Trips

        On the way back to town, we stopped to listen to itinerant fiddle and guitar duet and visited the silversmith shop where Zoe’s twin sister is the smith.
        We ate an interesting lunch at the Hotel Argyll that was closed in order to serve us.  The menu included pea soup, bread with liverwurst, smoked trout, and something unidentified.  Next we were were served half sandwiches of egg salad and trout, cheese and chutney or spam, and chicken salad.  The meal was topped off with coffee that was extremely strong.  The soup and bread were good.

Street entertainment	Lunch location
Instead of returning to the ship, Lis, Marge, and I set off to cross to the other side of the island.  We walked to the end of the road and into a sheep pasture that was also a 9-hole golf course. The “greens” were full of daisies and buttercups and sheep dung!  But the views of the ocean and coast were spectacular.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  We walked back through a farm and croft with several hairy cows, pronounced coos (Highland cattle).  They were not bothered by us.	The other side of the island
The other side of the island	Local golf course
Local inhabitant	Sheep are not shorn, but have to shed on their own
A hairy coo	Beach front
Mon., 5/30/16 – Memorial Day – Dublin, Ireland         As we docked in Dublin we could see the US Coast Guard training ship, the Barque Eagle, with three masts and a huge US flag flying over the stern.          Our city tour by bus took us past many familiar sites. We stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Protestant) for a quick tour in a crowded church.
US Coast Guard barque Eagle, a training ship	Even in the land of Guinness
St. Patrick's Cathedral coat of arms	Statue of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness - brewer and local benefactor
We drove around a Georgian architecture neighborhood and then got off the bus to walk into Trinity College campus to see the Book of Kells exhibit and walk through the Library’s  “Long Room” of old manuscripts.	Trinity College Library Long Room in the Old Library
Trinity College Library Long Room in the Old Library	Trinity College Library Long Room in the Old Library
Trinity College Library Long Room in the Old Library	Lunch was at the Mercantile, an Irish pub where we had Irish stew and mashed potatoes and a nice apple tart.  The two young men who tried to entertain us with story telling were pretty bad, but the restaurant was not set up for such an event.  Our tour groups were seated in two different locations.         We then had free time, so Marge and I walked some in Temple Bar but found the streets and alleys of pubs were filled with 18 to 25-year-olds with nothing better to do than hang around.         We walked up to the Dublin Castle and took a self-guided tour through the state apartments.          Outside we looked into the Dubhlinn Gardens (meaning Black Pool in Gaelic) with people young and old enjoying the sunny beautiful day.  It was so nice we decided to walk all the way back to the ship.         After dinner we had three Irish folk singers entertain us.
Temple Bar district	Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle	Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle - St. Patrick's Hall	Dubhlinn Gardens' (meaning Black Pool in Gaelic) grounds on a beautiful day
Spire of Dublin - your guess is as good as mine! Also, locally known as: Nail in the Pail or Spire in Mire or Phallic in Traffic or Stiletto in the Ghetto, etc.	Samuel Beckett bridge - a great favorite!

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