Sunday, October 2, 2011
After breakfast Barb went to church, but Jackie had gotten very little sleep, due to Barb’s coughing, so she went back to bed. This time, the priest was Father “Patrick” (don’t actually know his name but he was Irish, anyway!). There were protestors outside the church – angry about the Catholic Church and the priests/pedophile scandals in Ireland.
We took our luggage to the Arlington Hotel (by the O’Connell Bridge) for them to hold until we could check in.
Next, we headed over to Trinity College to tour the college and see the Book of Kells, the four gospels. Our tour guide was great – he’s a third year political science major and gave great commentary. The Book of Kells exhibit is amazing. We were surprised that the pagans helped illustrate it. We were also surprised that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert signed this 1200 year old manuscript.
The old library was interesting, too. It is a very LONG room with books going way up toward their high ceiling. Tall ladders would help one get a book, but they aren’t numerically ordered, rather they are ordered by size. There are many lovely sculptures and artifacts on display,
Then, we went back to Botticelli’s for ice cream. They know us there, now!
Our next stop was Dublin Castle. It’s not a very old castle because the original burned down in the 1600’s. However, the tour was interesting. We were able to go down into the undercroft and see part of the original medieval wall and moat.
It rained or drizzled throughout our tour of Trinity and the castle, then gradually the weather continued to improve, and by 4:30 pm, the sun came out! We strolled across the bridge of the River Liffey, enjoying the sunshine.
In the evening, we went to the bar area in our hotel. They have a dinner/theater deal, but you can still watch if you didn’t spring for the €29.95 dinner. A four piece band sang and played traditional Irish music, followed by some “Riverdance” type dancing.
A musing…..in Ireland they are serious about their road construction. We’ve noticed all the while that they only block off the area they are, in fact, working on and they actually appear to work steadily all day, including today, a Sunday!
pinchontheroad 