Celtic knot walk

Today was our first easy day in a number of days.  This is our first night where we did not have to pack since leaving London.  We were able to sleep in and get some additional rest.  We are staying within walking distance of everything we are planning on seeing, so we don't need to worry about public transportation.  It has also cooled down, with cloudy weather and temps in the mid 70s.

We headed out to find some breakfast along our way to the museums.  We found a little cafe and had coffee (me), tea (Amy), and some cinnamon rolls.  We also did some window shopping at little shops along the way.

Here was a Mexican restaurant we saw along the way.  Want some ass?
That was their catch-phrase.  As you might assume, me and my fair lass decided to pass.

The first and most interesting museum we visited was the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology.  It contains artifacts from the earliest peoples of Ireland up to the medieval time period.  My interest in here is related to mathematical connections and themes in the development of the interlace and knotwork that is most associated with Ireland.  The museum had a large number of fantastic pieces in stone, bronze, gold, silver, antler, leather, and wood.  There was an influence of the vikings, frequent visitors to the British Isles,  on the development and usage of decorative interlace patterns.  There are many cultures that have used interlace patterns and there is no clear history on the spread of this ornamentation.  Also, there is no record of how Celtic interlace was made, but there are some theories and modern working techniques.

Gallagh man - a bog body found in 1821.  These are found occasionally
as peat from former bogs is dug.  This fellow lived around 400-200 BC.

Some stone spheres from the same time (3300-2800 BC) as the Scottish carved stone balls.  The larger
spheres are about the same size as the Scottish carved stone balls.

A decorated bronze piece from 100-200 AD.

Interlace on a Crozier from about 1100 AD.

The Cong Cross from about 1200 AD. 

Detail on the Cong Cross.

Bone with test carvings.

Another piece showing under crossings with simple hatched.
MC Escher also used this element to show over and under crossings.

We then headed to the National Gallery.  On the way we stopped at the National Library and saw exhibits on Yeats and another on the 50th anniversary on JFK's visit to Ireland.  We also had a late lunch across the street from the National Gallery.  After seeing the artwork, we headed back to the hotel via a "shortcut" I had mapped.  For those of you who don't know, a "shortcut" tends to be quite the opposite.

We walked through St. Stephen's Green and Iveagh Gardens, both nice public park spaces south of where we are staying.  We stopped in a few shops along the way.  There were several pedestrian streets along our route filled with people.  Some shops were unique to Dublin, but there were also the multinational corporate giants as well.

St. Stephen's Green.

Roses in Iveagh Gardens.

Despite this being an easy day, we are tired.  We decided to head back to the hotel to relax and just have some sandwiches again.  We still have a some items from yesterday.  Amy brought along a highly packable nylon bag that is convenient for groceries.  The picture count for today was 234.  At this point I have taken about 1400 pictures.  I still have room on my memory card for over 4000 more, so I am not worried about running out.  Like a Celtic knot, we started at the hotel, meandered quite a bit, crossed over our path a few times, then ended back at the hotel.