Day 32: 28 July 2010

  

Chef Brayden had eggs and toast waiting for us this morning when we woke up in Dublin.  After a quick breakfast we set out on foot to walk around Dublin and see the city.  The weather is a little cool, but comfortable.  We walked around in jeans and short sleeved shirts today with an occasional sweatshirt.  The first stop on our walking tour was Christ Cathedral, then it was on to the pretty park at St. Stephen’s green.  Walked down the pedestrian zone on Grafton Street, a main pedestrian way with lots of shops.  Couldn’t resist one more 1E McDonald’s sundae on the trip along the way!

We decided to take a tour of Trinity College and go see the Book of Kells today.  Excellent choice.  We went on a student led tour and learned a good amount about Trinity College in just 30 minutes.  The tour ended in the library where we went through a special exhibit on the Book of Kells.  This book which contains the four Gospels was written and illustrated by Irish monks around 800AD.  It was neat to read about how the monks wrote on calfskin, and the different inks and writing they used to record the Gospels.  The writing and illustrations of the book on display were beautiful and pretty elaborate considering the tools they had to work with at the time…dyes from rocks and minerals and quill pens.  The tour finished in the old library of Trinity College, which looked like a seen out of Harry Potter with its high ceilings and loads of volumes of very old books.

After our tour, we grabbed lunch at Wagamama then walked to Joe’s much anticipated tour of the Guinness Factory.  Finding the visitor’s entrance was a bit of a challenge because the factory is huge!  Once inside, we followed the exhibits from the ground floor to the top learning about the ingredients, beer making process, history of the company tasting room, and advertising along the way.  Even I took a tiny sip today, but as expected I didn’t care for it.  Towards the top, Joe used one of our free pint tickets to learn how to pour the perfect pint behind the bar.  He even got a certificate for his fine work!  Our last stop of the tour was the top floor of the storehouse at the Gravity Bar where Joe and Brayden redeemed their free pint coupons while I took in the 360 degree view of Dublin from the top.

Regrouped back at Brayden’s, then walked along the Liffey River towards the Temple Bar area for dinner at Porter House.  Joe and I welcomed pub food…fish & chips and chicken sandwich and fries, something we haven’t had on our trip.  Walked along the the streets of Temple Bar for bit, grabbed gelato, then watched a band play part of a set at Porter House before walking back to Brayden’s and calling it a night.