Friday, July 10, 2015

Dublin: Day 2

After eating a most amazing crepe breakfast, we headed to Trinity College for the grand tour of both the college and the Book of Kells, which is a document illustrating the four gospels of the new testament. It is located at Trinity College and is believed to have been scripted in 800 AD. After touring the college, including the Long Room, which is one of the oldest libraries, we got in the long line to see the Book of Kells. The exhibit was good, the manuscript very deteriorated. See me staring at George Salmon who was the provost of the college when women were admitted. He was not too happy about and actually died before the first woman showed up. I'm giving him the stink eye.


Next, we grabbed a hop on-off bus for a city tour. We stopped at St Patrick's Cathedral, which is not a bishops seat and isn't even Catholic anymore. Seems at some historical time, the Church of England claimed all the churches for themselves and they have never been returned to their rightful denominations. The Vatican has refused to appoint a church in Ireland as the bishop's seat, believing it should be this.

Last we hopped off at the Guinness Storehouse, the No. 1 Tourist site in all of Ireland. Go figure!
Touring the Guinness Storehouse proved to be a very fun afternoon.  Self guided for the most part, we learned about the importance of their source of water and other goodies that go into the making of a Guinness. We worked our way through the tour space, which is a vertical stack in the shape of a pint of Guinness, to the bar at top. A pint was served. This circular bar is the top of the pint, the place where beer is not poured. Views of the city were all around. Very crowded it was.