What a day! We were
up bright and early to breakfast with the rest of the group. The breakfast was
delicious. They had this homemade bread that was so delicious I can barely even
think. It was the traditional European breakfast with meats, cheeses, breads,
bacon (no our bacon), bangers, potatoes etc.
After breakfast we
hopped in our coach for a city tour. The interesting thing, at least to me,
about Grand Circle is they have assigned seats on the bus. Every day the seats
rotate two forward. It guarantees that everyone gets a "good" seat at
some time. There was some squabble a couple years back where people were
selecting the front seats (which by the way are the worst seats on the bus) and
others were complaining. Thankfully there are some open seats on the bus so I
was able to hop onto the other side from Janet so we could get photos on both
sides.
Photos were almost
impossible on the bus. The streets are bumpy and getting photos in focus didn't
go so well today.
After the city tour
- which included a stint in some wicked traffic - we finally landed at Trinity
College to see the Book of Kells and the Long room Library.
Oh….MY….God….that
library was too much. I just couldn't believe how so incredible cool it was.
And - well - long. So I asked our tour guide where the books come from. I guess
Ireland has some "law" that when books are produced a duplicate gets sent
to the library. She said there are warehouses upon warehouses full of books.
These are, by the way, not your trashy novels. The tour guide said there was
some rule about what types they copied.
Anyhow, the long
room was so fantastic. I think I took at least 100 photos in just the room.
The Book of Kells
was interesting, but not overly interesting. To think they were completed in
like 900 AD or something ridiculous like that. But the book has been separated
and there are only a few select pages on display in a VERY dark room. No photos
were allowed anyhow - Janet got busted for taking photos of some of the
information on the wall.
Done with the long
room and Trinity College we had the rest of the day to explore on our own. Our
first stop was the Temple Bar District. Locals thinks it's touristy and
wouldn't be caught dead there. It was but I loved it. So colorful and
flamboyant and a pub like every 6 feet.
We stopped at a pub
called The Quay's Bar. Such a cute place. Stereotypical pub to me. I had the
best Guinness Stew I've ever had and Janet had some freakin' fantastic fish and
chips. Naturally we both had a Guinness. The first of many.
Guinness is so good
here. Everyone said it tastes different than in the states. I'd have to taste
them side by side to tell, but here its like drinking water.
After lunch we
walked to see Christ Church. At one point Janet and I were standing on a corner
looking for the church and a map. We both were saying "I think it's that
way." and both pointing in the opposite direction of each other. Oy.
We got our bearings,
found the church and found out that you had to pay to see inside of it. I had seen enough photos online before that I
didn't think it worth it. It's not one of those gothic, gynormous churches with
massive ornate things all about. It's your basic cathedral.
We marched up the
street to the Dublin Castle. Same deal. It cost $$ to get in and we weren't
interested in paying to see wood floors and needle point pillows. So we shot
some photos and headed off to find the Celtic Whiskey Shop. My friend Paul
recommended going there and tasting some whiskey and oh by the way if I'm there
buy him a bottle of The Irishman Cask Strength whiskey…if they had it. Oh they
had it. The last bottle and it was $200EU. We said no. We did taste a
disgusting whiskey though.
From there we
stopped and had a coffee at this little café place called Spar. Their all over
here. They're basically their Starbucks. It's got coffee, goodies, general
store, etc.
We decided to be
adventurous and take public transit back to the hotel. Queen PopUp would be so
proud. We got on the bus and I asked the driver if the bus went to Ballisbridge
Hotel. He said yes and off we went. I asked Janet how we'd know when were there
and she felt she'd recognize it. Well, we didn't have to worry. The bus drive
announced it on the PA system for us.
These Irish people,
I tell ya. They are so kind and so helpful.
We dropped our stuff
at the hotel, took a little break then headed off to dinner. Our tour guide
recommended this pub up the street called the School House. We found our seats
and I promptly ordered a shot of the Irishman Whiskey to taste it. It was good,
but not great, in my opinion. I'm not a fan of non-distilled whiskeys. Another
couple from our tour came in and she tried a whiskey called RedBreast…now THAT
was good.
I had fish and chips
for dinner and Janet had this massive Beef and Guinness Pie. Of course we also
drank a Guinness. I mean, when in Rome and all.
Tomorrow we leave
Dublin behind. We stop at the Guinness Stone house on our way out and head to
Glendalough and Cork.
More tomorrow…we're
having a great time. And my feet only mildly hurt. Enough whiskey and Guinness
and turns out I can't fill them at all.
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