Thursday was another rain free day- wow not a sign of the wet stuff since we have been in Europe- lucky us. We caught a cab to the Queen of Tarts-I had heard it was a good place to eat and was close to our first place to visit. We had a great breakfast but their tarts and cakes looked to die for and we had no room after breakie. We then walked the few 100 feet to the Christchurch Cathedral and wen ton to this amazing church- the upstairs was stunning- the remains of Strongbow are buried here. But the Crypt was where all the history was- the had some gold and silver chalices going back to the 1100's... There was a lot to take in and see down there- there is even the mummified remains of a cat and rat that were found in an organ pipe! The TV show the Tudors used this church extensively in their filming too. Then we were off to the Guinness Storehouse our next top. A 10 minute walk away and we were there- we had pre-bought our tickets as we heard that it was incredibly busy this last week with St Paddys and all. Apparently 7000 people visited yesterday. We got in with no line up and were pretty soon looking at the beer process. The whole tour was set on 5 floors and really was quite interesting - the girls were into it too. We must have spent about 1.5 hours walking through the tour and learning about this fine stout! The tour culminated at the beer university - Frank and I both learnt how to pour the perfect Guinness and then got to enjoy our pour. That is a pretty yummy beer- although so filling Frank had to finish his and mine (life is tough). Then we mad our way up to the Gravity bar and got a 360 degree view of Dublin. By this time it was close to 1:30 and the girls were hungry, we made our way back towards the city core and St Patricks church- our next church. Just outside this church we happened on a wonderful sandwich shop- fresh yummy smoothies and sandwiches were had by all- after all the heavy food we have been eating this was a treat. Then in to St Patrick's- another gorgeous church, called the "people's Church" and said to be the first place that St Patrick performed mass. Inside it was pretty crowded - but impressive none the less. i had no idea that Jonathan Swift the author was a priest and in fact had been the high priest at this church when he wrote Gulliver's Travels. Our last stop of the day was Trinity College- we walked from the St Patricks, past St Stephens Green- up Grafton shopping area and to the college. I wanted to see the Book of Kells- but the cost was silly 10 euros per person - after having spent so much to get into all the sites we had seen today this was just too much, plus we were pretty tired at this point. So back to the hotel - Frank and I both had a quick nap. Then it was off again for dinner- we had read about "the Church" and so made our way there- after getting lost a few times we found the place. A huge 19th century church that had fallen into ruins and had been bought by a local and turned into an impressive restaurant. There are actually about 4 different sections in this church that have different menus, but we sat in the main hall and had a wonderful dinner (fish and chips) accompanied by a great live duo singing some great Irish songs- there were also Irish dancers who performed a few jigs. A great place to eat and be entertained. After a few hours we left and Frank wanted to visit the Brazen head- Ireland's oldest pub- we ambled along the Liffy and found this pub- a great little place- genuinely old. After a quick visit we caught a cab to the hotel ago pack for our early departure tomorrow.
What a wonderful city and country to visit -loved it and will be back.
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