Weekend in Dublin

Starting with a teetotal early night this was not one of THOSE weekends in Dublin.
One of the peculiarities of running as a hobby is that completing a long run makes you want to immediately sign up for another.
On 31 October 2011 Adrian and I completed the Great South Run for the first time and while the old legs were still wobbling I looked for our next opportunity and came across the Great Ireland Run, 15 April in Dublin.  As neither of us had visited Ireland we signed up and added a couple of days afterwards for recovery deciding that if Dublin was not for us we could sit about, drink Guinness and read.
We needn't have worried because even for those not on a stag or hen weekend Dublin is a great city to visit.
The run in Phoenix Park (twice the size of NY Central Park!) had more hills than I would have chosen but the rain held off and we both completed 10k in times were were happy with, along with 11,000 others.  The winner (neither of us) completed the course in an eye watering 27 minutes - fastest 10k this year so far.  After the brief period of abstinence for training purposes we didn't have to look very far for our first pint of Guinness.  There are not many things more delicious than a pint of Guinness to replace the calories and minerals lost during a run.
Dublin is an interesting city, signs of the Celtic Tiger and its recent taming are evident all over the city and some of these are quite sad.  On the up side we didn't find it extraordinarily expensive, meals and drinks were reasonably priced.  We stayed in O'Connell St opposite the Spire, a 121m spike sticking up into the sky.  This monument, winner in a sculpture competition, was erected in 2001 on the site of Nelson's Pillar which had been blown up in 1966.  It's not popular with Dubliners but we found it a very useful tool for getting back to our hotel as you can see it from miles away.

On Monday, following the run we went on a coach tour out of the city to Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland and source of the water used to make Guinness.  We visited a place known as the Meeting of the Waters where the Avonmor (Abhainn Mhór, meaning "Big River") and the Avonbeg (Abhainn Bheag, meaning "Small River"). As you can see Guinness even starts its life looking good.

Not only is the water good to look at but the area must have some magic in it as we visited a monastery where we saw the headstone of Walter Byrne, who died in 1750 - aged 106!
On our way out of the city for this tour we went past the National Concert Hall and our guide talked about the events that take place there.  Pub crawling not being an activity best undertaken with one's spouse we decided to give the concert hall a try and on Tuesday afternoon we strolled there on the off chance there would be something on that evening and that tickets would be available.
Well we got lucky although the booking clerk had tickets available she did express some doubt about whether that night's concert would be our 'cup of tea'. We took a chance and Sharon Shannon with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in an evening of what she described as 'posh diddly i' was brilliant.
On Wednesday morning before heading back to the airport we visited the most interesting General Post Office.  In most cities the post office is a bit of a non event, not in Dublin.  The building is a neo Classical beauty and the interior does not disappoint either.  It reminded me of Grand Central station in New York in being far to grand for its rather mundane function.  Not only is the post office a visual feast its also the site of events that shook Ireland to its core and the restored building houses a museum both to the Irish postal service and this major political event.  I won't describe this here because I think you should visit Dublin and have a look for yourself - you won't be disappointed.