Monday, June 5, 2017

Dublin

I finally got around to editing my pictures and putting together blog posts from Ireland. I know, I know... Its been months. Better late than never. Anyway - I took Virgin trains from London Euston to Holyhead through the country and traveled from there by Irish Ferries to Dublin port. It was fun traveling on my own, but I'm not sure I would travel in that way again. It took too much time, in my opinion. 



I had many cups of tea because the ferry was rather soothing. I was practically being rocked to sleep.




I finally made it to Dublin after about 6-7 hours of travel. The city is super easy to navigate and is separated by the river or liffey, in Irish lingo. They have their own language and jargon there. One side of the liffey is filled with locals and the other is more modern residence. 




The Temple Bar was packed to the door and was the area to be in for all your nightlife needs.



Our hostel had these cool Jameson Whiskey chandeliers in the bar/lobby area. 


One of the days in Dublin we toured the city by bus and stopped at a couple locations to browse. We learned of the Georgian architecture and more about the divide between the northern and southern parts of the city. One of those stops was St. Patrick's Cathedral.










It was beautiful inside. Reminded me of the architecture in Notre Dame.


Our last stop of the tour that day was the Guinness Storehouse and it was massive. Almost like a fortress. The storehouse itself was 5 stories of history, advertising, process, pouring, and drinking.






Their advertising through out the years.


Live music!


The first sip of a proper pour of Guinness.


The Samson's - my travel buddies. I met them when I went to Italy and then we booked this trip together. **Don't mind my hair. Our blowdryer shorted that morning. The struggles of outlet converters gone wrong. Luckily we got it to work for the rest of the trip!**



360 degree views from Gravity Bar.


One beer and I was already buzzed. 





Feeding off of the buzz, we got hungry and headed to bobo's. Great burgers! I had the Applewood.


On St. Patrick's Day, the parade was obviously on the agenda. But, I also had another bucket list item to check off and got up early with Ashlee to explore. Trinity College. The campus is really beautiful and categorized as an Ivy League in the UK. However, because of the holiday they didn't open until noon.








So, we ventured off campus for a bit and got some amazing sourdough doughnuts and lattes at Rolling Donuts. I had the chocolate ganache and red velvet.







The main event at Trinity College: The Long Room.


I didn't realize before walking in that the Long Room is not a functioning library. Just an exhibit, which was kind of disappointing. Still really cool though.












Then it was off to the parade. There were people everywhere and it was hard to see the actual parade, but you could hear the bagpipes. The streets were filled with green and the energy of St. Patrick's Day.









We ducked into a little restaurant on a side street to eat called the Green Hen. All the pubs were one in one out for the most part, so this was perfect since I got to get fish and chips!... and of course a Guinness. 


After we ate lunch, we walked the streets and witnessed the aftermath of the parade. Later that night we made our way to the Jameson Distillery, which was literally right next to our hostel.


RIP BSM.


I've never been a whiskey drinker, but this whiskey sour was alright. I even ordered one at Whiskey Kitchen in Raleigh once I got back - not bad.





And thats my experience in Dublin. Day trip to Glendalough (pronounced glenda-lock) coming soon...
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