Day 3 in Dublin began with a visit to the National Gallery of Ireland. We didn’t have much time so we decided to concentrate on the third floor where we saw a lot of European Art including a room titled “Caravaggio and His Circle“ in which I saw one actual Caravaggio and a lot of paintings in the style of Caravaggio. We wandered through several other rooms of paintings from the Renaissance through the 18th century with a few 19th century impressionists thrown in. After an hour or so we felt the need for another dose of caffeine, so we headed for the coffee shop.

The coffee shop was crowded, so when a women asked to join us at our table we readily agreed. Her name is Eileen and she ‘s a retired educator from Dublin where she taught languages. We chatted for quite some time, and Eileen and her friend who joined us later gave us lots of advice about things to see and do in some of the areas we will be visiting on our tour. We also talked about politics and Eileen shared her dismay about what is happening in the US these days. It saddens me to hear how Europeans see us now.

After the gallery, we caught a bus back to the hotel. I really like the Dublin city buses. They’re clean and easy to find (with the help of Google Maps) and they run often. The people riding the buses have been extremely polite and accommodating. More than once a rider has given up their seat to us so we don’t have to stand, and everyone says thank you to the driver when they get off, even if they have to shout it from the doors in the middle of the bus.

Our Trafalgar tour began this afternoon with a sight-seeing drive around the city and a stop at Phoenix Park where we visited the People’s Gardens and Ashtown Castle. From there, we rode to Epic The Irish Emigration Museum We started at Bakehouse where we were treated to drinks and finger food, and then made our way through the various exhibits that told the story of Irish emigration and how Irish people contributed to the culture of the countries they emigrated to.

Tomorrow we board the bus and head to Waterford and Kilkenny.