Dublin 6/26

Trinity College & the Book of Kells
We started off our morning going to see the Book of Kells.  I wasnt sure what to expect, though it was 9 Euro per person... I thought we might just be seeing the book, but it turned out there was an entire exhibit on the book, its History and some of the surrounding info.  It was a very impressive exhibit, and ended with us walking through "The Long Room" an amazing and insanely tall library of very old books. 

Next we grabbed the Green Bus, a sightseeing bus that stops at all the major attractions.  It seemed like the most efficient way to get around for 16 Euro for two days.  There was a red bus too, but it wasn't actually clear how much that one cost! 

Dublin Castle
We took the Green bus over to Dublin Castle, which is actually now a political center, where they welcome many guests, and have some of the old original city castle to show (the prison tower and some of the tower that is now undground).  Being that it was Sunday, the castle wasnt quite open when we arrived, so we explored the grounds, including the gardens and the chapel.

We then took the tour of the house that used to be where the queens & dignitaries would stay when visiting Ireland.

The Kings Quarters had an amazing view of the garden...

It was definitely an impressive building with a lot of history! 

Queen of Tarts
From there, we headed to the Queen of Tarts, a pastry shop that was supposed to serve a nice light lunch.  Eric ordered a "tart" (quiche) and I orderd the soup and sandwich, while Dad & Dennis both ordered sandwiches.  But it was the dessert displays that were truely impressive!! Dennis ordered the Queen's chocolate cake, while my dad ordered a brownie, and Eric and I split a Chocolate Pear Tart!

It was definitely worth the stop, and definitely a popular place!  They had opened another shop around the corner on Cow's lane, and both places were full!!  We just happened to catch two two seat tables in the original store, even though it was after lunch hour!

Cathedrals - though not really!
At the end of the block, we could see Christ's Church so we decided to head for it first to at least take a look at the outside.  Definitely a beautiful church, though it wasnt open at the time. 

 We decided to head for St Patrick's, at first intending to take the bus, but then realizing it was just around the corner!  It was an amazingly beautiful church!!

But unfortunately, being Sunday, it wasnt open to the public at the time we go there.  We decided we would put it on the agenda for the next day. 

Guinness!
We hopped back on the Green bus and headed for the Guinness Storehouse... mmm!  Eric was sooo excited to get there!

We all signed up for the tour and wound our way through the floors and floors of exhibits!! This wasnt a brewery, it was a museum!!  It had a lot of great displays and an impressive number of people!

The final stop is the Gravity Bar, where you get your free Pint of Guinness!! But both my dad and I dont drink beer, so there were two pints up for grabs... Eric ended up with 2.5 in total, and Dennis helped out at 1.5 of his own!

Eric was very happy after his 2.5 pints!

Bus Tour
We took the rest of the Bus Tour capturing some shots of dubling along the way, including the 2nd tallest obolisque and the beautiful park!