Saturday, August 24, 2007

We woke to the wonderful breakfast at the Schoolhouse, and then went walking to see the museums. We had wanted to see the Museum of Natural History but it was still closed due to a stairway collapse so we went on to the Archeology Museum which I think was probably a better choice anyway. There they have the Viking stashes of jewelry, stuff from the prehistoric Celts and coolest of all, clothes. bog butter and bog bodies pulled from the peat bogs. I was really fascinated to see outfits from 400 years ago and bodies of people from 2000 years ago. The kids, not so interested, so we couldn’t stay as long as I liked. We got lunch at the high end SuperValu deli store near St. Stephen’s Green, and I also let the kids pick out an assortment of candy for the plane ride home. We also were looking for those kids’ magazines with toys but they didn’t have them. We had a picnic in the park with all the Dubliners on their lunch break, and then let the kids play in the playground before we headed over to the mall to check out their atrium and then over to the bus stop to get the bus to the Guinness brewery. I had seen a tourist promotion earlier in the trip that showed the tasting room with the glass walls and kids in there so I really wanted to go. Plus I had grown quite fond of Guinness during the vacation! On the way to the bus stop Genevieve developed a blister which meant she had to ride in the stroller and Charlotte had to walk. Disaster.  Mark wound up using the fireman’s carry to cart her around. We got on the bus and made it to the brewery. The tour was just okay, the kids liked playing in the barley but it was mostly a collection of videos about how the beer is made. But then we got to the tasting room and Mark saw why I was so interested to go. The elevator takes you up through a glass column so it was like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and then the room itself is round and all glass and it was a clear day so we could see forever. We got our beer and the kids got their soda and we enjoyed the view. (well, Charlotte was actually enjoying making faces at herself in the mirrored tabletop, but whatever). Next we headed to the gift shop where we picked up some cool souvenirs (smart of them to get you slightly drunk first) and then we caught the bus back into town.  A short stop to buy a band aid (still no kids magazines) and Genevieve was good to go. We had dinner at a nice Mediterranean restaurant in Temple Bar and then walked back to the Schoolhouse for the last time, just as the sun was setting (at 9:30). Still no kids’ magazines, though, I was getting a bit concerned because we’d promised them to the girls as they had been everywhere and we didn’t realize finding them would be an issue. The kids had a nice bath and then off to bed.

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