There is something different about being in Dublin during the summer. I’m comparing it to the winter, when we were last here. It seems the city blooms with life and people. For one thing, the streets are definitely more crowded with visitors and locals enjoying the sunnier days. Winter was bustling too, but more in the “holiday cheer” sort of way.

One thing Dublin during the summer months is not lacking in is festivals. And we are lucky enough to be here during the Riverfest, a weekend-long event when boats line up along the north bank of the River Liffey, the main water artery running through the city. These ships are not your average sailboats, they are from a different era, all really nicely maintained and opened up for visitors.  Along the river bank, there are carnival rides and food stands, acrobats, and music, but the main treat for us was the chance to walk on the deck of some of these historic ships.

I had previously read the book, The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra by Helen Rappaport, about the tragic story of the Russian royal family. One of the most enjoyable memories of the Romanov sisters was sailing on their family boat, the Shtandart in the Gulf of Finland, which was a decommissioned navy ship of Peter the Great. Imagine my delight when I saw a replica of the Shtandart swaying back and forth, moored to the Liffey bank. Super awesome!!

Another cool ship we got to tour was the Kaskelot. If ships could be described as “handsome”, this ship stood out from the rest, a ship celebrity of sorts. The Kaskelolot was built in 1948 as a traditional Baltic Trader for the Royal Greenland Trading Company in Denmark. Then later, in the 1960’s, she acted as a support vessel for fisheries off the Faroe Islands. In 1981, she was purchased by a UK company and converted into a likeness of a traditional 3-masted Baroque with a double top sail. This ship has starred in several movies, such as:

• The Last Place on Earth (1985)
• Revolution (1985)
• Return to Treasure Island (1986)
• The Three Musketeers (1993)
• Cutthroat Island (1995)
• Swept from the Sea (1997)
• A Respectable Trade (1998)
• David Copperfield (1999)
• Longitude (2000)
• Shackleton (2002)
• Amazing Grace (2006)

I think I’ve only seen Shackleton and the The Three Musketeers.

Another memorable boat was an Irish Customs ship. This one was much more modern with high tech equipment, the only ship at Riverfest not from another era:

All in all, it was a nice festival. Grant and I tried one carnival ride, the pirate ship that swings you back and forth. We both got a little sick on this one, I’m glad our stomachs were empty.

We rounded out the day at a Korean restaurant called The Drunken Fish (I love Irish pub and restaurant names!). The food was great, Grant and I shared a seafood hot pot which was huge (the size of a baby’s bath), and we had enough for dinner the next day.

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