IRELAND

  We arrived in Dublin on March 26, 2005 at 10 pm.

The plane had been delayed, and there was only one last bus going into town.

Kevin had thought that he bought Euros in Scotland.

But when they did not accept them in Ireland:

We found out that they were Scottish pounds. 

I had the luggage on the bus, and Kevin had to run back into the airport and find an atm. 

They asked me to get off the bus so they could leave.

I knew that if I got off, we'd never find our way to the hotel.

So I kept asking the driver to please wait. 

Finally he took all our luggage off and was getting ready to depart,

when Kevin came running back, waving the money.

Well, that was just the beginning of our fun in Ireland.

When we got to the hotel, they had given away our room (which we had already paid for).

So they drove us to a ratty hotel in the red light district,

and put us in a tiny room with one single bed and a cot that was broken.

 It actually fell, when we tried to sit on it, so I got to sleep on the floor.

******

 The next morning was Easter Sunday.  We went to O'Connell Street. 

I asked Kevin why they were carrying guns for the Easter Parade. 

Kevin informed me that it was not an Easter Parade: It was the IRA. 

I was so flustered, that I did not get a picture.

 We did get to see the Book of Kells. 

Celtic monks created the book,

 containing the four gospels of the New Testament around 800 ad. 

The decorative illustrations were remarkable.

We do love music, and an Irish gig will always put a smile on my face.

Hand Statue outside the Department of Education

A beautiful scene of the Liffey River.  The reflection is almost clearer than the real thing.

Lunch time. 

The last time I saw one of these was 1964 in a New York City Self-Serve Cafeteria.

Very pretty

Police on horses

The Dublin Castle Horse entrance

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Rules for St. Patrick's Park

Beautiful flowers

Very Peaceful