Day 11 - Dublin

Six am and we were up to catch the bus to Dublin.  A 2.5-hour nap later, we were there!  I got out at the bus stop, turned around – big pole!  In the heart of Dublin is a spire, a large metal pole that goes up and up into the sky.  We walked down riverside to find our ship and take a hot, hot shower.  The port of Dublin extends into the city to form a beautiful riverside road crossed by bridges every few blocks.  As we walked I was ecstatic to find a bridge by my favorite architect Santiago Calatrava!  It was the Samuel Becket bridge built in 2009.  We also passed a powerful sculpture representing the plight of the Irish famine.  At the end of the river, we were lucky to run into some SAS people who gave us directions to the ship.  We followed their directions into the port area, walking along a tall stone fence that blocked our view of the water and any ships that might have been there.  We walked for what seemed like forever, not knowing if we were going the right way or if we had passed the ship, and there were no people around whom we could ask.  Just as we were giving up hope, we found the security checkpoint, and a nice man who knew about us drove us the remaining 500 m to our ship.

We cleaned up and regrouped for lunch.  I learned that while most of us winged it in Galway and stayed in a hostel, those who stayed on a ship were treated to a fancy dress-up, five-course dinner.  No looking back.  We took a shuttle (provided by SAS for free) back to the bus stop in the city center.  Then we stormed Dublin by foot!  We walked down all the main streets, saw a myriad of street performers, the spire, St. Patrick cathedral, St. Patrick’s Green (a park), Iveagh Park, Trinity College, and Dublin Castle.  We closed the day with a tour of the bars only Americans would ever go to and caught the shuttle home.