Dublin, the BREWERY, and even Greenland!

I planned our trip to Ireland so that the last few days would be spent relaxing and

sightseeing in Dublin.

We again took a hop on hop off tour, and our first stop was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.  No pictures allowed where the Books were displayed, but we were allowed to walk through Trinity College's library.  Wow!  I thought it looked like we were in Hogwarts!  The books were ancient!

It was a beautiful library.

The library also had many displays of Jonathan Swift's works.

This is the oldest surviving Irish harp - pretty cool!

St. Patrick's Cathedral was next on our list.  We had to pay tribute to St. Patrick!  No snakes....remember??

St. Patrick's is a very beautiful church, and this choir aisle was fascinating.  

The brass Lectern features an eagle representing the spread of the Word of God throughout the world.

There he is - Saint Patrick himself!

Where else would you find a cast of Jonathan Swift's skull!

When we were in Tampa we toured the Yuengling Brewery, and we really enjoyed it.  I could hardly wait to tour the Guinness Brewery.  Well, in my opinion, Yuengling put Guinness to shame!

While Yuengling had a nice tour lead by a human, Guinness was a self guided tour with only props to see.  No huge vats with yeasty smells, no storage rooms with tons of info about how beer is brewed.  Just pictures and fake hops.

 You have to imagine the heat, and the smells.

They did have models of the ships that used to take their beer to America to compete with Yuengling.

Oh, wait! They did tell us that we would get a sample, but is this it?  This tiny glass?  No, don't worry.  First we had to learn how to drink the Guinness.  Don't just gulp it down - take a sip and savor the flavor first.

After we learned the proper way to drink our Guiness, we had to learn how to pour a proper pint.

The glass must have the Guinness harp etched onto it, which you hold away from yourself while pouring.  Oh, and remember, it must be a cool glass.

Bob passed the test and was given his diploma.  (I did too!!)

After the fun at The Guinness Brewery we stopped for a coffee and I noticed that all the guys working for Amnesty International were dressed like this.  Did you ever see jeans that tight on a guy??  Seriously, that's got to be VERY uncomfortable!

 This is the Harp Bridge, and they actually have it tuned and once a year play music on it.  What fun!

What a surprise!  On the way home the pilot announced that we were flying over Greenland.  Look at that!  Ice, snow, and more ice.

We had a wonderful vacation in green, snake-less Ireland. Bob proved that he can drive a standard shift car on the left side of the road without getting even a tiny scratch on the car, I finally saw a peet/turf bog, we learned to pour proper pints of Guinness, and we even saw Greenland.  

It's Bob's turn to choose our next vacation, and I can't wait to see where he'll lead me!

Belfast

We really loved visiting Belfast.  Our hotel was a few miles from the city, but it was an easy commute by train.  The Irish people are very friendly, and they told us to find City Hall and catch a hop on hop off tour that stops in front of City Hall.

 City Hall is huge and beautiful, and we decided to go inside to have a look.

Of course I tried a judge's robes on.  Don't I look so important?  ha.

Did you know that the Titanic was built in Belfast?  Well, it was, and the Irish are proud to point out that they delivered a perfect ship to England for its maiden voyage.   Anyway, the Titanic exhibit was very interesting, but there are no actual Titanic artifacts here out of respect for the deceased.

This is the drydock where the Titanic was built, and it's easy to see how huge the ship was.

They did have models of staterooms on the ship,

and videos taken of the actual Titanic as it appears now.

Here we are, ready for our Titanic Cruise.  Just look at Bob's fake grin!

The tour guide pointed out the Titanic Studios where The Game of Thrones is filmed.

Belfast is a beautiful and safe city, but there are still signs of the strife from previous years, and there are many murals throughout the city highlighting the troubles between the Catholics and Protestants.

Some sections of the city still have very high fences to keep peace, and they are locked at night with nobody left in or out after the gates are locked.

Speaking of murals, look at this one I found!

Why not celebrate our fun day in Belfast by raising a pint of Guinness!  

It's on to Dublin tomorrow for a few days before heading home.

The Slieve League and The Giant's Causeway

Our hosts told us that if we thought the Cliffs of Moher were impressive, we should go to see the Slieve League.  So we headed north to find out what they were excited about.

The Slieve League (Sliabh Liag) are the highest accessible sea cliffs in Europe reaching a height of 1,968 feet, making them nearly three times the height of the Cliffs of Moher.  The cliffs are very beautiful, and my pictures don't do them justice at all.

There's a trail that you can walk up, and the views from up there are awesome.  The path was steep and rocky, but well worth the hike.

Sheep aren't afraid of heights, and we could see another Viking tower in the distance.  There are many of them on the northern coast of Ireland, both sheep and towers!

We also stopped  at Glencolmcille Folk Village where we enjoyed walking through the thatched roof cottages.

These thatched roofs were weighted down with ropes and rocks.

We noticed that most the Irish houses were made of stone and covered with stucco.  They have a lot of rocks in Ireland, and they make good use of them.

Bob couldn't resist, he had to check those roofs closely.  Is he thinking about growing some of that special straw for our house?  What a great idea!

Ireland is so green and beautiful.

Our next stop was The Giant's Causeway, a very fascinating place to visit.  You can actually see Scotland from here, if the weather is cooperating, and it did!

It was a nice hike, and we were glad we chose to hike down, because those steps were easier to go down than hike up.

The shore is covered with hexagonal columns that stick up at various heights.

This is supposed to be the Giant's boot (with me relaxing on it).

We were definitely glad we stopped to see The Giant's Causeway, and we really enjoyed Northern Ireland.  Our next stop is Belfast, and we had so much fun there!