Day 10, A Travelogue of Christmas in Ireland, December 2005

Christmas in Ireland Tour, 2005

Day 10 - Last full day in Ireland.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Itinerary: Jackie, Kelli, and Lisa spent the day shopping in town. Ken, Vivian and Sam took a tour of the National Museum. After a lunch break at Café en Seine in Dawson Street, they returned to the Museum to see the Viking exhibits. They also visited the GPO, Eason's, the geology building at Trinity College, and took a long walk down the Liffey to the Sean O'Casey Bridge and the Docklands. Serendipitously, everyone met at Fagan's Pub in Drumcondra for dinner.

For the last day, the group split up to do last minute shopping and sightseeing. Jackie, Kelli, and Lisa went shopping and touring on their own. Ken, Vivian, and Sam took a tour of the National Museum. Many of the exhibits displayed precious items and mundane items preserved in the bogs. Since peat is anerobic, there is little oxygen and things can be preserved for long periods of time. One impressive item on display was a huge canoe type boat that had been made out of a large tree. It had turned into petrified wood. There also was a little gold boat with oars. There were a number of gold pieces that were very ornate. The building itself had marble pillars and was very impressive. Many priceless ecclesiastical pieces, such as the Ardagh Chalice, are housed in this museum. Many gold ornaments, swords, and early textiles also are on display. In addition, there are bodies of people that have been mummified in the bogs. The National Museum is part of a large complex of government buildings which take up several city blocks. Other buildings in the complex are Leinster House, the seat of the Irish Parliament; the National Library, where people can conduct intensive genealogy searches; the Natural History Museum; and the National Gallery of Art. We also visited the geology building in nearby Trinity College. The architects used natural Irish stone in building construction. Interior pillars are made of all the types of marble available in Ireland. We saw green marble pillars made of the same Connemara marble we had collected beside Derryclare Lough in Galway earlier on the trip.

We had lunch at Café en Seine on Dawson Street, a very fancy venue for upscale diners in town. After lunch, we walked along the River Liffey toward Dublin harbor and saw different parts of the city. After a bus ride back to All Hallows and a nap, we met at Fagan's, a local pub in Drumcondra. Serendipitously, Jackie and the girls were there too, so we all caught up on our day's adventures. Since this was our last night we turned in early and got everything packed to leave. Ken and Vivian arrived with two checked bags and two small carry-ons. They left with four checked bags and two small carry-ons. The same was true for Jackie and the girls, who had to buy extra bags to take home their Irish treasures.

Next morning, the group arrived at the airport about 7:00 a.m. We loaded our luggage on to free trolleys (carts) and got in line to check in and get our gate passes. We stood in line for a very long time. After saying our good-byes to Sam, we went through security, had our passports checked, and prepared for the long plane rides back to Denver.

Rising Road Tours
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sam@risingroadtours.com

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