Today for the tour was a day on our own in Dublin. We were provided with a Hop on Hop off bus ticket for 24 hours of use and set free after our breakfast. As Anne and Richard had their own plans, Andrew and I decided to visit the Ireland Rock ‘n’ Roll Museum. Well, this was more for Andrew than me, but I sure enjoyed it! I had contacted them in advance to find out if they were accessible as they were in the Temple Bar area and after being there for pizza the previous night and seeing how old the buildings were, I had my suspicions! I was right – part of the museum (one building) has an elevator but the other one does not. Good thing I have my awesome purple crutches with me! Off we went to the museum which was about a 15 minute walk with my purple crutches in tow on my walker (they fold up into a bag). Got a LITTLE lost getting to the museum thanks again to Google Maps! However made it just a few minutes (2) after the 2:15pm tour had left. There was one other couple on the tour and the guide’s name was Allan. We met him after getting off the elevator in the bottom of the 1st building where he was standing with the Austrian couple. Not a large space but wow – the stuff on the walls! Allan immediately impressed me with both his music and history knowledge.
We stood outside of 2 practice studios which were in the basement and talked about various artists, how the studios are almost constantly in use in the evenings and what bands have used them such as U2, Rory Gallagher, Sinead O’Connor, Hozier, The Cranberries, Thin Lizzy, the Pogues, Enya and The Dubliners. We then talked about Rory Gallagher, as they have wall dedicated to him and then around the corner was the U2 practice studio from when the band was young and up and coming. He told us the story of how U2 was named – no it has nothing to do with the name of a subway system! Then we watched a movie that Allan had made for the museum about the history of music in Ireland and then went outside to check out the other part of the museum – in the building with stairs.
So left the walker with the receptionist and off the purple powered crutches and I went! Again, and other history lesson for various musicians and groups, however the most interesting was the Michael Jackson pyjamas top (he had recorded at a different studio in Ireland and exchanged PJ tops with the owner and the owner donated it to the museum), the Thin Lizzy room (on Thin Lizzy’s death his mother donated his equipment) and Sinead O’Connor’s shrine. Allan talked constantly and had interesting stories and he was a very engaging person! It seemed that Sinead who had worked at the Museum had a huge impact on his life and when we got to her shrine area Allan was quite poignant in telling stories about her and her volunteering practices – so different than we have heard in the media. Here are the pictures that I took:
After that experience which lasted several hours, we then walked back to the Gresham Hotel, via Tesco (grocery store) to get some more digestive cookies for the road. We had one last tour dinner with the group which was at a pub a few doors down called Murray’s that we needed to be in the lobby for at 7:30pm and I had some loose strings to tie up – like getting some thank-you cards signed and to chat with the hotel duty manager about accessibility.
One thing I have not mentioned, is the challenges that I had at the Gresham Hotel which is where we stayed for the last 2 nights of the tour. It was interesting as when Anne, Richard, Andrew and I walked past it when we were 1st in Dublin, I saw the stairs and figured there was another entrance I could use. Fast forward to our arrival last night and nope. No other entrance – they have a ramp they can put down – however it does not stay down as it is a trip hazard poking out onto the sidewalk. The hotel manager yesterday evening assured me that a porter was ALWAYS at the door to help put down the ramp for me, however I had found that was not always true – the Gresham it was very obvious a tour hotel and those porters can be very busy and not at the door. Yet if you look on the website for the Gresham Hotel, they advertise some very nice wheelchair accessible rooms! How someone in a wheelchair or with a mobility device is supposed to get in the hotel without assistance is beyond me. So I had a chat with the duty manager regarding this along with the fact that our travel agent could not get an answer from the hotel after 3 attempts via email and that the tour company had to call and just how messed up the room type that we were assigned was. There is a big difference between wheelchair accessible and not being able to get in the door and thinking instead I needed a “view” room. He took the feedback and then provided me with an email address with which to send further information. When I was finished this I managed to get the cards signed and was back up to our room for a short relax prior to dinner! Here are some pictures of the Gresham Hotel –
We met in the lobby, which the Gresham Hotel has a very beautiful lobby area, the rooms leave something to be desired though, and thanked Anne and Vinnie for their help with this tour and moved onto Murray’s Pub. It was a bit busy – people waiting at the door – however they had 25 seats reserved for us and the music was beginning at 8pm. I was looking forward to this – along with my earplugs! The menu that we were presented contained no gluten free items! We were pretty confused. LONG story short, the manager got involved along with Anne and while they said certain items could be made gluten free, due to the number of people travelling the next day (and we would be on a bus tour ourselves) the whole group it was felt that the kitchen was just not a safe place for making gluten free dinners while the pub was so busy. So we all left – much to the pubs displeasure. I have no idea what the outcome of this will be, however it is kind of sad that we did not get to celebrate the tour that we all had been on together on the last night. I do hold Royal Irish Tours fully responsible for this as they were the ones who set up all our gluten free dining requirements.
To make the night right and as I was hungry – we decided to get a pizza to go from Milano – where we were the previous night! As Kathy was interested in having pizza too, however felt she could not walk that far, her husband accompanied Andrew and I to the restaurant (we could only order in person due to the gluten free requirement) to order and then back to the Gresham Hotel. That took an hour to accomplish so then Andrew and I had a nice romantic picnic, that did NOT involve Guinness, on the bed in our hotel room, to close out the Ireland Celiac tour! Tomorrow after breakfast – Richard, Anne, Andrew and I are going on a day trip to New Grange to see some historic monuments on their last day in Ireland! However before that I have a 2am meeting that I need to get some sleep prior to – night!
