No 1 - THE FLIGHT and DUBLIN
Hi all
Last Friday afternoon Bryan was in Gapuwiyak. Four flights and about 48 hours later we arrived in Dublin. We have found the Irish people really friendly and helpful - even in Dublin the largest city. Regularly we were studying a map working out where to go and someone will come up and offer to help. The weather has been kind to us so far with only some light evening rain on two days.
The sun was just rising as we left Dubai for Dublin. As you can see from the photo below the haze/smog made for an unusual sunrise.
From Dubai we tracked over western Iran. Normally we would have tracked over Iraq and Syria however this is too dangerous at the moment. As you can see from the photo below, there was some rather rugged terrain below us at times.
Shortly after crossing into Turkey we passed some snow capped mountains on our right - the highest of which we believe to be Mt Ararat.
Our first sight of Ireland just prior to landing in Dublin. Much greener than the Top End at the moment and much cooler.
The River Liffey that runs through Dublin. Around 1000 years ago the Vikings used this same river and established a trading town in this area.
O'Connell Street - one of the main streets of Dublin. The skyline is dominated by the spire, 120 metre high stainless steel needle like structure which replaced Nelson's Pillar.
The 'Harp' Bridge. Unusually, it pivots horizontally to allow vessels to pass.
The second half of the 1840s saw years of failed potato crops due to blight. Potato was a very important food source for the average Irish person of that time. The fact that many Landlords sold grain overseas while people starved in Ireland added the above situation. The Irish refer to this period as 'The Great Hunger'. The graph below shows the prison numbers through these years increased greatly due mainly to desperate people trying to feed themselves and their families.
Many Irish people emigrated to all corners of the planet during the 1800s. The tall ship below is a replica of the Jeanie Johnston, one of the ships that these people travelled on. Conditions were very tough and many people did not survive the journey. The Jeanie Johnston had a very good success rate compared to most due to her compassionate captain and doctor. We did a tour of this vessel - very interesting!
Dublin (and Ireland) has a strong Viking history. They came from modern day Norway.
Over the years Dublin Castle has changed a lot. The tower in the centre is from the original Viking Castle. It has had a few makeovers but it is still standing.
There is there a full range of building designs in Dublin including this one beside the the River Liffey. Many large tech and finance companies have their European headquarters in Dublin.
The local electric trams - they are called Lewis which means 'speed' in Irish however they move along at a rather gentle pace, much to the scorn of the locals.
St Patrick brought the Christian message to Ireland in the 400s AD. Below is the Cathedral named after him.
Double click on any of the photos will enlarge them.
From here we head south to Waterford, Cork and the wild west coast.
Catch ya next time. Bryan and Nancy
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