Open House Dublin and a Picnic

October 10, 2011

Happy Monday, darlings! We had a full weekend – a sunshine-y tour of the city centre, quality time with family, and lots of time for projects. I always wish weekends could be longer, but at least we managed to pack a lot in!

On Saturday, Mike’s brother and his wife joined us for a tour of Leinster House (where the houses of the Irish parliament meet, for you non-Irish readers!), and then a picnic lunch in Stephen’s Green.

As part of Open House Dublin (which is fantastic, by the way), we got spots on a tour of Leinster House. It was long, but filled with useful information and cool facts. Leinster House is almost never open to the public, so we were really getting a sneak peek.

We spent an hour and a half getting a tour from one of the docents after a quick slideshow talk from an architect. Our favorite part was learning that when Leinster House was built, it was surrounded mostly by pasture. Only after it was built did all the rest of the buildings start to pop up. Now it’s in the heart of Dublin city.

{Caption contest, anyone? Mike’s telling Angie all about something, I’m sure!}

{Angie and I decided these numbered divots in the window sill must be bullet holes from a big battle. Probably not, but why are they numbered?! Such a mystery!

Leinster House was originally built as a residence, and a very fancy one at that. Even the ceilings are fancy – imagine going to work there every day!

{The Dail}

{The Seanad and its fancy doorway}

{The Seanad’s ultra-fancy ceiling. The room used to be the ballroom!}

{Picnic time in St. Stephen’s Green! We grabbed a few 5 euro noodle deals and ate outside on the Green while engaging in some serious people watching.}
{We all needed a rest after all that touring!}

What did you all get up to this weekend? Any fun stories to tell?

No Comments

Leave a Reply