Denied! In Dublin.
This morning I was up before the birds. I awoke at 5:20 AM and decided to go up on deck to watch the pilot back the ship into the Dublin port (we were do to arrive around 6:30 AM). When I got up to the Ledo deck I discovered we were already in port. Bummer, but it was clear and not raining so I took advantage of the chance to get photos of the skyline at night.
The stadium in the background is a Rugby stadium.
I headed back downstairs to grabbed another hour of sleep (and to recharge my phone) before waking Kerry for a quick breakfast and early departure time for our excursion into Dublin.
As you can see Dublin is a seaport city with a mixture of modern and historic buildings.
The Liffey river runs down the center of the city and there a many beautiful bridges that cross it. (Note: I was having trouble with very reflective windows on the bus and trees so unfortunately many of my photos of churches did not make the cut.)
Today we visited Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Our tour guide was annoying and unlike yesterday not very informative. We only had about 35 minutes to fight the crowds to get less than 35 seconds to view the actual book. I bought a guide to the Book of Kells in the gift shop but it was still cool to see the actual book. No photography was allowed so I will have to use photos from the book. I just wish we had had more time to enjoy the exhibition.
We were then rushed back to the bus and carted across town to Dublin Castle and Chapel. Once again we were rushed through the castle but at least the tour guide she handed us off to was knowledgeable. It was a very modern castle but its interior was very grand.
The chapel was more traditional and absolutely amazing.
Once we were done with the tour we hid one of the message bottles in the Castle courtyard and the other on the way back to the tour bus.
The sun was shinning by the time we were back on the ship so I grabbed lunch, caught some sun, and took more photos of the sunny city.
With the pilot safely off the ship we left the sunshine behind trading it for a thick fog in the Irish sea.
After our temporary disappointment we had a nice dinner in the cafeteria and then settled into great seats in the Princess Theater to watch a magician who did a series of slide of hand and card tricks. No big tricks but he was pretty good at making cards and coins appear as well as guessing people's cards.
After the show we grabbed a late night ice cream out on the deck in the crisp night air before we headed off to our room for the night.
Tomorrow we go into Belfast and it is supposed to rain.
I thought I might be able to watch the sun come up over Dublin (Sunrise: 6:33 AM) so I stayed on deck and waited.
This is the beautiful Dublin sunrise...Denied!
The stadium in the background is a Rugby stadium.
I headed back downstairs to grabbed another hour of sleep (and to recharge my phone) before waking Kerry for a quick breakfast and early departure time for our excursion into Dublin.
As you can see Dublin is a seaport city with a mixture of modern and historic buildings.
The Liffey river runs down the center of the city and there a many beautiful bridges that cross it. (Note: I was having trouble with very reflective windows on the bus and trees so unfortunately many of my photos of churches did not make the cut.)
Today we visited Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Our tour guide was annoying and unlike yesterday not very informative. We only had about 35 minutes to fight the crowds to get less than 35 seconds to view the actual book. I bought a guide to the Book of Kells in the gift shop but it was still cool to see the actual book. No photography was allowed so I will have to use photos from the book. I just wish we had had more time to enjoy the exhibition.
We were then rushed back to the bus and carted across town to Dublin Castle and Chapel. Once again we were rushed through the castle but at least the tour guide she handed us off to was knowledgeable. It was a very modern castle but its interior was very grand.
The chapel was more traditional and absolutely amazing.
Once we were done with the tour we hid one of the message bottles in the Castle courtyard and the other on the way back to the tour bus.
The sun was shinning by the time we were back on the ship so I grabbed lunch, caught some sun, and took more photos of the sunny city.
I also checked out the secluded deck and verified I could see the door where the pilot would leave the ship.
At 5:00 PM the Ship departed Dublin and when we saw the pilot ship coming we were perfectly positioned to film him stepping off the cruise ship onto the pilot boat...
so what did they do... they dropped back behind the ship and took him off the ship from the other side... Seriously! I stood in a puddle in the wind for nearly an hour to get the shot and was DENIED! We have 6 more ports I will get the shot!
With the pilot safely off the ship we left the sunshine behind trading it for a thick fog in the Irish sea.
After our temporary disappointment we had a nice dinner in the cafeteria and then settled into great seats in the Princess Theater to watch a magician who did a series of slide of hand and card tricks. No big tricks but he was pretty good at making cards and coins appear as well as guessing people's cards.
After the show we grabbed a late night ice cream out on the deck in the crisp night air before we headed off to our room for the night.
Tomorrow we go into Belfast and it is supposed to rain.
Are you getting any sleep?
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Mom
On Sea days. :)
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