After the worst plane ride I've ever had - the Birmingham to Charlotte leg was terrible - we boarded our plane for the seven hour ride to Dublin, Ireland. We actually landed 20 minutes early to a beautiful cool morning. My fellow Alabamians, you would be jealous - it was like a cool March day. After checking through customs we met our tour liaison, Claire Novotny and continued to the hostel which we will call home for the next five days. Immediately after storing our luggage we hit the tour trail. Our guide was a wonderful man by the name of Sean Patrick O'Rourke. Can you get any more Irish? He was delightful - so full of humor and historical knowledge. Around the city we went for the next three hours - Up to Christ Church for a lesson on how the Vikings settled a part of they city, down to The Bakery for pastries that just melt in your mouth, around to Dublin Castle, over to the Halfpenny Bridge, down to O'Connell Street and monuments to those who have played significant roles in the Irish civil rights and independence moments and ending at Grafton Street where he left us. We were treated to quite a bit of history in those three house and it was truly delightful. My favorite story he told came from Dublin Castle. The Castle gate has a statue of Lady Justice on top but she faces the castle (which is the government), so the Irish like to say, "The Lady Justice...her eye to the castle and her ass to the nation."
Lunch time - Guess what I had for my first meal in Ireland??? Let me give you a hint. Connor was with me. McDONALDS! I came 3,000 miles to eat at McDonalds!
After lunch and walking around Grafton Street, which is a pedestrian mall-type area we were again treated to a delightful tour. This time it was Trinity College. Our leader was a humor-packed young lady who was also a student at Trinity, working on a masters in French and Modern Literature. In the 30 or so minutes we spent with her we learned much. I can say it is true that the Irish are natural story tellers. Just on the first day and I am already enthralled by their stories. I learned something...well I learned many things in our tour...but the reason why there are so many half doors and "fake" windows in Ireland is that they had a lighting tax back in the day. That's right...they were taxed on how much natural light was let into your house. We Americans have our closet and windows taxes and they have their light tax. She left us at the door of knowledge....the Long Library, which also holds the Book of Kells and thousands of years of books. The Book of Kells was amazing. It was beautiful and to think that someone took that much time to create such a work of art. If I could I would spend days in the Long Library just going through the books, but I had to settle to just sit and smell. I love the smell of a book...new or old...there's just something about it!
Our day ended with a delicious dinner at The Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin. The atmosphere was incredible. It was the ideal Irish Pub! And to top it off, Sean came and joined us for dinner and entertained us with many more of his story-telling ability.
Needless to say when I hit the bed last night I was out like a light!!!
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