Thursday, April 09, 2020

Gothic Revival Church at Dublin Castle

We took the tour of Dublin Castle.  The guided tour is the only way to get in to see the inside, the group was small, only 6 or 7 of us, and the tour guide was good.  She is the resident medievalist. The Castle started out as a fortress, a couple of the towers of the original castle remain, and later housed the residence of the heads of state.  At one point an Anglican church was built, in grand gothic revival style, on a petite scale.  A rather impressive building. After about 10 minutes of talking about the space, it's history, and what it has been used for over the past 200-300 years the tour guide said, "but I have to admit there is something very fake here, can anyone guess what it is?" Beyond her hair color, I didn't have a clue until she said, "knock on one of the columns, go ahead give it a rap." The structure is made of wood.  Why? There was stream running across the space, that was effectively buried in a tunnel under the building site.  A traditional stone structure would have been to heavy, and it was feared would collapse into the stream.  So the structure was done in wood, carved, plastered, and painted to look like stone.   

Do you like guided tours?  

15 comments:

  1. Guided tour when abroad I really enjoy...otherwise, for me, it's too hard to learn anything about the place or destination without it.

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    1. Oh the places I could be guided to.

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    2. This quarantine is making travel penguin very naughty!

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  2. I do sometimes enjoy guided tours. Very small groups. This one sounds like it would have been a pleasure. Audio tours can also be a wonder and provide details (and anecdotes) that you would miss.

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    1. I enjoyed her, most of the audio tours are too long, to wordy.

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  3. Anonymous4/09/2020

    I usually enjoy guided tours. It is always good to hear from someone with 'the knowledge'. Mostly guides are passionate about what they are showing you and so engender enthusiasm.

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    1. She truly loved the place and the history of it all.

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  4. yes, small groups preferred.

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    1. I agree, I am not a good herd animal.

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  5. I don't mind a guided tour for some things, hate it for others. It all depends.

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  6. I love a good guided tour as long as the guide isn't too wordy or boring. I don't ask questions, but I enjoy listening to others who do.

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  7. Yes I do. I like learning not just sight seeing.

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