Hoppin' down the Dublin Trail ... or A school A Book and A Beer ...

Today was our first of two full days of Dublin sightseeing.  After breakfast at McDonalds ... yep they are basically the same here as in the states ... we boarded a 'tram' into the city center.  The tram is really what we would refer to as 'light rail' and very easy to access and serves a significant number of city workers.  It is fast, clean, easy to use and I wish San Antonio would learn something from these folks and get this going ... used the proper way it makes very good sense.  As we were riding the tram a local couple was helping us identify where we might do laundry tomorrow ... as it turns out at least near where we can easily access, the "laundromats" are not 'self serve' ... in other words we will leave our laundry off in the morning and pick it up later in the day ... 8 euro per 'load' ... not really sure how big a load is at this point.  As we zipped along into the city I noticed that regular cars and trucks and bicycles were using the same 'road' as the tram ... obviously the tram was on tracks but it stopped at signal lights and was basically 'sharing the road'.  I have commented about how narrow the roads are ... adding a train to the mix does not improve matters one bit!!!!!!  I mentioned this to the fellow beside me and he said when the tram first came on line there were many accidents.  I don't doubt it ... I really can't imagine actually having to share the roadway with a train ... I guess to some extent the cable cars in San Francisco are like that but to me it just added to the abject fear.

Once we arrived in the city center by tram we located the "Hop On Hop Off" bus stop ... we had used these to good advantage in Rome and these are essentially the same operation ... you buy a ticket (in our case a 2 day ticket) and then you can get on and off at any of the route stops all day ... very handy ... one does NOT want to drive in downtown Dublin as the pics will show.

Here is a picture of one of the Hop On Hop Off buses ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

Here is a shot looking down the street at the Spire Of Dublin.  

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

As you can see the  traffic is just a tad congested.

They have some "interesting" names on the shops along the street ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We 'hopped off' the bus near Trinity College .   Other than around San Antonio, when I tell people I graduated from Trinity University they invariably ask me how I liked Ireland ... so I figured I'd better see what all the fuss was about ... we arrived on the campus to discover that the "Freshers" were being welcomed by all of the 'clubs' on campus trying to get them to sign up ... apparently the more members a club has the more power it has on campus.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

The term will start soon.

We bought tickets to join a tour group and got a short walking tour of parts of the campus that included some interesting commentary.  Our guide was an undergraduate history major and he did a good job.

Our guide dropped us off at the old library and Book of Kells exhibit.

To be perfectly honest I knew nothing of the Book of Kells ... I supplied a link for you above ... and while it really isn't THAT impressive to see as an object ... the idea that it was written in the years around 800AD and I was standing there looking at the real thing ... was pretty cool.

Carolyn and I bought Trinity College T-shirts thinking we were 'almost' alumni ...

We "Hopped On" our tour bus and headed to the Guinness Factory.

On the way we saw several more interesting landmarks ... here is a statue of  Molly Malone.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

The Guinness factory is really big .. the tour takes you through parts of the old works and give a fairly high level explanation of the brewing process.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We all tasted some ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

It's apparently good for you ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We had a bite to eat and then headed to the top floor for our "free pint" ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

The top floor is a huge room with glass all around giving a panoramic view of the city of Dublin.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

Then we "hopped On" our bus again ... rode over to the tram station and rode back to the stop near the hotel.

After a brief rest we went down to the bar and ordered ..... Margaritas !!!! An much to our surprise they were very good!!

Tomorrow more sightseeing in Dublin ... oh ... and dropping off the laundry.