ATW Day 101 - Bloomsday!

I am sorry to say that Linda and I have gone our separate ways - well at least for a few hours today.  Today we were anchored off of Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.  Do you know how to pronounce that?  I'll tell you later.  They were late getting the tender operations going due to heavy fog.  In fact, the ship's foghorn was going off since about 3 in the morning.   When they did get the tenders going, it went pretty quickly and we were able to get on one a little after 11 am.  Linda got down to the tender platform, saw how the tender was rocking, and decided to stay on board.  I continued into Dun Laoghaire and started walking.

Eventually, I made it to People's Park.

At that point, I decided that I was ready for lunch so I headed back up to the main street and a pub that I had seen online.  When I got there, I was told that they were not serving food at that time.  But she recommended another pub, The Eagle, 10 minutes further down the street and I'm so glad that she did.  Did I mention that it was Bloomsday?  How lucky we were to be in Dun Laoghaire on Bloomsday.  Bloomsday is a celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses which took place on June 16, 1904 and it begins in the tower in Dun Laoghaire.  Well, when I got  to The Eagle, I found that there was a Bloomsday Festival taking place on the street.  Unfortunately, I was not dressed appropriately for the festival but no one seemed to mind.  It was crowded at the bars and there were groups singing in the street.  And the fish and chips and beer at The Eagle were terrific.

I have to admit that I have not read Ulysses but I downloaded a copy and started reading it while I was waiting for my food and drink!

After lunch, I walked out to the James Joyce Tower, as it is now called.  I decided not to climb the narrow winding staircase to the top.

The tower is by the Sandycove Beach and Forty Foot, both places where people were swimming.  With the temperature in the 60's, I was glad that I hadn't brought my bathing suit!

After that, I walked back along the waterfront to the tender pier.

The tender ride back to the ship was much tougher than the ride in, so Linda made the correct decision to go our separate ways.  Though it was sad for me to be without her as it brought back memories of when I did a lot of walking alone when she couldn't do much due to her hip.  On the other hand, it makes me glad that we can now do so much together.

Have you figured out how to pronounce Dun Laoghaire?  Here it is:

Tomorrow we'll be going to Cork, Ireland.  For now, enjoy your Bloomsday.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry