Berlin | Seosamh Macgiollaphádraig | redux

From December 15th to 21st, 2012, I got the chance to visit Berlin, Copenhagen and Malmö which I’d consider to be three of the great cities of Europe.

Berlin

It’s one of the great regrets of my vacationing life that I never got to Berlin in the immediate years either side of its reunification. Any thoughts I’d missed the opportunity  to really get a feel for communist East Berlin were dispelled as soon as I landed at the dreary Schönefeld which was once the city’s “other” main airport and it feels like little has changed at this dreary dirty facility in the intervening years which makes it quite fascinating ironically to students of history such as myself. Berlin is bursting with history in fact and is rich in culture  despite its near destruction during WWII. Its architectural past has been faithfully preserved or imaginatively reinvented while  the redevelopment of large parts of the city continues apace.  Seosamh Macgiollaphádraig

Berlin Hauptbahnhof – An Eastbound S-bahn train arrives at the upper level of Berlin’s Central Station which was opened in 2006.

The Brandenburg Gate – The Brandenburg Gate quadriga at night.

The Berliner Dom – Berlin Cathedral was terribly damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 but the building has now been completely restored to its pre-War glory.

Unter den Linden – The equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia, which stands on one of Berlin’s great thoroughfares.

Bismarck Memorial in the Tiergarten – This magnificent memorial statue commemorates Prince Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia and the first Chancellor of the German Empire. It was sculpted by Reinhold Begas.

© 2013 Seosamh Macgiollaphádraig All Rights Reserved

O’Donoghue’s Pub, Dublin, Ireland

Hi All

If you’re ever in Dublin and if this virus lockdown ever ends, take a visit to O’Donghues Pub for some excellent fare and traditional Irish music.

I hope you’re all doing well ! Chin Up!

take care
lb

 

from their website

O’Donoghues Bar is located in the heart of Dublin City with Grafton Street right on its door’s and the major tourist attractions such as Trinity College, Dublin Castle and the National Museum all within 2 minutes’ walk. It is also a very historic area of the city as right in front on Suffolk Street is where the Viking Parliament was located or Thing, Things – from the Old Norse word þing, meaning assembly – were an early system of justice and administration.

When the Vikings and early Norse settlers arrived in a new place, they brought with them their customs and legal systems. Things were where political decisions were made, laws upheld and disputes settled. They acted as meeting places and were often the focus for trade and religious activity. So right in front of this pub would have been a thriving area with Vikings going about their business, and although nowadays the Vikings have long gone, we at O’Donoghues welcome you to our meeting place where you will find locals and tourists alike, mingling, chatting, telling stories and listening to good live music.

It is also good to note that just around the corner located in what are now the gardens of Dublin Castle is where the actual name Dublin derived from, Dubh Linn or Black Pool, “Dubh” means black in Irish, and this Black Pool is where the Vikings used to moor their ships coming in from the River Liffey, close to their settlement in Wood Quay and Ath Cliath.

In later days or years, The Thing Mote was then dismantled and was layered out to what is now our present-day Nassau St and that is why Nassau St is so high above ground to Trinity College, the Liffey is also very different from what it used to be, it was four times wider and extended well out into what is the current Dame Street and Trinity College and out towards O’Connell Street.

So as you sit down to have a pint or enjoy one of our famous dishes, take a moment to remember that you are in what was the heart of Viking Dublin and where our city was founded.

more http://odonoghuesbar.ie/