Today is the final real day of the trip and we head to Dublin.  We tour the Guinness factory which is interesting, even for someone like me who is not a Guinness fan.  During the self guided tour I learn that the record book is from here.  There's a great view and a pint of the black stuff waiting for you at the top level's "gravity bar".  Is gravity really different here?  Maybe only when you're drunk.

We have a few hours to explore Dublin (not nearly enough) and we head to the castle.  While waiting for our tour, we explore the outside of the nearby Christchurch.  The castle is 1000 years old and in stark contrast to Kilkenny, you can take photos in nearly every room.  Only a few parts of the original castle remain.  I see another Powder Tower and think of last year's trip to Prague.  After the tour, we have just a little time left and explore Grafton Street and its shops.

After a fantastic nap at the hotel, we depart for our Irish evening- dinner and Irish music and dancing.  Dinner was good and the music was fantastic.  The dancing was also fun to see (finally I get to see Riverdance), but I enjoyed the music the most.  The show followed dinner and started with music, then brought out the dancers, and then returned to the band.   This was definitely a trip highlight for me.

As this is the final night of the tour with everyone, a bunch of us relax in the hotel bar, play cards, and say a few goodbyes.  Tomorrow is a travel day back to London and the folks on only the Ireland part of the tour will not be with us.   As expected, on vacation time passes quickly.

View the Dublin photos.