Dun Laoghaire, Ireland (Dublin) Day 2

 We stayed overnight at anchor for our second day here in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Lear).  Our tour took us back into Dublin for a ride on the River Liffey.  The perspective from the river was nice, otherwise, I'm afraid we'd pretty much seen everything before.  So not much new to say, except that I certainly like Dublin better than Belfast.  It's more colorful and vibrant.

There are 21 bridges over the river, fortunately not all of them are drawbridges like this  one which went up as we approached.

The Customs House

The town coat of arms includes a harp.  (at the top of the building) Guinness got into legal trouble when they chose the harp for their brand.  They solved it by turning their harp around to face the other way.

Samuel Beckett Bridge (made to look like a harp)

Dublin Convention Center (aka as the Dyson Vacuum Building, or Pringles Can, or Tube in a Box)

The most famous Dublin door because it is the only one remaining in its original Georgian state.  These doors showed how wealthy the owner was because you paid taxes based on how many little panes of glass were in each window or door.  There are a LOT in this door.  It's now the Embassy of Peru. 

A small part of St. Patrick's Cathedral (originally Catholic, now Church of Ireland)

Christ Church Cathedral, aka Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (Church of Ireland)

Regular gas is Euros 2.18 per liter which is $9.09 per gallon today. Diesel is Euros 2.14.

Luckily our trip back to the ship was much shorter than yesterday's.  The tender was waiting for us and it was a smooth ride back.  A bit of bobbing and banging as we got off the tender onto the gangway platform, but we've seen worse.  We heard that the dinner event last night was really good and the trip over and back was much easier than we had.  I'm sorry we missed it now, but at the time, it just didn't seem like something we wanted to do.

Went to a not particularly interesting lecture by Angela Schneider on "Bawdy Brits Satire in Georgian Era".  And since my teammates were on an afternoon tour, no trivia for me today.  After a cocktail at Stars Lounge, we headed to Compass Rose for dinner.  And, miracle of miracles, we actually made it to the show.  It was Jimmy Nairn, a 74-year old Scotsman who has played with the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Ike and Tina Turner.  His voice may not be the best anymore, but he certainly has energy and can still play the piano and saxophone like a much younger man.