Dublin

Is awesome.

This morning I woke up and had a tasty breakfast before going down to Penney's and going shopping.  I got two awesome pairs of shoes (turquoise patent leather and cheetah print), seven shirts, two bathing suits and a dress.  Then I walked around and saw a cute little market and got some adorable egg cups. 

At 11 we met at City Hall for a free tour.  It was cool but disappointing because we didn't actually go in anywhere.  We saw City Hall, Dublin Castle, the 40 steps, Trinity College, some church, Temple Bar, I had a bagel (missed them!), and Saint Stephen's Square.  It was nearly three hours and our tour guide was really good. 

Then we went back to Trinity College, stopping along the way to get stuff.  James saw the Book of Kell and I didn't want to pay to get into a library, and they wouldn't let me in the non-touristy one so I went to the wax museum - a much better use of my time and money, if you ask me.  It was really cool, with the history of Ireland (learned a lot of that on the tour, too) and then cartoon figures and fairy tales and famous people and scary monsters and everything.  There was also this awesome science room in the museum with a whole bunch of contributions by the Irish.  I never realized how much of an influence they had in science - Boyle and the guy who found the electron and named it.  It was a lot of fun.

Afterwards, I met James at the Guinness factory, where we took a tour and I discovered I don't like Guinness beer.  But the bar had fantastic views of the city.

Then we came back to drop off stuff before going out for dinner.  We walked to two different restaurants on opposite sides of the city, only to have them both be closed.  We finally decided on a restaurant where I had delicious fried mushrooms, very tasty bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) and Bailey's ice cream.  Then we came back and I got out my computer.  It's late and I'm tired from walking all day.

Tomorrow we're going to Howthe to see the cliffs and and get fish and chips before catching the ferry to England.  I'm going to be in Birmingham and I don't think James has figured out his plans yet.  I'm looking forward to seeing Stratford-on-Avon on Friday and going to London.  I'm not sure about going to Cadbury world, but maybe. 

Goodnight, world.