A Day in Dublin

We touched down in Dublin on Sunday morning at 6 a.m. No one slept on the plane and we had a full day of sightseeing ahead. We dropped our luggage at the hotel, had breakfast, then took a cab into Dublin. I chose a hotel near the airport (Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport) because we were picking our rental car up early the next morning and hitting the road, and I didn't want the PITA of dragging everyone in and out of the city. Since we stayed out there, we went in and out to sightsee on Sunday, then got the rental car and were on the road tout de suite on Monday morning.

Dublin is, to me, the least Irish part of Ireland. I was not sad that we were only spending a day there. A day that happened to be the same day as the Dublin Marathon as well as a shit ton of construction they're doing in the city, which wreaked havoc with the hop on/hop off bus route we were taking. No matter, we soldiered on. And on and on and on. And around Trinity College at least three times, once for an eternity because we could not find the back exit.

I can't figure out how I want to share this trip because I'm not really into eleventy billion posts about one trip, but instead of being paralyzed by the how I figured I'd rip the band-aid off and get this long first day out of the way.

Things we saw:
General Post Office. The scene of the Easter Uprising of 1916, it was cool to be there on the 100th anniversary.

Trinity College in the morning

And again in the afternoon to see the Long Room and the Book of Kells. We had to go back because it wasn't open in the morning, but it's totally worth it.

St. Stephen's Green, including this awesome house across from it covered in changing leaves. 

Grafton Street, the city's shopping street, and its alley off-shoots - we trolled this street a few times as well

And of course, the Guinness store house. We walked through and did the Guinness Academy - Dad and Debbie were perfect pourers, Carol and I were not - then finished our drink up at the 360 Bar which was pretty cool. 

We did a last round on the bus to see the rest of the city, then got off and had a drink at the Ha'Penny Bridge Inn. It has not changed in the past 13 years. 

Street / urban art and random city pics:

Dinner at The Quays in Temple Bar. The food was good, but I was honestly so tired I could barely eat. And that's saying a lot because we were on the go all day and skipped lunch. 

I think we walked over 10 miles this day? Maybe eight. We did really well for not sleeping. Go team!

Things we did not do in Dublin that were on the list of things to do: Kilmainham Gaol (ran out of time/energy) and St. Patrick's Cathedral on the inside (service going on both times we passed it). 

We actually stayed at the Carlton the night before we left the country too, and they were nice enough to hold our bags for us while we were in Scotland. I'd highly recommend them if you need a hotel near the airport in Dublin. 

Possibly breaking this trip down like this:

A Day in Dublin

Ireland: The Mountains, the Sea, and Bunratty

Ireland: Cliffs, Galway, Blarney

Scotland in two days

I'll likely go heavy on the photos and light on the writing, but will always include where we stayed, ate, and an approximation of travel time. If you want to know more about anything, please ask!