Day 1 (September 15) -Saskatoon to Dublin
The day started out pretty normal. We finished packing and got the house ready to turn over to our neighbours, Shirley and Earl, while we are away. Bob left his usual detailed instructions for babying his plants.
Another neighbour, George, drove us to the airport around 4pm in preparation for our flight at 6pm. Gotta love good neighbours.
The flight was fairly uneventful. I did request a wheelchair at the Calgary airport because the time between flights was short and I wasn't sure how long the walk was going to be. Wow... special treatment!! The request was documented for the whole flight, so we got pre-boarding, and a special flight attendant for the flight from Calgary to Dublin. I have to admit I was a little embarrassed by it all. As it turned out, I didn't need assistance in Calgary. We landed early, and the walk was really quite reasonable. (Note to self.... always be VERY clear when you are separate from your partner (washroom) to establish the meeting point). The Calgary to Dublin was on a "Dreamliner" with Westjet, a very new plane and quite comfortable.. all the gadgets a geek could want. We had "dinner" around 10pm and then it was lights out. Breakfast was served around 3:30am and consisted of a cream cheese and cucumber bun, followed by oreo cookies.
At the Dublin Airport, immigration was quick, and our baggage was almost the first off. Although we landed in Terminal 1, our tour guide was to meet us at Terminal 2. After a lonnnng walk to Terminal 2, we learned that we were actually being met in Terminal 1, so a long walk back.
We arrived at our hotel around 1:30pm, checked in and then set out on an "Orientation" tour of Dublin. We visited (read drove by) O'Connell Street lined with old Georgian row houses, past the Grafton Street and Merrion Square. We noticed that a number of the houses had windows boarded over. Apparently, in the old days, people were taxed by the number of windows in their homes, and boarding the windows over was a way to reduce taxes.
Our first stop was Trinity College (University of Dublin) and a visit to the Book of Kells Exhibit. The Book of Kells, believed to be written by Columbian monks original from Iona. It is one of the oldest books in the world, written somewhere between in 475 and 800 AD. It contains mainly the four books of the gospels. On display was Mark 4. The calligraphy is precise and the illustrations amazing.
We also visited the Long Room at Trinity College which contains thousands of very old books which are still in use. Some of the books have tape to hold them together. You can actually smell the old books in the library. Fascinating!
One of the things we noted as soon as we arrived in Dublin is the number of references to McGinnis. The familiar logo was present almost everywhere you looked. We learned that no only was the McGinnis family brewers of great beers, they were great benefactors. They took good care of their employees, and many of the Georgian houses we saw were built to house employees as well as to provide housing for the "less fortunate". It makes sense, then, that our next visit was to McGinnis Brewery. There was an excellent three floor self-guided tour that described some of the secrets behind the beer (barley cooked at 232 degrees Celsius, etc.), including a tasting room. The tour ended with a complimentary pint in the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor. There was a great view of the city, but it was soo crowded, we made our way down to a quieter bar on the 5th floor to enjoy our pint.
Following this, we made our way back to the hotel around 6:30pm and collapsed for the night. By this point, we were so exhausted, we were too tired for dinner, and just headed to our room. We are staying at the Samuel Hotel, and newer hotel in Dublin. We have a very comfortable king bed and a comfortable room.
Hotel: Samuel Hotel
Weather - cloudy - 17c
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