Hop-on Hop-off Tour

We were furnished with a Hop-On Hop-Off voucher we could use so I did get back on the bus and headed to City Center.  Found the headquarters for the tour company and picked up my ticket and got on the Hop-On Hop-Off Tour Bus.  These tours are great as they tell you a great deal about the city and you can get off any time and then back on again.

Trinity College

Trinity College is the biggest college in Ireland.  I got off the bus here because I wanted to see the Book of Kells.  They are manuscripts that the Monks painted many years ago.  The colors are beautiful and still very bright.  I didn’t get any pics of the manuscripts, but before you leave you enter a huge room called the Long Room.  This is where they house thousands of old books.  It is really something to see.

Christ Church

I got back on the bus and a couple of stops down I got off at the Christ Church.  The Christ Church Cathedral (founded c. 1028)  is one of the top attractions in Dublin.

It has beautiful stained glass windows and very beautiful.  I took some pics of the windows but they did not do it justice.

Guiness Storehouse

The Guiness family produced Guiness Beer which is the main beer of choice in Ireland.  It is a very modern storehouse and tells the history of Guiness beer.  It is very interesting how it is made.  The top floor is called the Gravity Bar and it has great views of Dublin.  You can see the Croke Stadium in the middle of this next pic where I saw the Camogie Finals.

Another view of Dublin.

Here I am enjoying my first pint of Guinness beer.

Outside of the Guiness Storehouse are some of the cabs.  HA!

I opted for a motorized cab instead as I only had about an hour before the tour started from my hotel.

Cork Championship Team

When I got back to the hotel I sam the Cork team that won the championship.  They were also staying in the same hotel.  Naturally I had to pose with them and they were very nice in letting a old fart like me pose with them.  HA!!!!

Our Tour Begins

The CIE tour bus picked us up in front of the hotel.  There are 31 people on the bus made up mostly of couples, one single guy (me), and about 5 single women (all but one of them married).  Our bus driver introduced us to our tour guide as we headed out to tour Dublin.

We were taken to Dublin City Centre where we got off to see a park dedicated to Oscar Wilde the famous Irish writer.  They even had a statue of him on this rock.

There were also many art pieces like this with all the famous quotes from his writings.

They also pointed out his home as we passed it on the bus.

St Patrick’s Cathedral

Our next stop was St Patrick’s Cathedral where we got off for a quick photo shoot.  This was built in 1191 in honor of Ireland’s patron saint.  It was raining a bit but cleared up enough to get this next pic.

Dublin Castle

Then it was off to Dublin castle where we were given a guided tour of many of the rooms.  It was constructed in early thirteenth century on the site of a Viking settlement.  Dublin Castle served for centuries as the headquarters of English, and later British, administration in Ireland.  In 1922, following Ireland’s independence, Dublin Castle was handed over to the new Irish government.

 

Welcome Drink

Then it was back to the hotel where our group all met in the bar for a welcome drink.  CIE Tours picked up the tab and it was a great time to meet all my fellow travels.  After that we all went into the dining room and had a wonderful dinner (also included in our tour).

Then it was off to bed after getting everything charged up again for a very busy day tomorrow.