Day 13. Second day in Dublin

This morning we went for a guided tour around Dublin on the bus, seeing lots of interesting sights and buildings.  Dublin is a beautiful city , situated on the River Liffy, with many historic buildings and lovely architecture.  While we did not visit them, museums and art galleries are free to enter.  

Shops on a Sunday open around midday so that the 98 percent population of Catholics can go to Mass.  The main industry in Ireland is agriculture, tourism is next in line.  It seems everyone in Ireland shops! 

After the bus tour, we went on another trip out to Glendolough in County Wicklow.  The weather deteriorated rapidly to gusty winds and light showers, not a good day for sightseeing.  On the way, very scenic countryside, lovely valley views, with all the shades of green you can imagine.  

At Glendolough, was a monastic site, featuring one of the best preserved Round Towers built.  It was made out of stone and whatever mortar they could come up with at the time.  It was built as a means of defence, and safety against invaders.  They would take their food and goods, skittle up to the top with some means of pulley system, and be safe from attackers.

  There was also a remarkable example of early engineering, of a building with a stone roof and a tower.

There were a couple of lakes to see there, we made it to the lower one, before turning back to avoid the weather.  You can make out the mist in the photo.

 Following this it was time to head back.  I was pleased to get back and do nothing except read and snooze for the afternoon, Paul headed out by himself to have a look at the AIrfest, an Irish airshow, which crowds of people came in to see.  He also went to see The Book Of Kells, which is a copy of the  four Gospels done by monks, kept at the Trinity University Library.  The book was written on calfskin and it is said it took 30  years of painstaking work to copy these works.  Below is the Long Room, at Trinity University, which contains half a million rare and ancient books.

We have been enjoying Irish cuisine, it is quite plain and simple, but delicious.  Last night we found a pub at the Temple Bar with traditional Irish music which was great fun.  I had the corned beef and cabbage, while Paul had the Beer and Guiness casserole.  While I am trying to avoid them, chips are served with everything, and are very tempting in this cold weather.