Transportation
Because of all my traveling in Ireland, I rented a car. Yes, I learned how to drive on the left side of the road (not too hard) and to accommodate the driving habits of the locals (which I thought worse than Chicago’s drivers). It was a common occurence for drivers to pass long strings of cars, straddling the center line and expecting the oncoming traffic to move over. This especially on the highways, which had very wide lanes: almost, but not quite double width.
I drove a 5‑speed manual Opel when I was in Ireland. I will not drive another again. Since I drive a manual I didn’t mind getting one from the rental place, but I wasn’t prepared for its lousy shifting. The transmission was very flakey: I could (and did) easily shift into first while moving, something that surprised me, and you could hardly tell which gear you were shifting into, the motion was so spongy. The “edges” of the shift were so soft that you couldn’t tell which gear you were in. The shifting into first while moving is a serious matter: transmissions I have used try to prevent that, as first gear has a very limited range and function and could be harmed by switching into it at 25 mph. There was no feedback that I had been used to in my own two cars, both of which had manual transmissions. Several times I shifted into 3rd from 4th when I was trying for 5th, and for the longest time I couldn’t understand why I was having so much trouble starting moving until I discovered I had the shift in 3rd because it seemed just like first.
I’ve driven cars that were difficult to drive, but this one fit the description of “user-surly”. The steering and handling were okay, and I don’t know about gas mileage except that I didn’t have to fill the tank, but I was only there for four days. I nicknamed it “Bobcat” because it was small, quick, but liable to turn on you like a wild animal when you least expect it.
In Dublin itself, the problems were lack of signs (Ireland, like Britain, puts their street signs on buildings, just above the ground floor; this is not always followed, especially on recent buildings) and signs directly at the intersection you’re supposed to turn at. Three times I drove through or out of Dublin, and all three times I got lost. The only way I got into Dublin was because of the excellent directions I got from the B&B. I was told (eventually) that I could get anywhere in Ireland as long as I knew how to make a U‑turn. Apparently everyone has the same problem.
One afternoon I went into the University of Dublin, as it was the northern boundary of the area I had been exploring. They possess the Book of Kells, one of the most elegantly-crafted pieces of Medieval manuscript illumination in the world, and I went in and saw it. They also had an exhibition of scientific equipment designed and used at the University: apparently the university has a long history of scientific and engineering achievement covering three centuries. They also had a multimedia history presentation on the city of Dublin, founded by the Vikings over a millennium ago.
Wednesday
Wednesday I decided to avoid Dublin in the afternoon and drive up to Malahide Castle, a residence that had been in family use for over 700 years, until the death of the last heir in the 1980’s. Now it is a national museum and portrait gallery. Most of the furniture and a lot of the woodwork is the original. This place figures in Irish history in many ways, as it was nearby at the Battle of the Boyne where the Catholic James was defeated by the armies of the Protestant king of England. It was also part of the spoils given by Cromwell to one of his generals while Cromwell ruled England and Ireland.
After this I went up to Newgrange, the 5000 year old burial mound north of Dublin. This was excavated in the 19th century and restored, and is now a tourist attraction. The burial chamber is accessible, and tours are led down a narrow passageway to stand in the cramped main chamber. I actually got to stand in a place that was older than the Pyramids of Giza (by about 500 years). Every year for the five days around midwinter morning, the sun shines through a gap above the doorway all the way into the main chamber: tours on that date and time are booked nine years in advance. Little is known about the people who built it, as they were Late Stone Age and left very little in the way of artifacts. The most telling things were the elaborate stone carvings on and around the mound. The mound itself was constructed of stone from a number of different sources, many up to 50 miles away, so this was a major undertaking. It was estimated that given the estimated average lifespan of the people, the people who started the building did not live to see it finished.
Thursday
Thursday I drove back to the airport (getting lost in the airport looking for the rental drop-off because the signs were not specific enough, then having to drag my heavy (wheeled but it didn’t help much) suitcases over 200 meters up a ramp to the departure area) and flew over to Glasgow. On the way I said goodbye (for this time) to Ireland, taking some photos of the landscape underneath, and of the rainbow we flew over.
I also have to mention the Dalek credit card machines.
When I was looking at books in a large Dublin bookstore, I heard something that sounded very much like the mechanical voice of a Dalek. (The major villains from the Doctor Who series, as if I have to explain that.) I thought at first that it was some sort of talking book, but I soon tracked the sound down to the checkout desk.
They were using a credit card slip printing machine (connected to the cash registers) that used a very slow and noisy pin-driven dot-matrix printer to print out the credit slips. The noise the printer made was slow, harsh, and grating; it still sounded like a Dalek.
Ever afterwards, whenever I saw one, and they were quite common, I was reminded of the Dalek machine. Another strange occurance (or set of them).
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