back from leprechaun country

I'm tired and worn out from the return flight, but I had a nice time in Dublin over a long Thanksgiving break. My lovely host Kieran was a wonderful cook and tour guide and all-around great to be with. Pardon my tired writing but I wanna get it down while it's somewhat fresh in my mind and before a busy week starts up.

I got a tour of Dublin's huge Phoenix Park which featured the President's House and Wellington Monument, both of which bear a remarkable resemblance to similar structures in DC. You've already seen the photo of ancient Newgrange which we saw on Saturday. It was amazing to be so close to an ancient structure, and we got a simulation of what winter solstice is like within the tomb. However, I was happy to get back out again and let some more tourists file in, it was a wee bit claustrophobic in there...

Later on we watched the Leinster vs. the Newport/Gwent Dragons rugby match. Leinster won 29-13 in a very chilly game. I had expected the crowd to be rowdy, but they were fairly subdued, maybe it was the cold. I had a hot whiskey drink to stay warm chased down by a Guinness. One thing I like about rugby is that it's usually a finite 80-minute affair, not trailing along like baseball and American football. Rugby is continuous play, and stops when it should unless there's a double-triple-dog-dare tiebreaker, which is rare. Later on we went out to Panti Bar for a few more with the Dublin boys and had a great time.

I didn't think we'd have time to see the Book of Kells and The Long Room Library at Trinity College, but we managed to fit it in somehow. I really thought The Long Room looked a lot like the Jedi Academy library as seen in the last Star Wars flick, but I'd have to review the film to confirm that.

That's a wrap, I'm off to bed. More photos here.