Christmas Eve, Dublin

Dublin's tourist attractions shut down for the Christmas weekend which included Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day.  We thought things would close early on Christmas Eve but didn't really expect them to be closed all day long.   We all found plenty to do anyway.  In the morning we walked over to see Christ Church Cathedral.  Beautiful!

We then headed to the shopping district.  Diana and I bought some food at the local Marks & Spencers food hall in case we couldn't find an open restaurant over the weekend.  I used to shop at their London store years ago.

I love these kind of sculptures!

Bridge over River Liffey

Walking across the River Liffey

Becki and Jeff headed to a local wine bar and had a great time.  Diana and I headed out to explore the neighborhood and walk across the River Liffey.  The bridge is in the shape of a harp  and Diana took a pic of me in my now standard "bridge walker" pose.

We walked quite a ways along the river to the huge ferris wheel.  Why do I do these things?  I thought I could ride this thing but NO!  I was terrified the whole time:):)  It was perfectly safe but what was I thinking?  When I was about 8 or 9, my older sister and I got left on a ferris wheel for way too long.  My uncle had to go find the operator and get him to let us off.  My opinon of ferris wheels was forever changed.

Later in the evening, we went to mass at the church that was closest to our hotel.  There was a program of Christmas carols before the mass.  Lovely!

Back at the hotel, they served all their Christmas guests hot mulled wine and mince pies.  Very Irish!

Dublin

Becki, Jeff and Diana

View from our hotel room -
lots of snow

Our hotel in Dublin, The Davenport, was centrally located and we could walk (very carefully) most of the places we wanted to see.  After sleeping late on Thursday, we headed out to see the sights.  First stop was a pub for our first Guiness and then to another pub for lunch.  The main shopping district was filled with Christmas shoppers and we enjoyed seeing all the decorations and lights.

Lots of flowers for the holiday season!

We headed over to Trinity College to see the famous Book of Kells.  Very impressive!  So amazing to see something that was created centuries ago.  No pics were allowed but I am including a link.  Book of Kells  After seeing the exhibit and doing a little shopping in the museum shop, we headed towards the hotel with a few stops along the way.  As in pubs:)

We ended up having a fun evening and enjoyed our very own "pub crawl".  No tour guide needed! First up was Kennedy's which was close to our hotel.  Besides a Guiness (or maybe it was a Smithwicks), fish and chips and a shared dessert were ordered.

 Next up was a fun pub with live Irish music.  Lots of Santas were on hand celebrating the season and really livened up the place.  These guys were so funny and had everyone laughing with their singing and dancing.

Santa, Me, Santa:)

Irish Coffee

We moved on to another pub where I actually ate dinner - Irish stew:)  Our final pub stop of the night was across the street from our hotel for an Irish Coffee.  Big mistake!!!  Diana and I thought the whiskey would counteract the caffeine - NOT!  We were both awake most of the night:)  The locals were great fun and did gift us both with Santa hats.  Honestly, I don't drink much but I was in Ireland:):)

Diana and I decked out in our new Santa hats.