Ireland update

Sunday turned out not to be a day of rest. We ended up going to Powerscourt which is about 25 minutes from Druids Glen. It is a huge estate with beautiful grounds and ponds. Very peaceful. Their rose and flower gardens are breathtaking. The roses actually smell like a rose should. Of course there's shopping and places to eat within the estate. Tim sat at a table for 4 while the rest of us went thru the cafeteria style line. They don't do anything too fast over here so it took awhile. Some woman came over to Tim and told him he couldn't sit there without a food tray. He started speaking German to her...she repeated he couldn't sit there and he again replied in German. I'm not sure he knew what he was saying but it worked because she looked bewildered and then left. He's still talking about it.

Monday we took the Dart (commuter) into Dublin. About an hour's ride. Did breakfast and then headed to Trinity College. Trinity College was found in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth 1 to "civilise Ireland with both learning and the Protestant religion...for the reformation of the barbarism of this rude people". Good thing she's long gone. The Book of Kells is also located at Trinity. It's approximately 800AD and it illustrates the 4 Gospels. the Long Room (upstairs) is a library which is something you would picture right out of Harry Potter. It houses approximately 250 million books. Pretty impressive. Tim and Bruce went to a Rotary meeting and it turned out that that particular club was the oldest Rotary Club in Dublin.

Tuesday we piled into the car and Tim drove us to Waterford. Have to say he has this left hand driving down. We all suck air once in awhile simple because the roads are curvey and narrow. Spent our monies in Waterford doing our part for their economy. Barely had enough left to eat at the local McDonald's. Yes, they are everywhere. We left Waterford and headed north through Kilkenny thinking it would be a great place to stop and windowshop. Well, traffic in the town was unbelieveable and after a few wrong turns and a couple of times around a roundabout we headed back toward Dublin. Had happy hour in our room, ate dinner and crashed.

Decided we would make today (Wednesday) a quiet day. We all had butt-itis and didn't want to sit in a car or on the commuter for any longer than we needed to. Just went into Greystones and dinked around. Then went to Bray (small town north of us) dinked around and had lunch. Tim is now back in the room with a book. Probably will be napping by the time I get there. Tomorrow we head back to Dublin.

Have taken some great pictures. Too bad I don't know how to get them on the blog while over here. Will have to wait until I'm home.