Christine in Ireland

My first Guinness.  Also my last Guinness.  

I am just like the locals in Dublin, Ireland as it turns out.  I went to Milligan's and had my first pint of Guinness (my first Guinness is not the local part).  I managed to find my equivalent- guys that work at the revenue department.  Yep you read that right- I hung out with accountants in Dublin.  But it was a diverse group and one new friend worked as a journalist for The Irish Times.  He shared with me that I am not actually Irish.  I'm Scottish.  Oh, and that ancestors that were Jewish based on my last name.  My goodness my Guinness.  My Guinness was after I finished the tourist food- best fish and chips I ever ate.  So good in fact, I ate it two nights.

Burdock's Fish and Chips

Fish and chips.  That's what you think of (well what I think of) when you think of Ireland.  But drive across the country (in roughly 2 hours without stops) and all you see are cows.  They must secretly eat steak every night and serve visitors (also known as tourist) the fried fish.  I've never seen so many cows grazing in my life.

I visited the required churches-including St Patrick's Cathedral.  However, here the church architecture is not as impressive so there will be no photos.  I saw a couple castles.  I saw the largest tourist attraction in Dublin-the Guinness factory.  To be fair to all types of alcohol, I stopped by the Jamerson Distillery as well.

Dublin Castle

I viewed the Books of Kell.  The book are from the 800's.  Almost as impressive was the library above the books.  There are hundreds of old books stored there.  The roof had to be moved up to accommodate a 2nd floor of books.  You are not allowed to take pictures.  So you will have to visit for yourself to see the amazing books.  I also visited the free museums (see DC is not the only cool city that has free museums).  The best was the National Museum.

A building at Trinity College, where the Book of Kell is located.  

I took the opportunity to see the country side of Ireland.  I decided to visit the Cliffs of Moher.  To arrive at the cliffs, I took a 12 and 1/2 hour bus trip (you read that correctly).  The Cliffs of Moher are breath taking. It was my favorite part of the trip.  You can walk along the cliffs.  For my one registered follower, I put my fears aside and took a picture over the cliffs.  Well I got on my stomach and put the camera over the cliffs.  I looked over for about a second.  Luckily I came to my senses, moved slowly back, and got up after that.  I also visited a castle and the Shannon in Limerick and the 12th century Corcomroe Abby.  If felt like we stopped and ate often (an activity I engage in whenever the opportunity presents itself).  I'm not sure what we did for all 12 hours, as I slept through some of the bus ride.  Actually, this type of tour reminds me of cattle (I really viewed a ton of cattle on the bus).  We all get of at one of the stops, take your required photo, get back on the bus for the next stop.  Repeat.  And repeat again.  (You get my point.)

The Cliffs of Moher

View down from the cliffs pictured above.

The Customs Building (I really like the reflection on the water):

The city reminds me of New Orleans in some ways.  The bars all have singers.  And outside the bars, there are locals singing for tips.  I will post the Doors of Dublin as a separate entry.  

Yes, the guitar is an old can of oil.

The most amazing part of my trip was the lack of rain and lots of sun.  Kidding (sorta).  

A very large pole monument on O'Connell Street

Christine

PS.  Know what I did on the trip back-if you guessed typed up this entry you win.