Today we have some time in Dublin and hit a couple of big sites in town.  We tour Trinity College.  I learn that, like in the U.S., more than half the students are women.  The biggest site at the school is the Book of Kells, a 1200 year old copy of the gospels.  Since I'm pretty far from a New Testament scholar, the book is not that meaningful to me; however, I admire it for how well preserved it is.  It's not everyday I look at a 1200 year old book.  

We had a tight schedule and move our trip to the Guinness factory until our return to Dublin in a week.  We do make our planned stop at Kilmainham Gaol (gaol = jail in the Irish language).  This is a jail that, while modern at its opening in the 1800s, is infamous for housing Irish political prisoners (and the site of many of their executions).  The guided tour is excellent and while not as creepy as Terezin last year, I'm still creeped out.  I learn about the Irish potato famine and how that Irish starvation was due to the English exporting food rather than feeding the Irish.   No wonder they're pissed.  

It's the early afternoon (and after our new day song) and we head to Galway, but there's an issue.  Our planned hotel has no record of our arrival.  Our new hotel is in "county" Galway and I'm worried that we'll be at a dump in the boonies.  I'm half right- we're in the middle of nowhere (an hour from the city of Galway), but at a literally brand new hotel.  The hotel officially opens later in the week and it's a 4 star place- flat screen tv, air conditioning, and the works.  There's construction equipment out front and workers inside.   Our included dinner in the hotel is the best meal of the tour.  We hit a local pub afterwards and tomorrow we go into the town of Galway.  

View the Dublin and Galway photos.