Doors of Dublin

Our trip to Ireland had its ups and downs, but our hotel was definitely one of the high notes. Located right in the heart of Dublin, within easy walking distance of the major attractions - half a block from Merrion Square, Parliament, and four major museums - the Davenport was originally built in 1863. The exterior is ornate and stylish and the interior beautiful, with a 3-story skylight just inside the front door. Our room - was much bigger than I expected (European hotel rooms tend to be smaller than American rooms; sometimes much smaller) and everything was in pristine condition. I loved the huge crown molding around the ceiling; Dick loved the plasma TV, although we never got around to watching it.

Leprechaun alert: (we enjoyed the trip but everywhere we went, little things kept going wrong. Like little leprechauns were following us around, causing mischief.) We had the only room in the hotel where the wi-fi (and ethernet) wouldn't work, even after the helpful staff came up to assist. And we could never figure out how to turn on the air conditioner, only the heater. Fortunately, we had a window that opened to cool off our room.

Dublin residences are built like row houses, narrow, tall and almost identical. This row was about a block from our hotel, facing onto Merrion Square Park. So how do you tell one home from another? By the distinctive front doors, which are also one of the things for which Dublin is famous. Most are Georgian in style, with vivid colors and beautiful, often ornate, fanlights above. We saw doors in red, blue, green, black, purple, white, and more. So beautiful.