June 6th, Dublin

After a big cafeteria type breakfast with a bus load of French tourist, we head back to Dublin via the Laus. 

We got off at the Abbey stop because our first stop was to be Trinity College and the Book of Kells. It was really amazing! It was far more then just the book. It broke how they made the paper, the inks, with blown up pieces as lit screens. They explained what the different symbols mean on the drawings. But when we got to the actual manuscript, along with other books of a similar age, it was amazing! It is hard to imagine that we were looking at pages that were 1300 years old! 

Of course we were also plagued by an ugly American. A guy who leaned all over the case for ages and talked with a loud voice like he was the only one there instead of one of many trying to see the contents of the case. But that is how we earned the reputation!
 

From there, it leads you into the old Library which was 2 stories of ancient books, sculptures of noted literary giants and the oldest known harp, which was impressive. The discussed the step by steps of restoring the ancient manuscripts.

My one picture within the hall is really poor. As you can see Mike in the lower right corner taking a picture. I am hoping his is much better so I can add here. But did get pictures outside of Trinity.

I left the guys to go see if the Trinity Medical Center could help me and they sent me to a GP nearby. She would not take out the stitches because she said they were still wet but looked at my knee and the problems with my hand and gave me a prescription for an antibacterial cream and an anti-inflammatory pill to fight the hand problems. After a stop at the pharmacy, I was off towards Guinness where we had agreed to meet. But on the way, I was going to get a bunch of pictures so I can better document what I saw the last time I was here.

 

 A nice picture of the Temple Bar area.

 

 

 The Old Court

 Christ's Church at lunch time on a gorgeous day. This coffee cart was there and I thought it was so cute.

The guys and I kept running into each but we are seeing some different things. They wouldn't go into either St. Patrick's or Christ Church because they refuse to pay to see a church (can't say I blame them) and they couldn't see Dublin Castle because it was closed for official business...but they did find the oldest pub!

 

We ran in to each other at St. Audoen's (a free church to see) and learned some things I didn't know about churches.....

 

St. Patrick's and Christ's Church are both Church of Ireland cathedrals that are 3 blocks apart...Apparently, the original Christ's Church (this one was built in the 19th C), was within the walls of Dublin. St. Patrick's was built outside the wall so that they would not be subject to the restrictions and taxes of those who ruled the walled city.

 

The other question was why so many Church of Ireland churches in a country that is supposedly so Roman Catholic. When England ruled Ireland, Catholic Churches were outlawed, so all the churches that existed at the time, were changed to Church of Ireland. When Catholic churches were once again allowed, the churches that existed were not allowed to be changed back, so all the Catholic churches in the country date from the mid 19th C. In the case of St. Audoen's, the original church, much of it now in ruin but part still an active Church of Ireland exists on the land where a church has existed since the 12 C.

 

 

 

 

Next door is the Catholic St. Audoen's that was built in the mid 1800's.

 

 

 

So the guys headed off to see the oldest bar in Dublin while I headed to St. Catherine's. Before seeing it, I ran into the church who's steeple I had been seeing. It was a Catholic Church built in the late 1800's on the site of an Augustinian monastery, called St Augustine and St. John the Baptist. It was beautiful.

 

These funny characters were across from the church, I have no idea what they were about. They were outside a news store.

I saw St. Catherine's, built in 1769, but it was closed.

We all arrived at Guiness about the same time.

 

The brochure had said there was free food along with our free pint (and at 16 euros, that was good), so we figured it for lunch. We had gotten there about 2:30 only to find out the food was at 12, 1 and 2! So we grabbed out beers from the top floor, took a few minutes to walk around the windows and see the view of all of Dublin, before heading to the 5th floor for some food to go with the pints. Yes, even I had one, well 90% of one. The guys finished it for me.

 

Next stop, 1st floor to start the tour with an orientation, then we were on our own to wander what was really an excellent exhibit of both the history of Guinness and the process of brewing. We learned a bunch, particularly me! Did you know that Arthur Guinness negotiated a 9000 year lease on the store room where the tour is located?

 

We skipped the 4th floor (I don't think Mike wanted to take the beer knowledge quiz) to head for Jamison's before they closed at 5:30. We made it! But the last 2 tours were full! Bummer! The guys, knowing that I am the Irish whiskey fan, offered to come back into Dublin Thursday so I could see it but the idea of drinking Jamison's at 10 am didn't work, so e will do it next time.

 

 

Oh, the skirt...I brought it with me in case I needed something a bit better than jeans...well as it turned out, I needed something that wouldn't rub my knee. The skirt was worn far more than I ever thought it would be.

 

So it was a bit too early for dinner and Mike wanted to sit, so we walked back to Christ Church to relax. We lucked out in several ways...There were tables and chairs available to sit. There were too girls, one playing the accordion and the other dancing the jig, to advertise a coming event. And church services started, so Scott could sneak in to see the church and what was more important to him, hear some of the music.

 

When it came to dinner, we were looking at one of 3 places suggested by one of the guys at Jamison's. One was the oldest bar in Dublin which the guys had been to but was not what I wanted for dinner, so we went there after dinner for our after dinner drink. of the other 2, both near Christ's Church, we went to the closest, the Cock and Bull. Very nice food although our Russian waitress didn't have time for Mike or I, she gave all her attention to Scott. But we had a very nice early bird dinner of appetizer and rib eye for 25 euros. Excellent. I had the lamb kidneys which were wonderful, particularly the sauce. Scott had salmon with an Irish version of potato salad (no mayo) and Mr. Meat had pork spare ribs to go with his steak! A really nice dinner experience. My only complaint was the salad dressing. It was nice but for 2 weeks, Scott and I have been getting salads...we all know Mike doesn't go near them...and they have been served with little or no dressing and they have been so good, they didn't need it. They served a great salad, with an American size serving of dressing!

 

Then we headed to the Brazen Head Inn for our last drink of the night past the original wall around Dublin.

Mike and Scott at the Brazen Head Inn.

 

Then headed back to the Laus and the hotel.