Aug 8 Dublin

This morning we got an early start because we were going to do some sightseeing in Dublin today. We started out by going to view St. Patricks Cathedral, which was very impressive on the outside but there were services going on so we couldn't go inside.  

So we drove up to the Guinness Brewery, which fortunately was not that busy, being a Sunday morning I guess. They have a self directed tour of one of the old buildings, which has been refurbished to explain the whole brewing process. As well they had some old artifacts like bottles and advertising from nearly it's inception. The culmination of the tour was in the glass bar on top of the building, which had an impressive panoramic view of the whole city. Of course the pint of Guinness which is part of the cost of admission was enjoyed thoroughly. 

After finishing up in the bar, which Shannon and Shayla were of course allowed into but not to drink, we all went down to the Guinness Store to look through the souvenirs.
Next stop was Trinity College. We walked through it for a bit taking pictures, and went into the Library shop for some souvenirs. They wanted a lot of Euros to see the Book of Kells so we skipped that one. We watched about 2 minutes of a cricket game going on in the back field before we decided we better get some lunch. 

We walked through the Temple Bar area and stopped at the Elephant and Castle for lunch. It was pretty good food. Service could have been a bit quicker, but we were a little concerned about making it to our Viking Splash tour on time, which we booked way in advance. 

The Viking Splash tour was in one of those WWII amphibian troop carriers called the DUKW. Some Viking helmets were supplied and we were instructed on the proper way to scare the Celts with our roars. Apparently killing and spitting on Celts is no longer allowed. The driver/tour guide was very good. 

He was quite funny and very good at getting everyone charged up for the roars, which we did several times and scared the heck out of unsuspecting Espresso Celts, and Sidewalk Celts. The tour also included a short trip up and down the Grand Canal basin in the vehicle. We had a great time on the tour, as we have had on pretty much all the bus tours we have been on. 

After the bus tour it was already 5:30 so Kevin drove around Dublin for just a bit showing us a few things before we headed back to Drogheda where we had a nice dinner at home and relaxed later by the TV.