Tuesday we saw St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was HUGE and beautiful, and we arrived just in time to hear the boys choir sing morning prayers which was really neat. The gothic style was beautiful, as were the numerous and very detailed and intricate stained glass windows. We went to Christ Church, which was more Romanesque in style and had carvings dating back to the medieval era. We also got to go down into the crypt, which was a little eeire, especially this one alcove where the statues looked downright evil. haha. They also had the mummified bodies of a cat and a rat that were found together in the original pipe organ, one presumably chasing the other. We also went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells, which is a very detailed and decorative illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels, transcribed in Latin by Celtic monks in the 800s. You could see the actual book, and they have to turn the page every couple of days so that the light doesn't damage it.

That afternoon we went to Kilmainham Gaol, the famous prison where the leaders of Ireland's 1916 rebellion were executed. There were the semi-nice cells, with natural lighting, of solitary confinement -- which meant you were quarrantined alone to pray and twiddle your thumbs and think about what you've done and feel guilty. Then they had the less desirable cells that were dark and cramped and more like a prison you would imagine.

Some of us then went to the Guinness Storehouse and museum at St. James Gate, which was pretty cool. They had a multi-floored museum where you saw everything from how they make the barrels to the making of the beer to advertisement and history. At the top was the Gravity Bar, a round all-glass floor offering a 360 degree view over Dublin...and a free pint of Guinness for your hardwork.

Dinner found us at the Brazen Head Inn, the oldest pub in Ireland, founded 1192. That's right, ELEVEN NINETY-TWO. Ireland had pubs 300 years before anyone ever heard of America. That's nuts. And that's one of the things I loved so much about Ireland, the history and age of it...we'd drive through the countryside and see random ruins and castles all over the place -- it was not uncommon for someone to have a 500 year old tower in their backyard. It was amazing.