Dublin-Sunday & Monday

On Sunday we got tickets for the On and Off Bus.  This is a double decker tour bus that drives around to the different tourist sites in Dublin.  We got on and off as we pleased.  The second story of the bus didn't have a top so we were able to sit in the sunshine all day between stops.  Ever since Sunday the weather in Ireland has been incredible!  It has been 65 degrees and blue skies.  It sounds like it isn't even this nice in the summer here.  By the looks of the forecast I will be enjoying the sunshine all week!

Here are some pictures from Sunday and Monday in Dublin.

Christ Church:

The bus drove us through Phoenix Park.  This park is twice the size of Central Park in NYC and is the home of the president of Ireland.  Does this house look familiar?

One of our stops was The Old Jameson Distillery.  We watched a video of the history of Jameson whisky, learned how it was made, and had a sample of course!

Below is one of the most famous streets in the center Dublin, O'Connell Street.  This street is named after Daniel O'Connell the revolutionist that I learned about on the Ring of Kerry trip.

Next we made our way to Trinity College.  Trinity College is essentially the Harvard of Ireland.  The campus was absolutely beautiful!  Trinity College library holds the Book of Kells.  The Book of Kells are the four Gospels written by Celtic monks in the year 800.  Both the Matthew and Mark books were on display.  I was not able to take pictures inside the exhibit but the calligraphy and drawings inside the books were amazing!

Next we got off at the Kilmainham Gaol.  This prison was built in 1796.  It housed and was the execution location of many famous revolutionists during Ireland's fight for independence.  Our tour guide had many gruesome stories to tell!

The part of the gaol shown below has been in a lot of different movies.  The original Italian Job and In the Name of the Father both have scenes shot in this wing.

On Sunday night we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.  We headed to The Temple Bar afterwards for drinks with Meghan's mom.  Here we met some interesting and friendly Romanians, Bulgarians, and Italians.  

Walking to the bus stop on Monday afternoon:

This is the Ha'Penny Bridge.  It got its name from the fact that it used to cost half of a penny to cross.  This is Tipperary River that flows right through the middle of Dublin.

I have no school this week so I have been enjoying the sun the past couple days!  I am also running errands and cleaning my room before my sister gets here on Thursday morning! I cannot wait to see her!  We have a lot of fun things planned for the next week including the Fota Island Zoo, the town of Cobh, and another visit to Blarney.  We will also be going to Killarney to see the Gap of Dunloe and our last stop will be Galway.  Stay tuned for posts about these trips!