British Isles Cruise: Day 4--Dublin, Ireland

 Monday, August 19

Dublin possesses a storied history. A settlement has existed on the banks of the River Liffey for at least a millennium and a half. Succeeding waves of Gaelic, Viking, Norman and English invaders have left their mark on the city.  And today we are venturing off the ship with Billy and Cindee, a young couple we met at the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet.  We will share a taxi with them to Trinity College and then use the HOHO bus to tour around Dublin.

Our first goal is to get to Trinity College as fast as we can (beating the cruise buses).  Trinity College is Ireland's oldest university and one of the great universities of the world.

Trinity College Library is the home to the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is a stunningly beautiful manuscript containing the Four Gospels. It is Ireland's most precious medieval artifact (8^th century), and is generally considered the finest surviving illuminated manuscript to have been produced in medieval Europe. 

We make it to the Old Library, where the Book of Kells is located, about 10 minutes before the exhibit opens and there is already a long line formed for entry.  We have about a 45 minute wait before we can enter.  No photos were allowed around the Book of Kells, but here’s a couple taken from the internet.

The main chamber of the Old Library is the Long Room; it is filled with 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books.  Marble busts line the Long Room, a collection that began in 1743. The busts are of the great philosophers and writers of the western world and also of men connected with Trinity College - famous and not so famous

Next we found the stop for the HOHO bus just outside the college and hopped on.  At this point it started to rain so sitting on the open top deck was out.  The bus was then very crowded on the lower deck and it was hard to see the sites we passed. 

St. Patrick's Cathedral Built in honor of Ireland's patron saint, St. Patrick's Cathedral is the largest church in Ireland. It's said to be the earliest Christian site in Ireland where St. Patrick baptized converts.

By the time we reached the Guinness Storehouse stop, we were ready to get off the crowded bus.  Dublin has over 1,000 pubs and several hundred types of beers. St. James's Gate Brewery, a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin by Arthur Guinness, is today the largest brewer of stout. The Guinness Storehouse is Ireland's number one visitor attraction and tells the story of the "black stuff". 

We took the tour of the Storehouse, tasted the beer, and went up to the observation floor where we had some wonderful views of the city of Dublin and some more beer.

This photo is for my son-in-law, Ryan, who wanted a picture of me tasting the Guiness.  I did and I still don’t like beer!

We had a nice leisurely lunch with Billy and Cindee at the Storehouse before getting back onto the HOHO bus.  We ended up getting on a bus that was the reverse route of what we had taken earlier in the day instead of continuing on in a loop around the city.  The consensus of our small group was that we had had enough of the crowds in Dublin and would get off the bus by the River Liffey and hail a taxi back to the ship. 

I like street lights

After walking along the river front for a bit, we did get a taxi.  The driver had trouble finding the ship…we could see it but couldn’t find the street that led directly to the ship.  We stopped for directions and with the help of Billy and Terry reminding the driver of the directions given, we finally reached the ship.

 

The O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey

So Dublin ended up being more of a leisurely day with just a couple of main stops and an enjoyable time with our new friends from Las Vegas, Billy and Cindee.

Back on the ship that evening, there was a folk music and dance performance by a local group from Dublin.  They were very good.

Next port....Liverpool