I met up with them Friday afternoon and we began to explore the city. We walked around the main parts of town, got some lunch, and did some classically Irish things:
Usually I wouldn't expect a mascot type person to speak, but this leprechaun said "Top of the morning to ya!" and gave me a mallet to hold in the picture.
On our first day in Dublin we also went to Trinity College, took a little tour, and saw their awesome old library! It was on my list of must-see things in Dublin. It's two floors and is still arranged with the largest books on the bottom shelves and the smallest ones on top. Our tour guide dude said that the students don't use the library so much anymore because the books aren't arranged in any correct order. What he failed to mention was that students don't use the library anymore because it's a library now. Minor Detail.
On our second morning in Dublin we went over to the James Joyce Center for a tour around Dublin. I thought it was cool and I got to see a lot of the city, but it probably would've been cooler if I'd read something by Joyce.
The majority of the tour was related to Ulysses. The city took down the building that contained 7 Eccles Street (the main character's home in Dublin) but they saved the door and my dad got a picture with it (he is a big Joyce fan)!
After the tour we continued to explore the city and walk around. We found another Morrison building! It's always exciting to find buildings with familiar names. I've noticed many more of them on this side of the Atlantic than the home side.
Our hotel was right on one of the great parks in the city. There was a little lake with swans and ducks and stuff. Very pretty.
Later that afternoon we went over to the Dublin Castle. The castle was back from when Ireland was under English rule. The tour guide talked about Queen Victoria and the monarchy and stuff from back in the day. It was really cool to see all the pretty rooms. Also there was an archeological site under the castle that was on display also so we got to see the old city walls and defenses and stuff.
Saturday night we went to see a play with Alan Rickman and Fiona Shaw (both from Harry Potter). It was a really good play and it was also really cool to see them in real life, on a stage, not all made up on a screen. This made it even more exciting to see the next Harry Potter movie. When I saw Snape walking around Hogwarts and stuff I was like, whoa, I saw him in real life!
On Sunday the only thing open in the morning was the Guinness Factory. Everything else opened at 2, Guinness Factory, 9am. Saying something?
The factory tour was really cool. There were 7 floors full of exhibits and audio-visual presentations about how to make Guinness. In the middle of the tour they offer little free samples to showcase the taste and stuff. By the time we got to this part of the tour it was only 11am. The perfect time to booze up.
At the end of the tour they give free pints of Guinness. There is an option to learn how to pour the perfect pint. You get a Guinness glass and they show you how to work the tap and stuff. I got to do that, it was fun. But then I had a whole pint, and no idea what to do with it.
Basically, Dublin was awesome! It was great spending the weekend with my parents and exploring a new city with them. We did plenty of shopping, eating, and site-seeing. Woo hoo!
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