DUBLIN, IRELAND
DUBLIN, IRELAND
We arrived in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, this morning. We went to breakfast early and took a table for four not expecting the others to join us. Surprise, they did. Bill had decided to "Do Dublin" on his own and the rest of us were taking a tour of the Dublin sights and a River Cruise.
We drove by Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green, the Temple Bar area, Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, the Guinness brewery, and the National Museum. We stopped to take pictures of the Georgian Row Houses facing Merrion Square with their colourful doors and lovely decorative wrought iron work. Ireland as a neutral country didn't destroy its wrought iron to make munitions in the World Wars. We drove to Phoenix Park, once a hunting preserve of some lord or king, but is now a beautiful public area with bike and pedestrian trails, a deer population, and home to the Dublin Zoo. We were dropped off at the Ashtown Visitor Centre where we had the opportunity to walk through a walled garden - advertised as a Victorian Kitchen Garden. The vegetables looked much healthier than the ones in my garden plot at home. The flower beds were magnificent. Calla lilies, peonies, poppies, columbine, alstroemerias, delphiniums, lupins, you name it, were in bloom.
As we were driving to the river cruise part of the shore excursion, we were told that our boat's engine had failed so instead we had a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Here we saw the door that gave the Irish the expression "to chance your arm" and the travelling exhibit of the Tree of Remembrance which happened to be in Dublin at this moment. The best thing for us was hearing the choir practice for Sunday's service. Beautiful music and acoustics.
Back at the ship, we enjoyed a light lunch and a wonderful nap. Norma is still sleeping as I write this. When she wakes up, we plan a walk on the jogging path before dressing for another night of fun and frivolity, food and wine.
Tomorrow, we will be docked in Liverpool. We changed our tickets for a shorter excursion to Chester. The 8 1/2 hour one we had booked would have taken us back to the same area of Wales we saw yesterday. The one to Chester is only 4 hours. We both remember our first cruise three years ago when we picked all the long shore excursions or tried to do two in one day. Either we have gotten smarter or older and I suspect the latter. We just can't keep up the pace like we used to!
We arrived in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, this morning. We went to breakfast early and took a table for four not expecting the others to join us. Surprise, they did. Bill had decided to "Do Dublin" on his own and the rest of us were taking a tour of the Dublin sights and a River Cruise.
We drove by Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green, the Temple Bar area, Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, the Guinness brewery, and the National Museum. We stopped to take pictures of the Georgian Row Houses facing Merrion Square with their colourful doors and lovely decorative wrought iron work. Ireland as a neutral country didn't destroy its wrought iron to make munitions in the World Wars. We drove to Phoenix Park, once a hunting preserve of some lord or king, but is now a beautiful public area with bike and pedestrian trails, a deer population, and home to the Dublin Zoo. We were dropped off at the Ashtown Visitor Centre where we had the opportunity to walk through a walled garden - advertised as a Victorian Kitchen Garden. The vegetables looked much healthier than the ones in my garden plot at home. The flower beds were magnificent. Calla lilies, peonies, poppies, columbine, alstroemerias, delphiniums, lupins, you name it, were in bloom.
As we were driving to the river cruise part of the shore excursion, we were told that our boat's engine had failed so instead we had a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Here we saw the door that gave the Irish the expression "to chance your arm" and the travelling exhibit of the Tree of Remembrance which happened to be in Dublin at this moment. The best thing for us was hearing the choir practice for Sunday's service. Beautiful music and acoustics.
Back at the ship, we enjoyed a light lunch and a wonderful nap. Norma is still sleeping as I write this. When she wakes up, we plan a walk on the jogging path before dressing for another night of fun and frivolity, food and wine.
Tomorrow, we will be docked in Liverpool. We changed our tickets for a shorter excursion to Chester. The 8 1/2 hour one we had booked would have taken us back to the same area of Wales we saw yesterday. The one to Chester is only 4 hours. We both remember our first cruise three years ago when we picked all the long shore excursions or tried to do two in one day. Either we have gotten smarter or older and I suspect the latter. We just can't keep up the pace like we used to!
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