Still in Dublin, the last couple of days have been a mix of fairly boring orientation activities and fun walking around the city. We had a lengthy walking tour of historic Dublin in chilly rain, and then a couple guys and I had lunch at the Queen of Tarts and the abroad group was given tickets to a play called 'The Rivals' written by Y.B. Sheridan in the late 1700's. It was cute, along the same vein as 'The Importance of Being Ernest'.


We passed this building but didn't acknowledge it, even though it's called 'Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers Society.' Apparently, it's the oldest charity for the homeless in Dublin and just has a crazy name.


There was also this large, pointy monument that isn't really as tall as it looks because it's tapered. It's pretty tall though, at 390 ft. The Dublin Spire was built recently to replace Nelson's Pillar, a similarly tall structure that was destroyed by the IRA. It's also known as "the stiffy by the Liffey," the Liffey being a river that runs through Dublin.

We went to a pub in the Temple Bar area where an Irishmen warmed my hands by sticking them down his shirt - I don't know if that's a customary post hand-shake activity, but I did get a free drink out of it. The famous warmth of the Irish!(?)

Tomorrow we're leaving for Galway - at least there won't be any surprises with the weather: