Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Day 3 in Dublin

Today my sister and I woke up and went downstairs to consult with the concierge, who proceeded to book us on a half day tour out to Malahide Castle. We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, then head out to explore the city a bit more before we had to catch the bus.

The tour buses are excellent, because the bus drivers also act as tour guides, and are full of fun facts and information about Dublin and Ireland. The economy of Dublin has also suffered from the real estate boom and subsequent crash. Two years ago, a 3 bedroom 2 bath duplex cost 750K euros, and now is worth 200K less.

As we approached Malahide Castle, we learned of the story of the Talbot family, who inhabited the castle for 800 years. The last living member of the family, who currently resides in Tasmania, sold the castle back to the Irish Government in 1976.

After touring the castle, the bus drove us around the coast, and we got to see the beautiful blue water, the eye of Ireland, and more scenery. It was another beautiful day, blue and without clouds.

Unfortunately, my breakfast did not agree with me, so when we got back to Dublin, we went through one museum, the Museum of Archaelogy, which was full of exhibits about the Vikings, the history of the church in Ireland, and the evolution of it's civilization.

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel, and slept away my flu. But we still saw quite a bit!!

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