Used to waking early while camping, and unused to sleeping in a crowded hostel room, when I woke at 6:30 am I stayed up. After my hostel-provided breakfast, I confirmed that everything not going in the bicycle box would fit in the panniers I would carry onto the plane. I finished packing the remaining gear in the box before taping up the box, bringing to mind a corollary to another popular quote: “I can’t be done taping the box, I still have tape left!” I have more room than usual, because I’m abandoning my bicycle shoes. Tours in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016, and this one have lead to their not untimely demise.
The Dublin Walking Tour wasn’t very good (perhaps the lack of bicycle stores?), and I abandoned it halfway through to make my own way. The National Art Gallery? Ok. The Science Display at Trinity College? Awesome, a collection of different ways to generate music integrating electronics and the physical world; I especially liked the musical tapestry that works like a theramin.
Dublin Castle? Meh. The nearby Chester Beatty Library? WOW. Chester Beatty spent his life collecting rare and special richly illustrated documents; a collection of amazing documents from all over the world. Pages from a codex from 150 AD of the Old Testament-over 1900 years old. An absolute must-see in Dublin. The tour recommendations all say that, but I didn’t believe them; I just dropped by for a quick check as a I passed by. Fabulously glad I did.
The tour of Christ Church? The church not so much, the tour guide, also amazing.
With everything now closed for the day, I returned to the hostel to confirm the taxi for tomorrow, and see if I could connect with my friend from the Camino last year. Another early morning tomorrow, and a very long day.