Yesterday (Thursday) I spent the day circling the city in a hop-on hop-off bus. I hopped off to see a Vermeer in the National Gallery which is partially closed so all their good stuff was together in one gallery. It included a portrait of an actress by Goya which was also incredible.
I hopped off again at Ryan's, a famous pub which, according to the tour brochure, said President Clinton and Julia Roberts had both been there not together I assume. I did not see anyone famous but I had a Seafood Chowder with a glass of beer at a table by the window in the sun..
I then proceeded on to stop at Saint Stephen's Green a lovely park and walked around and enjoyed the early spring including tulips and flowering trees with a pond filled with ducks.
I did not go on the Guiness tour but we did go by the Guiness Brewery which is enormous and a big commercial enterprise that goes way back in history.
I finished the day at the Dublin Castle. It is owned by the state. State visits are conducted there. Originally I think it began as a Viking outpost. Later it was built into a castle as the home of the English Viscount who ruled Ireland. It was handed over to Ireland to Michael Collins in a twenty minute ceremony when Ireland became independent in, I think, 1921.
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