2 July: Dublin
Wonderful to have such a peaceful night's sleep here at Trinity, woken this morning by some extremely vociferous seagulls. Did NOT have to have our bags ready at our door by 6.30. AND  the sun was shining.
So after breakfast at the Buttery, we set off for a day hopping on and off the red bus touring Dublin. First we tried to book for "Ireland's best traditional dinner and show" for tomorrow night. Sorry Madam, it's fully booked. So we've booked for another. Peter missed both the superb shows on the tour because he was sick. Later this afternoon we were walking past "The Merry Ploughman" and a woman invited us to the show so I told her we'd tried to book for it and were too late. But no, they have plenty of room tomorrow night. Oh well, we tried.
Hopefully you can follow the photos I've put onto FB and see our visit to Temple Bar with Dublin Castle dating from 1717 and then our visit to the Guiness Factory dating from 1759. The Guiness Storehouse building is designed in the shape of a giant pint of Guiness that if full would hold 14.3 million pints. I don't like the drink at all, but the 7 storey visitor experience offering Ireland's finest cuisine along with panoramic views of Dublin is certainly a must-do.
That took up a large slice of the day but we did take the opportunity of walking across The Ha'penny Bridge which was restored to be renamed The Millennium Bridge. However they didn't get it finished until 2003, so it's original name lives on.
Tonight we have tickets for Sean O'Casey's play "The Shadow of a Gunman" at the Abbey Theatre . He has dramatised one of Ireland's recent conflicts.