Monday afternoon and evening

We had a very good bus tour of Dublin that began at 2 PM.  We were all still dragging and the boys napped on and off during the tour :)  Fortunately when we visited the State Rooms at Dublin Castle, we had to walk around (hard to sleep while walking).  Our guide for the castle was very knowledgeable and some of the rooms were really amazing.  When we left, it had started to rain.  Those who told us that Ireland has lots of liquid sunshine were right on target.  It was dreary most of the afternoon and rained on and off but not the insistent pouring rain that we're used to. It rains lightly most of the time, stopping and starting over and over. We've enjoyed wearing jackets - the temperatures ranged from the mid-50s to mid-60s all day.

We went into the beautiful chapel near the castle and were amazed to learn that the magnificent Rococco ceiling and wall decorations and the columns were made of wood covered with plaster that dries like porcelein.  We all had a try at knocking on a column to be sure it was really wood, not stone.  That's where the phrase "Don't be knockin' it" comes from ( so said our guide).  Carson thought that "Knock on wood" might be related as well.

Returned to the hotel for another rest before meeting for a welcome drink with others on our tour and got some details about the evening's entertainment and morning schedule tomorrow.  The boys joined us for dinner and the entertainment at 6:45 PM. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed meeting the others sitting near us - a couple from Western Australia, a couple from Florida and 3 young adult sisters and the husband of the eldest.  We've been delighted with how friendly everyone is and how interested they are about talking to the boys.  Aaron and Carson have jumped right in and participated in the conversations!  They each tasted Art's Guinness - Aaron,thumbs up, Carson, 'it's OK'.  After dinner they served Gaelic Cream Coffee ( a version of Irish coffee that Aaron got into in a big way :)  Carson doesn't like coffee so didn't much like it

The Irish band, singers and dancers were terrific with a lot of audience participation, hand clapping and fun. We all heard a Bodrhan drum for the first time by a very talented drummer. We tried to talk Carson into trying it but he's not interested :).  The drum is held vertically with one hand on the inside and the other hand holding the pointer,  It's fascinating to watch and a great addition to an Irish band.  This group was terrific with lots of personality and competitions among the members.  Despite the fatigue setting in for most of the audience, we all stayed until the end (around 10 PM) and then fell into bed knowing that 6 AM wake-up calls were coming soon.