[Travel Tuesday] Dublin, Ireland

During our time in the UK, we took a few days to hop over to Dublin to experience a bit of Ireland.  The great thing about Europe is the discount airlines really make it affordable to travel between the cities.  While we have heard the Irish accent before, we were shocked at how thick it was here.  Even when English was being spoken, Brian had an extremely hard time understanding.  We had quite a few laughs as Brian thought they were speaking Irish Gaelic when it was actually English!

Our only together pic in Ireland, outside the Guinness Factory.  Yes, it's blurry.

Hotel
Hilton Dublin Kilmainham - We stayed here for 2 nights during our stay in Dublin.  The hotel was clean and spacious and definitely served it's purpose for the 2 nights we were there.  They were undergoing construction at the time so we did not see the restaurant.  Since we had planned on using the hop on, hop off bus as our transportation, there was a stop not far from the hotel.  It was a bit outside of Dublin therefore if you would prefer walking distance from city center, it would not be a good option.  

Sightseeing
Trinity College
Dublin Castle
Chapel Royal
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Guiness
Old Jameson Distillery
Kilmainham Gaol
Crypts St. Michan's Church



Travel Tips:

• Go see The Book of Kells early.  Plan to be there for opening and it will be less crowded.
• The Hop on, Hop off Dublin bus tour is definitely worth it!  We wanted to see several sites that were on the route and they are not near each other therefore transportation is a must.  Buy the tickets online before you go and you can pick-up the bus at any of the stops and hit the ground running!

Trinity College

We took the first flight out to Dublin therefore we had the entire day to explore.  Once we arrived and dropped off our luggage at the hotel, we headed straight to the nearest bus stop to begin our 2-day tour. Trinity is the oldest university in Ireland and is modeled after Oxford University.  The architecture was once again amazing!!  We headed straight to the library so we could wait for it to open.  The library is where the Book of Kells is displayed.  The book is an illuminated manuscripts Gospel book in Latin.  It is the illustrations and ornamentation of the Book that make it unique versus others.  There was a small line of others who had the same plan as us however the line when we exited was much larger and we were happy to have checked it off the list early in the day.  The "early bird gets the worm" is definitely true when traveling!!

After going through the library, we checked out the campus.  As I've stated before, I LOVE walking around colleges and Trinity College was no exception.  

Dublin Castle 
Our next stop was the Dublin Castle.  While it was not as ornate as the ones we had seen in England and Scotland, it was worth the visit.  The best part was seeing the State Room which is the reception room used for foreign dignitaries.

Also housed on the property is Chapel Royal.   Once again, it was not as beautiful as others we had seen however the architecture is still stunning.   

St. Patrick's Cathedral
Next stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral.  It is the largest church in Ireland.  It was beautiful!  The unique part of the churches we visited during our time in UK and Ireland was they house the remains of several church leaders.  Beyond the beauty of the structure, there is so much to take in regarding influential, historical leaders.

Guinness Brewery

Now that we visited some of the historical sites, it was time to partake in a favorite Irish pastime, drinking!  Our next stop was the Guinness factory.  While we are not beer drinkers, a trip to Dublin would not be complete without a stop here.  Tastes were included as part of the tour and while we gave it a shot thinking it may taste different in the motherland, sadly it did not.  The tour concluded at a bar at the top of the building which provided a great birds eye view of the city for us.

Jameson Distillery

Now that we had beer out of the way, it was time to experience Irish Whiskey at the Jameson Distillery.   They had a bar that was beautiful when you walked in.  Even if you don't take the tour, I would recommend stopping by for a drink here.  I love tours of production facilities, the nerd in me loves learning about how things get made!  It is always more intricate than you think.  The tour also concluded with a tasting experience.  Thankfully for me, I was able to mix my whiskey with Cranberry Juice.  Brian was picked to be on a whiskey tasting panel!  He had to compare Jameson with Jack Daniels and a Scotch.  Overall it was quite a fun experience!

Kilmainham Gaol

The last site we visited was Kilmainham Gaol which is a former prison.  Next to Universities, old prisons are probably my second favorite thing to visit.  The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is currently my favorite although Alcatraz is on my list.  I digress....  Kilmainham Gaol had quite a bit of history to take in from public hangings to dungeons.  Definitely worth a stop!

Brian did a bit of research of his own and found out about The Crypts as St. Michan's Church.  It is a small church that contains 5 burial vaults dating back to the 17th century.  He was very intrigued and I went along as a good sport.  We didn't take any pictures inside however let me tell you it was creepy!  Below is the entrance to the vaults and once inside, I couldn't wait for the tour to be over!!

Another bonus about taking the hop on, hop off bus is that you have a "tour guide" along the way.  They provided headsets and you are free to listen to commentary as you drive from site to site.  It's a great way to get some additional insight to lesser known places.  The biggest learning we had is that the The White House has a sister!  The building also houses the President of Ireland.

Finally, an Irish flag picture!!

One evening we attending a dinner/dance show that showcased some of the Riverdance performers.  I would highly recommend it during your trip to Dublin.  Also, finish your meal with an Irish Coffee.  It's a must when in Dublin :)

Overall, we had a fun couple of days in Dublin and we are glad we decided to squeeze in a visit during our time in the UK.  I also have to close this post with a travel story that we still laugh about today.  While low cost airlines are great for having a cost effective way to get to various European countries, they are quite a stickler when it comes to luggage.  They weigh and measure everything!!  Since we travel with quite a bit of camera equipment, our bags are not all that light.  During our time in Ireland, we bought quite a few trinkets and souvenirs.  As we were waiting in the boarding area, we watched the gate agents stop several people due to bag count.  We each had a suitcase and book bag so we were over the limit by 1 piece each.  I was able to hide my book-bag but Brian was not.  Long story short,  Brian was stopped as we boarded.  I continued on the plane (he told me to keep going if we was stopped) wondering what he would do to get by.  I watched as each person boarded keeping my fingers crossed that Brian made the flight before we took off.  Finally, the last person to get on the plane was Brian and he only had 1 bag with him.  I quickly asked, "What did you do?  Where's the stuff?"  As he sat down, I heard a bunch of crunching.  I looked at him funny and realized he had stuffed the lining of his jacket with some of the camera lenses, candy and souvenirs we had purchased.  We laughed about it the whole flight back and now take the "Red Jacket" as an insurance policy when we travel!  It has an open lining and it has come in handy more than once since our Ireland flight!  

Hope you enjoyed our adventures in Ireland, Scotland and England!  We traveled there in May 2011 so it's been fun to walk down memory lane and recap our trip.  Next up will be our 2012 trip to AFRICA!!

~A