Leprechauns, Vikings and Catholics

We arrived in Dublin in the early afternoon on Friday. We were checked into our hostel and then headed for lunch. We stayed at the Abbey Court, which is a pretty cool hostel right on the north side of the Liffey River that serves a free, honest breakfast. The four of us were in a twelve-bunk ladies dorm so we shared a room with eight other girls. Amy and I flew in a few hours before Bri and Mary, so we crossed the river and walked around the Temple Bar neighborhood. It is a cute, touristy area known for its nightlife and cobblestone streets. Once Bri and Mary arrived, we all went to a three course Irish dinner that included live Irish music and river dancing. I will say river dancing blows my mind the way they bounce around and slam their feet on the floor. My Irish dinner consisted up some kind of beef, Guinness stew and soda bread. My Bailey’s Irish cream cheesecake was almost as awesome as the lady that played the fiddle better than the Charlie Daniels Band in “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Saturday we got a decent start with leaving the hostel by 10am. It was a beautiful blue skies day that added to Dublin’s charm. We went to the Natural History Museum, which is full of skeletons and stuff things. I think taxidermy is more creepy than cool. The National Gallery of Ireland followed. It has some pretty paintings by Irish painters of old. Next, we went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells contains the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and is from 800 AD. Trinity College turns a page every two weeks. My favorite part was the Long Room. It is this awesome antique library that houses 200,000 books with beautiful shelves, marble busts of important people and a gorgeous spiral staircase. The Long Room is 213 feet in length and in 1860 the roof was raised to make the barrel-vaulted ceiling and gallery bookcases.

In the afternoon, we went to the Guinness Storehouse and took a tour of the brewery. I learned all about the brewing process of with the basic ingredients of hops, water and barley. At the end of the tour you get to go to the very top “of the world’s largest pint glass” to see panoramic views of Dublin and enjoy a pint. Saturday we went to Temple Bar and had some “craic” which is Gaelic for a “good time.”

Sunday morning we on the Viking Splash tour. It was my FAVORITE thing of the entire trip. They use the WWII amphibious vehicles that can go on land and water. We rode around in Viking hats, heard about Dublin’s history and Irish trivia and roared at “unsuspecting Celts.” IT WAS AWESOME!

We ended at the National Archaeology Museum that house a vast collection of Viking artifacts and well as other treasures from around the world. We then headed to the airport and arrived back in London.