Dublin, Day 2

I must be still tired....I can't think of any pithy titles for these posts.

Today started VERY early for Tammy and I. We woke up at 3 am, got up at 5:30 am, and were downstairs by 6:30 am. We had a great continental breakfast, and then headed into the city center for a guided tour of Dublin. We saw many different medieval churches and some really great Georgian houses. The Georgian houses all have different color doors....really brightly painted doors. We got lots of pictures of them, but unfortunately I can't post them until I get onto a different computer. We took a tour of St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was amazing. It had a door that separated the Fitzgerald's and the Butler's when they were having a fight in 1492. Kind of puts how young America is into perspective, doesn't it? We finished our guided tours with a visit to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. The Long Room (library) was pretty amazing. I bought a poster of the Long Room and one of the Book of Kells there.


After Trinity College, we were on our own for the rest of the day. Several of us had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, because Peggy wanted to get a shot glass. From now on, though, we will be eating in pubs and sandwich shots. My lunch of a bacon cheeseburger cost over $35. No more.

We split up after lunch because some people wanted to shop (Tammy and Arlene) and some of us (Peggy, Perri, and me) wanted to go to Dublin Castle. I am soooo glad that we went to Dublin Castle. It was amazing. The original castle burned in the 18th century, and this is a Georgian mansion built on the same site. The original castle had a tower in each corner, and one survived the fire. The last part of tour included the Powder Tower, which was discovered within the past 20 years when workers started to excavate under a building. They discovered the walls of the tower, the original city walls, and the servants entrance into the castle. Under the ruined tower was the remains of a Viking wall. The Viking wall used a mixture of ox blood, horse hair, and egg for the morter. Ick. We met back at a statue of Molly Malone (the Tart with the Cart) at 6:30 this evening, and went to Citi for a supper of fish and chips. Yes, Mom, you can bet how much I liked that. After dinner, us old fogies came back to the hotel, while the young ones stayed downtown to listen to some Irish music and see some Irish dances. I was much, much too tired to stay downtown. We came back and are going to share a bottle of wine and a Harp's and then go to bed. We all tried Guinness last night, but it's pretty bitter. I think that it is an acquired taste.

It rained off and on today, sometimes very heavily. Nobody here seems to be bothered by the rain. They just open their umbrellas and go on their way.

Tomorrow we are headed for Cork. We will be stopping at the National Stud Farm.

Love you all and miss you.