Dublin and Our Return

It’s hard to believe we’ve been home already for almost a week. Once I got back in the office, the time has really gotten away from me, but I would like to share a few fine bits about our tour.

Our last day in Dublin was a busy one. We started out with a locally guided panoramic tour that took us through the various parts of the city. We saw the typical Georgian style flats with their colorful doors. The doors were painted different colors because all the buildings looked the same so families painted their doors to identify their home. Apparently the need to do this was brought on by gentlemen returning to the wrong house after an evening out!

Other highlights included Nassau Street, Grafton Street and St. Stephen’s St. Patrick’s Green Park that is right off of Grafton Street. We had time to walk the grounds of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and took a coffee break at Phoenix Park, which is a popular recreational area for the locals. The President’s house is in the park so we saw that as well.

Our tour ended at Trinity College where we saw the well –known Book of Kells and got to walk through the library that houses over 200,000 books – pretty overwhelming.

The afternoon was at our leisure, but many of us chose to take a tour of Guinness to learn how the famous pints are brewed. In terms of brewery tours it was indeed quite the tour with several floors full of displays about the history of Guinness and the process by which it is brewed. Our tour included a pint of pint which most enjoyed in the Gravity Bar. A bar on the very top floor that has 360 or glass walls that gives an awesome panoramic view of Dublin. After our tour, we still had time for some last minute shopping, photo snapping and sightseeing.

In the evening, Joe took us to Taylors Three Rock for dinner and an Irish Cabaret that included singing, dancing, instrumental music and a hilarious comedian. It was a very enjoyable way to conclude our tour.

Sadly, upon our return to Dublin, we said good-by to Joe, our driver guide. We thoroughly enjoyed his knowledge and wit. He taught us a lot about Ireland but also shared some personal stories, funny jokes and limericks and even sang a few songs for us. He definitely made it a super tour and we will miss him.

I have posted pictures of the tour on CETA’s Facebook page. The link to that page is below:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150303373385894.338651.144170630893&type=1

You will be able to look at the pictures even if you are not a Facebook user. If you are on Facebook, please “like” CETA Tours to receive travel tips and information about upcoming tours.

Thanks for reading about our visit to the Enchanting Emerald Isle!