Dublin - 22May2010

Dublin is a beautiful city and the 20 plus weather and sunny sky added to the overall ambiance. It's Saturday, the city comes to life with tourists and locals out strolling and enjoying the glorious day. Our day begins with a guided bus tour of the city.
Dublin became a free state in 1922 and an independant republic in 1942. The great stone wall is still present and dates back to the 1100's. The museums and galleries are owned by the people and all national buildings offer free admission. The Georgian houses a brightly coloured. The history behind the coloured doors dates back to when Queen Victoria died. They British oredered all doors be painted in black to signify the mourning. The Irish rebelled and painted their doors in bright colours of red, green, blue, yellow. This tradition is still present today. The inner city of Dublin is home to 1/2 a million people and with the surrounding counties there are approximately 1.7 million. Ireland is home to many great writers; Bram Stoker - Dracula, Johnathan Smith -Gullivers Travels, Oscar Wild and George Bernard Shaw. The River Liffery flows through the centre.
Our tour took us past the St. Patrick's the largest cathedral in Ireland, the only remaining city gate from the old wall, the Brazen Head pub dating back to 1198 and by the memorial for the great famine. This was a very haunting exhibit which marks a very significant time in the history of Ireland. The population went from over 8 million to abut 3 million. This was when many immigrated to the Americas.
We visited Trinity college, home to the Book of |Kells which were are the four gospels written by Monks in the 9th century. It's a sunny Saturday in Ireland and the weather has brought many out to the streets. The pubs are full of locals and tourists out socializing and enjoying the gorlious day. Our lunch was local pub fare washed down with a pint of Guinness. I must say the food has been amazing. Tonight we are off the the Merry Plough Boys pub for dinner and traditional Irish sond.