20260403 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 19/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 19/32 – Dublin, Ireland, easier than Dún Laoghaire

 Today was a weird one. First of all, we didn't dock in Dublin. In fact, we didn't dock at all. We anchored well offshore from Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. Try to pronounce that one! As it turns out, it's not as difficult as it might seem.

Dún Laoghaire is pronounced, "Dun Leary" (/dʌn ˈlɪəriː/). The "Laogh" part is pronounced like "Leary" or "Leery" (rhymes with theory or teary), rather than how it looks in English. I have no idea why, but that's the way they say it.

Our view at breakfast - they have been doing ceiling repairs on deck 7 for several days

The port was a long way away from where we anchored

Tender boats were getting fired up for transporting guests to shore

 Poolbeg Generating Station, featuring its iconic twin chimney stacks - the plant was shut down years ago, but the residents lobbied to keep the stacks 

Tenders heading out and in

Tender boat life

Passing the break wall with its lighthouse

Arriving in Dún Laoghaire

Our ride, with the Vela in the distance

Our tour was Viking's included tour, City Views of Dublin. It was basically a panoramic bus tour with a couple of stops for restrooms or photos. Our entertaining guide explained that our driver had to have 22 pints of Guinness before he drove. As long as he sees at least two roads, he knows the bus will be on one of them. Ha! The Irish love their Guiness.

A view of some of the interesting architecture as we left the port

They were kind enough to arrange for a lovely rainbow to greet us

Here's a hint - rainbows require rain - this was a bit of foreshadowing for our day

Another view of the Poolbeg chimney stacks, recently repainted 

A Martello tower - a fortified structure with canons to defend Dublin - there are several along the shore, and none were ever used

The rainbow grew, lulling us into a false sense of security

The Blackrock Dolmen sculpture, as we traveled through Blackrock on the way to Dublin

Our Lady Queen of Peace Church - check out the ominous sky

We drove through several changes in house architecture

Of course, bars here featured the local brew

Oscar Wilde Memorial Sculpture, located in Merrion Square

You will start to notice a degradation in photo quality here. The skies opened and unloaded rain on us for quite a while, covering the windows in raindrops.

Ornate doors

Head Office of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

The historic facade of Trinity College

Bank of Ireland building - the structure originally housed the Irish Houses of Parliament

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral

St. Paul's (Roman Catholic) Church

We continued on to Phoenix Park, a huge natural space of nearly 1,750 acres.

Deerfield Residence in Phoenix Park - the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland

Papal Cross located in Phoenix Park, erected for Pope John Paul II's 1979 visit

We made a stop at the gardens for a comfort break and a walk around the gardens. The rain was relentless, coupled with driving winds. Everyone used the facilities and got right back on the bus. As we rolled out of the parking lot, the clouds blew away, and we had blue skies and sunshine again. You've got to love Irish weather.

The Wellington Monument, located in Phoenix Park

Guinness Storehouse and Brewery located at St. James's Gate

It has been in continuous operation since 1759

It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Dublin

James Joyce Bridge, a landmark structure spanning the River Liffey

The mix of old and new is visually interesting

Our next stop was at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Founded in 1192, it is the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland

It is situated next to a public park containing the well where Saint Patrick is believed to have baptized converts

The Cathedral was closed to tourists as today was Good Friday

St. Patrick's historic iron gates

Even the light posts were interesting

Statue of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness located on the grounds of St. Patrick's Cathedral 

Christ Church Cathedral was in view just up the street

This was essentially the end of our tour. On the way back to the tender port, the bus stopped in Merrion Square, where the shuttle bus was running every hour. We got off the tour bus to wander a bit.

National Gallery of Ireland - it was closed for Good Friday

Another view of Oscar Wilde

The Davenport Hotel, dating back to 1863

We walked to Nassau Street and did a little browsing through shops before walking back to the shuttle stop. The rain returned on and off, coupled with the wind. This seems to be standard fare for Dublin.

The doors on the first floor were all different colors

We caught the 1:00 shuttle bus back to the tender port.

St Mary's Centre

Dublin double-decker buses

We got on a tender for the ride back to the ship. Well, that's what we thought. We sat there for at least 30 minutes before they announced that, due to the strong winds, the port authority had stopped the tender boats from departing the harbor. A little while later, they announced that back in the port, restrooms were available. In the same building, Viking had secured some snacks, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We decided to abandon the tender and walk up to the building. We waited in line, and as soon as we grabbed snacks, they announced that the tenders were loading. We walked back to the pier and boarded a tender. And we sat for 45 minutes. Two other tenders departed, but we sat, and sat, and sat. Eventually, and to the cheers of the passengers, we finally departed for the Vela.

The way back to the ship was moderately rough, and the tender was certainly moving. One time, we listed perhaps 30° to one side, to the gasps of the guests on the boat. Ultimately, we arrived at the Vela with a bang, another bang, a departure, a circle around, and finally, a last bang and tie-up. The tender and ship were moving at least 2-3 feet as we waited to step across to the ship. The crew did an excellent job keeping people in place until we hit a steady moment, then hustling each person across. I can't stress enough how well they did their job. Even though it took three attempts to tie up to the ship, the tender pilot did an outstanding job navigating unreasonable sea conditions.

We arrived back on the ship just before 4:00 pm. We were a little hungry, so we stopped by the pool grill and got a healthy plate of onion rings and French fries, and took it to the Explorers Bar for cocktails. We ate fried food, drank cocktails, and chatted with other guests.

A little after 6:00, we went to the World Café for tonight's special lobster grill. We enjoyed lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp, and an incredibly garlicky scallop for dinner.

They had this special Irish flag drink on display

The weather notwithstanding, we had a good day in Ireland. 

We were supposed to be in Holyhead, Wales, tomorrow. As I mentioned yesterday, the incoming storm, named Dave, has the potential to deliver 50-80 MPH winds. Holyhead is exposed on the west coast of Wales, and would expose us to dangerous conditions. Captain Olav made the decision yesterday to cancel Wales and arrive at the protected port of Liverpool, England, a day earlier than scheduled. We are scheduled to dock by 10:00 tomorrow morning in Liverpool, staying overnight and departing Sunday evening on schedule.

We were disappointed to miss Wales. What to do? Well, we did something, and you will have to just come back tomorrow to find out what. We will be back tomorrow from Liverpool...or will we?