Yesterday was an action-packed day but everything we did was entertaining. It started with a walk by the river to get coffee where I was once again disgusted by "Americano" Coffee. I made Adrian find a Starbucks so I could drink real coffee and luckily we found one. Their "Fresh Filter Coffee" was thankfully real coffee so the day was saved. We then decided we would go on the free 1 o'clock (or 13:00 as people here say) walking tour around the city. The tour lasted 3 1/2 hours and ended with a meal at a local restaurant. Some highlights are below.
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| On the way to the tour I helped a local man pull something out of the river |
The first stop on the tour was Dublin Castle. The castle has existed in various forms over thousands of years and is currently the place where the Irish President is sworn into office.
The courtyard of the castle was full of these 6 foot (or some amount of meters because people use fake measurements here) sand sculptures. While these were cool to look at, I would never take the time to make one because everytime it rains you have to refinish it. And it rains all the time here.
The Coach House next to the castle was built to hide the former slums from the Queen when she came to visit. Now it can't hide the new office building that was aprroved through the previous corrupt government. The green in front is a grass helipad where all important visitors land for official state business.
Christ Church is located nearby, where they have a dead cat and mouse displayed in a glass case. They found them when cleaning the organ decades ago and thought they were symbolic. I think the cat was just hungry.
The next stop on the tour was the place where U2 first won battle of the bands and launched their succesful run. On the night they won they celebrated with a beer across the street at a hotel, which they now own.
We then went to the famous Temple Bar district where everyone in Ireland goes to party. It is named after the guy with Adrian; his last name was Temple and he owned a sandbar where the bars sit today. I wouldn't trust him around my children.
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| No, I didn't find the pot of gold |
The famous Haypenny Bridge, which was reconstucted by the firm that built the Titanic. It was the first bridge in Ireland and is still used today.
This is a plaque on the main bridge through town. This man did not exist and the plaque was put up as a prank (no Adrian and I didn't do it). When the city tried to remove it, the people were outraged so it stands there today even though he's not real
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| The depressing Irish Potato Famine Monument |
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Since the last stop was the Potoato Famine Monument, I immediately had potatoes for lunch. I didn't realize I had done that until just now. Anyway the Beef Stew made with Guinness was the best food I've had so far.
After the tour Mickey finally showed up and we had a few Budweisers (Go America) and hit the town. Street Performers were everywhere. Thes best was this guy, who would give you 35 Euro to ride ten feet on the bike. The problem was that it cost 4 Euro for 4 tries, and the street is cobblestone. The handlebars were also inverted. Adrian later tried and failed.
After enjoying the Temple Bar area it was time for the last stop, food. We found a place that served ridiculous Crepes, as you can see below. Yes, I ate that.
Anyways it was an awesome day. Today we are planning to go on the Guinness Tour, the Jameson Tour and then join our hostel mates on the planned bar crawl. Safe to say tomorrow's pictures may be a bit blurrier/non-existant.
Either tomorrow or the next day we will be heading to London with Mickey. He's been living there so he knows many locals and it will be a good place to plan out the rest of the trip.
Scott
Btw, I feel like everyone here is related to Maddie. I asked if they were at Kennedy's bar and sadly they weren't. The country has only 4 million people so I'm bound to find a relative
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