The "Book of Kells" and the Perfect Pour

Eileen's Perfect Pour ( it doesn't get any better then that) 

Day 9 (8/11/15)

We woke up early, got ready, and headed down to breakfast. You never know what to expect from hotel breakfasts but for the most part we have found European breakfasts quite accommodating. Except for being packed in, despite the early hour, the meal was pretty good. Our plan was to catch the hop-on hop-off bus to explore the city. After a little confusion finding the bus line that we were on (Belfast has three different hop-on hop-off lines) we caught our bus. We found out later that for our purpose we had chose the best one. I wish we could have kept our first driver the whole trip. He had a song for every area and although he perhaps didn’t have the best voice it certainly was authentic and lent an entertaining aspect to the tour. Unfortunately one of the things that I really wanted to see was the “Book of Kells” and we had been told to get there early before the queues got too long. So when we got to Trinity College it was time to bid our driver farewell. Although somewhat commercialized the “Book of Kells” area did not disappoint. I wish we could have taken pictures but I understand why not. Seeing the actual manuscript was up there with seeing “Stonehenge”. Just knowing that you are looking at something that was created so long ago and with so much sacrifice is awe inspiring. Trinity College itself is steeped in history. It was founded by Queen Elizabeth 1 of England in an attempt to curb Irish catholic influence and try to create more protestant authority. After a tour of Trinity College and the old library we decided to finish the rest of the Hop-on Hop-off tour. As these things go, before we had completed the entire loop we came to the bus station and that driver was done. We would either have to wait to continue or we could cross the street and get back on but would miss a small loop around the area where our hotel was. We figured we could catch that later and crossed the street, got back on and Headed for the “Guinness Storehouse”. The Guinness tour is quite extensive. It took most of the rest of the day to finish the seven floors that constitute the tour. It was very informative though. We had the opportunity to get certified as perfect pourers of a pint of Guinness which of course we got to drink. That was at the end of the tour and it finished in the Gravity Bar which is seven stories above Dublin and offers beautiful views of the city and surrounding area. After finishing our pint we had to catch the last bus and head back to our hotel. We were taking our first tour outside of Dublin the next morning and wanted to be ready.

Parnell Monument

Spire of Dublin (Stiletto in the Ghetto)

Eileen in the "Old Library" at Trinity College

Spiral Staircase in library

Main Hall

Sphere within Sphere

"Parliament Square" Trinity College

Ha'Penny Bridge on river Liffy

Let the Tour Begin

Water from the Whitlow Mountains

If one can is good Toucans are better

Scene from "Gravity Bar"

Another view

My lovely traveling companion