Found an internet cafe in Sligo, where I'm typing this. Have pics from trip so far, but posting them will have to wait until I get home.
Day 1, Dublin: Staying in dorm room at Trinity College. Toured the college and saw Book of Kells a second time. In evening, passing by pub across from campus, heard music from within. 3-piece band --- pipes/whistle, guitar, and djembe (a traditional Irish drum, eh?) --- playing Irish trad. Listened while I had a very good stew for dinner. Then on to Gogarty's in Temple Bar, upstairs for more Irish trad. Ensemble this time included guitar, box (accordion, for you Yanks), fiddle, and two banjos (alternating).
Day 2, Dublin and vicinity: Day trip to Newgrange, a neolithic passage tomb and perhaps the oldest standing "building" on earth. Spent evening with two companions from day trip: a lady lawyer from Pittsburg and a Catalonian biology student from Valencia.
Day 3, Dublin: Practiced tunes, then spent morning wandering Grafton Street, St. Stephen's Green, Temple Bar. Walked all the way to St. James's gate (Mistake! My legs felt like they were about to fall off when I got there), then went on Guinness Tour. Yah, I know, it's touristy, but I figure I had to do it once!
Next time I shall go straight to the Gravity Bar at the top of the complex, from which there is a good view of most of Dublin. Caught bus back to Trinity. Dinner at Atlantic restaurant near corner of Suffolk and Grafton streets; highly recommended; food very good; Iranian chef and very pretty Polish maitre'd. Then back to Gogarty's. Trad players this time included a very good box player, a capable and energetic singer/guitar player, only the second fiddle-player (the other being Alisdair Fraiser) whom I've heard play the Fairy Reel creditably, and a poxy-looking banjo player (back from Day 1) whom I know has a very good reputation playing banjo....
Day 4, Dublin/Sligo: Caught train to sligo (for Thom Moore and Gerry O'Beirne's sakes) in the morning. Was pouring rain when I got here, but has just cleared up and is nice and sunny. Now think I'll go back to the inn (An Cruiscin Lan) for a nap.
Day 1, Dublin: Staying in dorm room at Trinity College. Toured the college and saw Book of Kells a second time. In evening, passing by pub across from campus, heard music from within. 3-piece band --- pipes/whistle, guitar, and djembe (a traditional Irish drum, eh?) --- playing Irish trad. Listened while I had a very good stew for dinner. Then on to Gogarty's in Temple Bar, upstairs for more Irish trad. Ensemble this time included guitar, box (accordion, for you Yanks), fiddle, and two banjos (alternating).
Day 2, Dublin and vicinity: Day trip to Newgrange, a neolithic passage tomb and perhaps the oldest standing "building" on earth. Spent evening with two companions from day trip: a lady lawyer from Pittsburg and a Catalonian biology student from Valencia.
Day 3, Dublin: Practiced tunes, then spent morning wandering Grafton Street, St. Stephen's Green, Temple Bar. Walked all the way to St. James's gate (Mistake! My legs felt like they were about to fall off when I got there), then went on Guinness Tour. Yah, I know, it's touristy, but I figure I had to do it once!
Next time I shall go straight to the Gravity Bar at the top of the complex, from which there is a good view of most of Dublin. Caught bus back to Trinity. Dinner at Atlantic restaurant near corner of Suffolk and Grafton streets; highly recommended; food very good; Iranian chef and very pretty Polish maitre'd. Then back to Gogarty's. Trad players this time included a very good box player, a capable and energetic singer/guitar player, only the second fiddle-player (the other being Alisdair Fraiser) whom I've heard play the Fairy Reel creditably, and a poxy-looking banjo player (back from Day 1) whom I know has a very good reputation playing banjo....
Day 4, Dublin/Sligo: Caught train to sligo (for Thom Moore and Gerry O'Beirne's sakes) in the morning. Was pouring rain when I got here, but has just cleared up and is nice and sunny. Now think I'll go back to the inn (An Cruiscin Lan) for a nap.
l_f:
It sounds like a lot of fun, especially with the lady... Wait! She is a lawyer!!! 
mrpinstripesuit:
That's a great walk. Next time do it all the way to Kilmaihan after walking to Glasnevin and back to city center.