I am sitting gingerly, in a rather uncomfortable chair, to relieve my back, which is indicating it would rather be in any other position. And lest you send advice, I have tried standing, bending, stretching and have taken a couple of Turmeric capsules - my strongest pain medicine currently within reach.
I'm enjoying my coffee, well to the extent that one enjoys instant coffee, and watching a Guinness hangover evolve. The party folks had probably too good a time last night with their new Irish friends. I had a leisurely evening alone, reading.
We had brought home leftovers from the lunch in Drogheda, including Braden's Spaghetti Carbonara. When they got home he was ravenous and figured it was just the right thing to have. Unfortunately for him, I had found that it made a might tasty supper last night. They had to settle for the leftover pizza. Too bad.
The drizzle that lasted much of the day drove a lot of folks indoors. My gracious Saturday travel guides, Margaret and Michelle, brought us to Farmleigh. This is the house occupied by visiting dignitaries and once owned by the Guinness family. Apparently it was more occupied by the children and nannies while the parents were away visiting - someone, somewhere and often. The nursery was on the third floor with a balcony overlooking a gorgeous staircase. While the little ones were in residence, as the story goes, a net was placed under the balcony. One would assume to protect the kiddies from a very nasty fall. Not so much! It was to protect staff below from projectiles tossed by those lovely kiddies.
The original house had been subject to additions and renovations and the end result is very nice. There is a fortune in original artwork, chandeliers and furniture. Nice touches like a hidden staircase which is accessed by pressing two books in the "office", no longer function. Below that room, actually a sort of reception centre for those visiting the owner on business occasions, was a cellar. It was converted to a panic room, I believe in the time of the Troubles, lest the problem spread to the South. Good thing it's not needed because the access to the stairs isn't working. Some things just don't get restored. This link should get you to Farmleigh.
farmleigh.ie
From there we went to the Collins' Barracks, which I'd assumed was just military. Not so. It is the National Museum and has many and varied displays which are all very well done. It's near Heuston Station and Phoenix Park and one would never guess what's inside. You pay for parking but museum access is free. We enjoyed soup and a sandwich for lunch in the cafe and then wandered around and up and down staircases for a good couple of hours.
https://www.museum.ie/Home
Back to Maynooth to pick up my car again, I trusted the GPS to get me directly back here to Walsh Rd. It did. Yay. Some directions come up too quickly after a previous command but I did manage to keep a corner of my eye on the screen. I missed my navigators.
They were out and about. A friend of Braden's is a student at Trinity College and got them past the long lineups - and cashier - for a free look at the Long Room and Book of Kells. At some point they had a true full Irish breakfast and seemed to recover nicely from the black pudding. I don't think they'll order it again.
Later in the afternoon they met up with Aoife and Nathan at the Guinness factory, where they toured and sampled and did a bit of shopping. From there, I have no details other than it was a good evening, with lots of liquid refreshments, and they got in late.
Shortly we'll get ready to go out and take a tour of the city and maybe they'll do a bit more shopping. Tonight will be "the grand pack-up" and tomorrow, my navigators will leave and my new chauffeur will arrive. Hopefully the next vehicle won't have so many automatic features - like annoying 'music' when you open the doors, headlight dimmers with a mind of their own, an annoying tire pressure warning when the tires, er, tyres, are just fine.
Internet is not working at the moment so this will get posted somewhat later.
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