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Published: August 27th 2007
With only 1 and a ½ hours drive to get to Dublin, we certainly didn’t rush around in the morning to get out of Kilkenny. Instead, we headed to the Laundromat to do some much needed washing, and took in the city centre, including some more shops. At about 10am we decided to head to the big smoke, and arrived there in good time.
Our B and B had been pre-booked (thank goodness) because we soon realised something BIG was happening in Dublin this weekend - the National Gaelic Games were on - Football and Hurling!! People were flocking into the city in the thousands, wearing their favourite team colours, and what would normally have been a 20 minute trip to the airport, to return our hire car (a Vauxhall Corsa) turned into an hour long nightmare. Traffic was NUTS!
The car hire company was hard to find, and after asking for directions three times, we finally found the place. Luckily, they decided to give us a day’s hire free (as the car was meant to be returned earlier). We didn’t waste time in catching a bus back into town, which stopped a stone’s throw from the tourist info
centre - YES!
This is ALWAYS our first port of call when we head into a new place, and after getting the low-down on what to see, we boarded our next fav form of transport - the Hop on Hop off bus. The tour took about an hour and half, and showed us Dublin - a beautiful city that would definitely be up there with my favourites. It is full of heritage buildings, but then you throw in the modern additions, like the rand new stainless steel spire (the world’s tallest monument) and very trendy streets full of shops.
Passing Trinity College, the Writer’s Museum, the old library and St Patrick’s Cathedral in the late afternoon was both peaceful and interesting. We also saw the Guinness factory and River Liffey, other popular sights to visit. It was a great way to end what had been a hectic day that morning!
We decided on having an ordinary night - dinner at a tiny Italian restaurant, then a movie. Izzy had been wanting to see Transformers for ages - and so far, I had gotten out of it…but there was absolutely nothing on at the cinemas, so I agreed
to go. Wow - I loved this movie!! I think I should adopt the, ‘This film is going to be totally crap’ attitude more often - as I will probably come out smiling. The special effects were awesome, and it was more of a comedy than anything else.
We headed home around 11pm for a good night’s sleep above busy Lower Gardner street…our room here is on the 4th floor, up at least 8 flights of stairs, so once we’re up we stay up, and vice versa! Tomorrow we will have more time to explore this interesting city, starting with the Book of Kells at Trinity College.
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