ireland and probably dates from the 15th century. It is made of oak and willow with 29 brass strings. It is the model for the emblem of Ireland.

Dublin Arrival Day I

Business class to Dublin, thank you British Avios and Chase bank.  A $3000 ticket cost me $68 and 40,000 Avios Points.  The seat wonderfully comfortable as it extended like a bed.  The food a lobster, salmon tart was delicious. I actually slept.

I got off what seemed like a brief flight and headed to the bus stop outside the terminal. The morning rain pelts me as I await the bus. The ride with early morning Dublin traffic took about an hour.  The rain was coming down hard that I could not see out the window for my stop but luckily the driver is easy to understand.  The bus arrives less than half a block from my hotel; The Harding House.  I did not want to go to the room and relax or I would have fallen asleep.  After twenty minutes, I was given the key to room 510 to see if I liked it.  The room was modern, clean, with a big bed, nice bathroom and skylight.  More than adequate for my needs. I unpacked my bags and headed out for my first stop.

Across the street from the hotel is Christchurch.  Christ Church Cathedral is located in the former heart of medieval Dublin.  The cathedral was founded probably sometime after 1028 when King Sitric Silkenbeard, the Hiberno-Norse king of Dublin made a pilgrimage to Rome. Christ Church also contains the largest cathedral crypt (63.4m long) in Britain or Ireland, constructed in 1172-1173. Having been renovated in the early 2000s, it is now open for visitors.  I paid my entrance and pick up the audio guide. The audio gave an interesting presentation about the church and its history.  I was not over wowed by the church but did find some interesting tidbits. The rat and the cat two mummified corpses that got stuck in the organ pipes only to be found hundreds of years later during a restoration.

Blitzkrieg.....

I changed this title at the end of the trip. I realized I traveled fourteen countries. There were times I was too exhausted but I pushed on.....It did not start out this way but once I got going I got travel fever. It was the cold and rain that finally got to me. I could have kept in going but I would have headed south for some warmth and sunshine.  I realized that the minimum I will spend in a city is three days. The good thing about seeing so much is I got to see where I would come back, the bad is you get road weary.
However, in the end I was happy to have Blitzkrieg Europe!