Dorothy came on Wednesday as scheduled and we have been having new Dublin-area adventures since she arrived.  On Thursday, we went to Dublin City University to see a pre-cast statue in development of Frederick Douglass.  It's really amazing.  It's full of movement and fire, we enjoyed seeing it.  Frederick Douglass used Ireland has his home base for his European activities.  It was a pretty pivotal time for him, and he credited Daniel O'Connell, Ireland's 'Emancipator' with helping him to formulate his non-violent philosophy.  The statue is just resin now but there's fundraising afoot to get it cast in bronze and then it can be exhibited outside. 

On Friday Dorothy and I did a walk on the coast from Greystones to Bray, a route I took first with my friend Mary.  It's a nice 6 kilometer walk.  We stopped for a meal in Bray and then back on the Dart (commuter train) to home, where we quickly dressed for a play that evening.  We saw Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Dorian Gray at the Abbey Theatre.  It was quite well done.  The staging was amazing and the way they handled the portrait and Gray's transformation at the end was the best theater I've seen.  We were dazzled. 

Yesterday we did a guided hill walk in Glendalough, a very beautiful park in the Wicklow Mountains.  It was much harder than the guide we hired let on at the beginning and much more taxing than we bargained for.  As in Mallorca (where we did the walking tour last month) people who guide hikes tend to minimize the effort.  "Anyone can do it..." etc.  This is such a load of BS it's really annoying.  Anyway, it was a beautiful site but after we finished it, I did some research and discovered an easier walk that would have taken us through more historic areas.  Hill walkers think all there is is "the view" and it seems the process of walking isn't their focus.  But we have some great pictures and had a good time despite all of the mindless effort we put in.  As in Mallorca, the guide asserted that we would revel in "the accomplishment" at the end, which I tend not to do.  So what, we made it.  It was grueling when it didn't have to be.  I think that's one of the problems for me going on tours that involve exercise (like biking or walking).  I very much like to do it, but I'm not interested in getting there fast or first or even second or third, and if it gets too much I don't really mind just stopping.  It doesn't make me feel bad at all to say I didn't do the whole thing.  Anyway, it was good to get to Glendalough. 

Today we were debating about doing another walking tour in the city in Temple Bar but all decided that was not very interesting.  Dorothy and I are going to walk to the village instead.  It's already 2:30 and Alan has started making Sunday dinner.  I think it's going to be a quiet evening.

This is Thanksgiving week and we've invited several friends for the meal.  Except for us (Alan, me and Dorothy) all the others are Irish and none have had an "American Thanksgiving" before so I'm looking forward to introducing them to turkey and all the trimmings.  In order to have a pumpkin pie, however, I had to do the pumpkin from scratch (no canned pumpkin here) and I'll have to make the crust (no frozen pie crust either).  The latter is a little daunting because, like hill walking, those who are familiar with it say "there's nothing to it" while those of us who are novices, end up with an overworked crust!  But, pumpkin pie is a must so there's nothing to be done but to do it.