May 29, 2007

We finally managed to make up our mind on which sightseeing tour to take yesterday. We caught the 10.15 shuttle into the city center and had a taste of Irish humour. The bus driver was crazy! We were laughing our heads off as he drove through the city with his "non-tourguide" commentary. At one point he had the bus racing another bus in order to cut it off to allow us to get onto the actual tour. the new bus was packed so we were dropped off at the tourism center shop to catch another bus. We took this opportunity to buy our bus passes and get a little something to eat.When we finally boaarded the tour bus we climbed on the second level but sat in the covered area. It was sunny and somewhat warm but there was a breeze so I was better off under the shelter. We went along the full route first to hear the commentary. Again, the 2 busdrivers that we had during the loop were hilarious. We learned about the history of Dublin, local jokes and their personal observations (perhaps the funniest of the lot). We then decided to get off at the Guiness Storehouse. It was a good tour and the highlight was the Gravity Bar where you got a free pint of Guiness while taking in a 360 degree view of Dublin. We then jumped on the bus (again we sat on the top level but this time outside) and rode to O'Connell Street. We walked to Trinity College with the intention of seeing the Book of Kells but the line was too long. Instead we went to LUSH for a few bath ballistics and then along Nassau Street to look at the Irish crafts, crystal, wollens and jewelry. It was then time to eat so back to Bewleys on Grafton Street for some really good pizza. We went back to the hotel to allow me to complete some homework. Aidan called his cousin and tentative arrangements were made for Thursday. We also booked dinner and an Irish dancing show for this evening. All that was left was to find something to do for the evening at hand. We decided to go to the cinema on Purnell street to see Pirates of the Caribbean. The tickets cost almost 20 euro and a regular popcorn and two drinks cost about 11 euro - good lord! The commercials before the movie were silly, as expected. We enjoyed the movie. No, it's not the most serious of content but it is not supposed to be. Listening to critics is a waste of time. It was a few hours of mindless entertainment and I enjoyed watching it. After the movie we went to Eddie Rockets - it was basically Johnny Rockets with a different name (I noticed the same with TJ Maxx, which is TK Maxx over here). We had a good dinner and then caught a taxi back to the hotel. We got yet another fascinating taxi driver - granted the taxi driver that we had going to the cinema was the best yet. We ended the evening with me doing more homework. It just doesn't end...