Not a lot of pictures today as we were in Trinity College Dublin (for the Book of Kells and the Library Long Room), the National Museum and the National Library Reading Room where no photos are allowed.

John and I had Athena and Triumph with us while Kristine and Sheila were at the National Library looking at the Yeats Exhibit.

While they were checking out original hand written manuscipts of Yeat’s poems, we were checking out Bog Bodies. EW!!

We spent last night in Newbridge, so this morning, after Mary made us a filling breakfast, Willie took us on a bit of a car tour to the National horseracing track (The Curragh) , the army barracks, and Mary’s other home: the golf course. The latter seems to employ sheep to trim and fertilize the green! After a quick goodbye to Mary and Willie (wherein they loaded us with food and generous gifts for the kids), we then headed back to Dun Laoghaire to met John and Sheila, who arrived midday from their dream vacation in Italy, Austria and Germany. We almost ran out of gas on the way from Newbridge, and we took a wrong road that sent us a few kilometres off course, but we still managed to meet the airport shuttle on time.

We gave John and Sheila a whirlwind walking tour of Dun Laoghaire and ate some lunch (which included some of Mary’s soda bread), and then we all headed to Dublin on the DART. We re-visited a number of our favorite spots in City Centre and saw a few new sites too (like the Ha’penny Bridge), but mostly we just walked and wandered. It was fun being the “experts.” The kids felt a particular ownership of the DART, St Stephen’s, and the ice cream shop in Temple bar. Don’t worry, we made John and Sheila drink Guinness too! We then had dinner in an Italian restaurant near Temple Bar and wandered some more before coming home with tired feet. And we made BIG plans for tomorrow too …

Yesterday, a gloriously sunny day, we drove out to Kilkenny and hardly got lost at all! Road signs and maps don’t always agree here, but we figured it out, even at what the Irish call the “Mad Cow” interchange. I was very proud of David.

The countryside is just as expected: many quaint towns with curvy main roads, lots of horses, even more sheep, and miles and miles of green. Kilkenny was also as expected for a Sunday; it was hopping with tourists. We toured the magnificent Medieval castle which has had a significant Victorian makeover, and then we climbed the 100 foot high, 1000 year old round tower. We drank a Kilkenny quite close to the brewery and bought some crystal.

We’d have loved to spend more time in that charming town, but we had a very important date at aunt Mary and uncle Willie’s house in Newbridge. We were delighted (and a bit surprised) to also find cousin Oonagh, Aunt Christina, cousin Paul, his wife Ann and their 3 kids there. We had great fun and an astonishing feast with them all. Boy, can Mary ever cook!

First of all, I can’t believe David posted about 40 foot without mentioning the Martello Tower or the Joyce exhibit … where are his priorities?

Of course, it would take less than the gunfire that it took Joyce for me to vacate the Tower after a few intriguing hours. True, the view from above is stellar, but those stairs are frightful, especially given that the only toilet would’ve been outside the 8 foot thick walls and below the ten foot high door! Buck must not have truly been that “plump”; only truly starving artists would live there. But thank heavens Joyce did.

The nearby pub had a very interesting owner and an even more interesting (albeit not that honest) posted menu.

Today we went to see how the other side lived. Powerscourt gardens are like Butchart with statues. WOW! Such opulence. We had perfect weather for it too. The trip out was a bit dodgy with David at the wheel on of a right-hand steer Mercedes (our thanks to aunt Judy for the car). The kids, who “assumed the crash position” early on, soon relaxed, and by the time David had to drive to our very fun dinner with cousin Henry and family, in their also gorgeous (just a bit smaller) garden, David was a driving pro.

The food, the wine and company were fabulous.