Today started out as a very nice day with the sun shining.  The Hop on Hop Off bus came by the hotel to take us to the tour.  We rode on top of the double decker bus where it was open air and soaked up the sun.  We decided to ride it around one loop before getting off.  It gives you a good tour of the city, Dublin, with 24 stops and a guide pointing out the sites.  Very entertaining and fun.  We got off the bus at Trinity College and took in an exhibit of the book of Kells which was very interesting.  Our next stop was Dublin Castle where we had to wait an hour for the next tour.  This was a very interesting tour and the guide was very good as well.  We went down into the area that had recently been excavated that showed the Vikings original wall around the city.   We grabbed a quick bite for lunch before the tour.  Moving along, we went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and took another tour.  Our tour guide was Italian and very nice.  Very interesting history for all these sites.  Next we went to the Guinness Brewery.  Interesting, but not that exciting.  At the end, you get a pint up in the Gravity Bar which is an observation room at the top of the building.  It is a glass enclosure and gives you a 360 degree view of Dublin from above the buildings.  Nice view, but it was getting foggy and rainy by then.  Back on the bus we were too late for the tour of the jail, but rode around to another stop where we got off to walk through the Temple Bar area.  Ate dinner at Brunos which was very good.  Our waitress was not Irish and we had a little language barrier when I asked how the chicken was fixed.  I wanted to know if it was baked, but she didn’t understand so she had to get someone else to help her.  It was baked so I got it and it was very yummy.  Ed had Irish stew.  It was raining more and we decided to head to the DART station for the ride to the hotel.  On the way, we heard bagpipes and walked toward the sound.  It was a parade of firemen with bagpipes leading the way.  We walked a ways to get to the DART train station and finally arrived at our hotel.  A little walk in the rain didn’t hurt us at all!

Tomorrow we leave for Boston where we will spend the night and celebrate Ed’s Birthday.