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!