Dublin

We have spent the last three days in Dublin and had a great time!  But we were definitely moving a little slower.  There is so much to see and the city is SO busy... and when you've already spent 12 days on the move its a little overwhelming.  But we put our rally caps on and packed in as much as we could!

Our first stop was to Trinity College.  It is a tourist attraction AND functioning University, founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1592.  The big site here is Trinity Library and Book of Kells.  We took a quick guided tour around the campus and then saw the library.

The books in the library are sorted by size.... not by author, or title or a dewy decimal system... by big to small.  It's a strange system but they say it works.

The library holds Brian Boru's harp.  He is referred to as the uncrowned King of Ireland.  He ran the vikings out of Ireland in the year 1014.

Then we went to Dublin Castle.  It's a fully restored castle that they still use today for political functions.

It doesn't look so castle-like from the outside...

A real live throne! 

Then we went to Kilmainham Gaol, it's a old jail from the 1800's.  The reason it's so famous is because it is the jail used to house and execute the leaders of the Easter Rising.... Irish history is rife with uprisings.  Basically, Easer Rising happened in the 1920's when the Irish decided to breakaway from British rule.  The leaders of this movement were arrested and executed at the jail.  It was a spooky place.

Jail cell door picture

The spot where 16 people were executed for their part in the Easter Rising.

On a lighter note.... We went to the Guinness Brewery!  Saw how Guinness is brewed and even got to pour our own pint!

And finally we went to the Curragh for the horse races!!  Neither of us had been to a horse race before, and we had a GREAT time!  Betting on horses is really exciting!  It's a complicated process, but we caught on quick.  A couple of our horses even placed!  In the end, with all our bet money lost/ won, it cost us 40 euro.  Not too shabby! 

Now we head home!  And we are ready!  See you all back in the states!!

  

Drogheda and Boyne Valley

Today we had a long drive ahead of us, leaving Galway heading to Drogheda (Pronounced Dra-ha-da) (Gaelic is a crazy language).  We made the most of the drive and stopped at different places along the way.

Our first stop was the Tullamore Dew whiskey distillery.  Our second whiskey tour of the trip.  This tour was through a museum- whereas the Bushmills tour was through a working distillery.  At the end was whiskey tasting.  We learned that in order to taste whiskey properly, you hold it at heart level and swirl.  Then slowly bring it towards your nose, have another smell then sip.  Rick loves irish whiskey.  I hate irish whiskey.

Then we moved on down the road to Trimm Castle.  There is a well preserved (not restored) castle there.  It was the first preserved castle we have ever been inside! (So preservation means they have not rebuilt anything, only left it as-is, semi-ruin).  The castle was built 1100’s by the normans.  It sustained multiple attacks and it still standing in pretty good shape.  The scenery is so picturesque, that they used this castle and the surrounding grounds for the filming of Braveheart.   The coolest part was walking up and down the old stone spiral staircases.  

Then we moved on to Drogheda where we spent two nights.  It was a little weird checking into our bed and breakfast..... I thought it was a bed and breakfast, but it was actually a youth hostel.  Whoops!  When the host was showing us where the community showers were we stopped him.  No way jose.  Luckily/ amazingly/ Thank goodness they had ONE room with en suite bath/ shower. The host gave us a concerned look “but it’s going to cost you an extra 10 euro a night”.  Before he could finished his sentence “WE’LL TAKE IT!!!” we yelled.  Best 20 euro we’ve ever spent.  And actually, the room was nicer than some of the other rooms we have stayed in!  The hostel was a hippie commune.  Our hosts had beards and long hair, wore Bob Marley shirts and had a garden in the back of the hostel.  There was a peace and love vibe.  Which was great!  We had a great stay! 

(Old gate to the city, there would have been a draw bridge here in the 1500's!)

While in Drogheda we went and saw stone-aged sites, Newgrange and Knowth.  They are dirt and stone monuments built in the neo-lithic era 3200 BC... thats 5000 years ago!!!! They are 500 years OLDER than the pyramids of Giza.  It was a truly amazing site to see.  The monuments were presumably used as burial chambers and they lined up with the winter solstice.  At Newgrange we could go into the burial chamber.  It was incredible.  Complete untouched in 5000 years, no alterations made to it.  (No pictures allowed inside chamber, only on outside).  Knowth was a similar, but the inside burial chamber had collapsed.  Archeologists excavated it in the 1950’s and found some amazing things inside- stone aged tools, bowls, cremated ashes, stone carvings. Both monuments were equally impressive.  

Then we moved onto Hill of Tara, which is also known as Valley of the Irish Kings.  It is said that 142 Irish kings have been crowned here.  Along with countless battles/ feasts/ political meetings. It was a beautiful spot high up on a hill.  Close by were numerous high crosses.  Which are 15-20 feet high stone crosses carved in the 1700’s by monks.  The detail in the carvings is amazing!  And amazing it has lasted this long!

(St. Patrick at Hill of Tara)

In our last night in Drogheda we were on a mission to find a really really old bar our hippie hosts told us about.  After walking for quite a while, we finally found it!  It was the only bar on a deserted street.  We walk into an Irish sing along.  The bar was empty except for 7 people sitting around singing old Irish songs.  We ordered a round a Guinness and listened in.  There are two sisters that own the bar and the best word to describe them would be eclectic.  One sister told us the history of the bar, bought by her great-grandfather in 1820 and passed down in their family for generations.  She told us ghosts stories of old sea captains and about the Irish wake they had in the bar for her mother when she died.  A singing gentleman bought Rick and beer in exchange for a song.  So I had to sing a song.... it was not pretty but I did it!  

Today we are heading to Dublin!