Ireland has always been a place I've wanted to visit. Y'know to see all the Leprechauns and drink a good ol' pint of the dark stuff so I booked a spontaneous little trip to Dublin for Jordan and I to have a venture over. Usually I'm the type of person to visit somewhere and 'wing it' but as we were very limited to time here I made sure I done extra research beforehand so that we could squeeze in as much as we could. The flight was only a short 60 minutes, meaning by the time we were up at the correct altitude it was time for the landing. We arrived pretty late on the Monday night so we jumped on a coach to take us into the city and then into a taxi to our accommodation. The next morning however, we were up and out by around 0830 to make sure we weren't wasting a second to discover what Dublin had to offer.
The first thing on the agenda was Kilmainham Gaol - the former prison in Kilmainham. We prebooked tickets online (
here) meaning we didn't have to wait for a time slot and the tickets were cheaper. Bonus! I kinda dragged Jordan along to this as I LOOOOOOOVE scary things.
Note - this isn't as creepy as I was hoping. The tour takes you around a good majority of the prison and the guide tells you lots of stories of the history behind Dublin, the Gaol and some of the inmates who were executed here. It was a very interesting experience and I do recommend the visit as you learn a lot of information about Ireland's history.
Directly opposite the Goal was the Museum of Modern Art which we kind of just found ourselves wandering around. Although the weather wasn't the best the grounds still looked beautiful. So we walked around the whole thing taking snaps of everything before heading out to find some breakfast as by this point our tummy's were screaming at us. We stopped in the first cafe we came across and damn it was good. Jordan obviously opted for the big breakfast and I a toastie.
We obviously had to have a short stop in the oldest pub, The Brazen Head for a pint. I played it safe and stayed with Heineken were Jordan went a lil' adventurous and got Guinness. - Maybe he was preparing himself for the Storehouse. It had a very feel good atmosphere about the place although we went around lunch time there was still plenty of people sat down enjoying a cold, refreshing drink.
Once we were fed we then decided to stroll around the City, slowly making our way to the different places we wanted to see. The churches in the center are very pretty and are all in walking distance from each other. (The image above is Christchurch Cathedral) Trinity College is another place we visited and had a stroll around but being the home of The Book of Kells this place was packed. We really wanted to go inside the Long Room as the images of that look unbelievable but unfortunately the queue to buy tickets was insanely long and we had plenty more to see before our scheduled time slot at the Guinness Storehouse.
Temple Bar. Need I say more...?
This full place is so picturesque I loved it! A whole lotta colour and a whole lotta beer - its great. We wandered around for a while before it was time for us to have a pint. Live Irish music plays in the majority of the bars making the atmosphere a lot more welcoming. As soon as 'Galway Girl' was sung I was completely in love with the place. I felt like I was in P.s I love you and I mean come on who doesn't love that movie.
Next stop: Guinness Storehouse. We booked our tickets online (
here) beforehand again making it not only cheaper but quicker as you beat the long lines of people. We couldn't come to Dublin and not come here, its one of the most touristy things to do. The process and effort of making this beer is eyeopening and its been going on for so many years. Our tickets were for 1730 which I believe was quite a busy period but nonetheless it was still manageable to look around it at your own pace. It did begin to rain as we were walking there so the view from the Gravity Bar (360 degree view of Dublin) wasn't as clear but still looking out over the whole of the City and then onto the mountains in the distance whilst enjoying a pint of Guinness you can't complain.
We headed back to Temple Bar to enjoy a late dinner and plenty more drinks before heading back to our hotel. We ended up in this small Italian restaurant for pizza which when they arrived we probably should of shared one because they were huuuuuuuuuuge!
The next morning we woke up and headed to Phoenix Park hoping to spot some deer. We didn't. I knew the park was gigantic but I wasn't expecting it to be this big. We stopped in the Tea Rooms for some brunch and began to walk more of the park. We contemplated going to the Zoo which is located in the park itself but being summer holidays the amount of kids we seen running towards the entrance we decided against. The sun began to sneak out as we were strolling around which made the entire park look so much more prettier. All the different colours of the flowers seemed to pop more and the grass looked as lush as ever. It was nice to have some blue sky in a couple photos ha.
In our final hours in Dublin we headed back to the City and towards O'connell Street to see the Spire which again I was NOT expecting it to be as big as it was. I mean that thing is ginormous for one big spike in the middle of a busy street. We kind of lingered around this area for the majority of the rest of the day as we had a coach to catch to take us back to the airport. We chilled in a cool pub had some good drinks and good food with the best company. We enjoyed ourselves and it was a lovely getaway and mini break from work and the reality. I'd love to come back to Ireland but I'd most definitely hire a car so we could adventure more into the mountains and experience the quirky, smaller, more Irish towns.
Top of the mornin to ya!
Where is your favourite place to visit in Ireland?
Lucy X
