Dublin Museums & Heading Home

---

Because we chose to focus on museums for our last day, it meant we got a later start. Our breakfast crew went at 9am for our normal hotel buffet meal. Then after grabbing Alex, we walked to the National Ireland Museum area to check out our first museum of the day.



First on the list was the Natural History Museum. We arrived a bit before opening which gave us time to catch our breath and observe the crowd. There was a dad taking photos of his son and daughter that you could tell were used to this treatment as they hugged and posed for the photo quick before jumping away to explore. A sign in front of the place explained the fact that this museum had been preserved as was developed in the past to help reflect the history of the museums.





Inside we found a room full of the wildlife of Ireland. First thing were 3 full skeletons of the old Irish Deer. Turns out we were misinformed that they were elk at the Westport House. Quite tall, it was impressive to see them up close. They even had one female which is apparently more difficult to come by as they don't draw the attention from the population the same way as the male antlers do so less skeletons have been identified. We marveled at how few wildlife there was in the country, it felt like our swampy neighborhood had more than we saw. Very enjoyable to view but only took 25 minutes to view.





With more time to spare than we expected, we moved on to the nearby Archeological Museum which had a highly impressive building. The architecture and murals were fantastic to see. I was drawn most to the inner circle of the museum that contained the prehistoric artifacts. The items went back hundreds to thousands of years BC. The remaining artifacts while old didn't hold the same awe for me. Including some impressive gold collars from 800 BC. The group voted to skip the second floor containing exhibits with artifacts from other countries like Egypt.





Instead we headed to grab smoothies and snacks from a cafe around the corner before heading into St Stephen's Park across the street. A beautiful green space with flowering trees, statues, and lake made for a good break from being inside. From there we crossed into the shopping district hitting up a couple different shops. Then the group realized it was May 4th and Star Wars day as we came to the Lego store celebrating. Inside Alex got an R2D2 headband and attempted to make a Darth Vader Lego man. He had to take a number the line was so long. We saw a crowd of protesters outside Trinity College against the Isreal-Gaza war. We learned later that the college restricted access to non-college ID holders so we wouldn't have been able to see the place. Good thing we explored it earlier in the week!





We moved on in the meantime coming to a bunch of buskers including one Alex recognized as a YouTube sensation named Allie Shamrock. As we listened to her, I searched for a place for lunch. Nearby was a Gourmet Burger place that also had chicken sandwiches which worked great for my pregnancy diet. We got a quite table near the rear of the place behind the bar area so a nice secluded spot. Alex inhaled his meal so slow eaters like Carl and I sent him to go get his Lego while we finished. His quick return came as a surprise as apparently the store hadn't figured out their flow so were still way behind.





We gave up on that endeavor and instead set out sights on a comic store for him instead. We continued to peak our heads into interesting places along the way. Laura and I were most interested in stocking upon local Cadbury and Milka chocolate before our departure so we stopped into any grocery or convenient stores along the pathway. We ended up with plenty of options which I will have to hide from Alex upon returning home. Alex found a unique Monster energy drink made for some boxer we hadn't heard of which reminded him and Laura of the mystery airhead taste. At the comic store, they were giving away free comics so there was a bit of a line to get in. Many manga, comics, figurines, and backpacks filled the shop. Alex walked out with Magic cards and Laura a new Roruni Kenshin figurine.





Tired from the afternoon and hands full from shopping, we opted to go back to the hotel for a break before our next stop. Conveniently, the last agenda item from our plans was the Emigration Museum in the EPIC building next door to our hotel. It had cleverly designed interactive exhibits throughout plus a passport to stamp along the way making it like a game to explore. Alex inquired from his family the name of the ancestors who emigrated to the US for us to keep an eye out for any reference to them. While we didn't fine the name, it was still fascinating to see. I was most intrigued by the excitement of Irish decedents in other countries fir their accomplishments as well. In the US alone, more than 7 times the population of Ireland claim heritage to the country. Alex is 5 generations removed, so his great-great grandfather on his mother's side is Irish.





With all activities for the day accomplished and too early for dinner, we returned to the hotel. We nabbed a table at the bar for drinks and a game of Hearts. Meanwhile, Kyle's bus arrived in Dublin with a hungry Kyle so he headed off to find food. It took longer for someone to hit 100 points than it did my stomach to signal the need for food, so that defecto made me the winner as we walked to the pub restaurant Alex found nearby yesterday with good reviews called the Harbourmaster.





Alex couldn't decide on dinner so he and Carl split the wings as an appetizer so he could enjoy his other choice as a meal. It was a pleasant last meal in Ireland with a very pretty view of a canal. While we ended the night a bit early, that was perfect for the others as they had to get up for a 2am ride to the airport to catch a 5am flight to Amsterdam. Blessed with a later direct flight home, Alex and I could take our time repacking, relaxing, and going to bed at a reasonable time.





In fact, I was able to get up for another 9am breakfast before we had to walk to catch our bus to the airport at 10am. We had plenty of time to go through airport security, shop duty free, get past US Customs, and to out gate well before they cleared the standby list. Luck was in our favor as we got the 2 remaining business seats for our 9 hour trip home.

---

Photos

Natural History Museum
Irish Deer