Four days in Dublin, Ireland

---

Well, I am here in Dublin at the moment. Arrived on Saturday afternoon later than planned as the flight was delayed. left from Gatwick Airport which was sort of interesting having never been there before. I was made to take off my shoes and my jacket. I still set off the metal detector which resulted in an on-the-spot frisk search!! All happened very quickly actually - like I posed a serious threat to security! Needless to say, I don't know why I set off the detector but after being frisked they let me continue on my way.

By the time I got to my hostel (called the Brewery Hostel and was located conveniently close to the Guiness Brewery funnily enough) it was 5pm so I didn't have a whole lot of time to do or see anything. Next morning I was up very early as I had a long list of things to do on my first day.

First stop was the Old Jameson Distillery to learn about Irish whiskey making. At the end of the tour they give you a sample - so it was at 11am that I had a whiskey. Goes against my "don't drink before noon" rule but I wasn't going to pass up a chance to taste. After that I visited the Dublin Zoo - famous for its breeding of lions, specifically the one that roars at the start of some movies. Then it was on to the Dublin Writers Museum and James Joyce Museum. After that it was on to the Guiness Storehouse where I learnt about the making of Guiness and then got to drink a pint in the bar at the very top which has pretty good views of Dublin.

On Monday (that would be Easter Monday) I had another busy day. Started with a visit to St Patrick's Cathedral which I thought as a little rundown and had a very tacky shop selling the usual crap right in front of some large (and presumably important) monuments inside the main hall. Then I headed to Christ Church Cathedral which has an enormous crypt under it that is as big as the entire church. After that I headed to Kilmainham Gaol for a tour. At the time it was built it was state-of-the-art - one of the first gaols in Europe to have separate sleeping quarters - at least in theory - for each prisoner. Youngest prisoner's ever incarcenated there were a girl of eight and a boy of seven. Interestingly, it was also a transport gaol which meant that many of the people held there later got sent to Australia to serve out their sentences.

After the gaol it was time for a change of scenery so I headed to Croke Park, the stadium of the Gaelic Athletic Association. Had a stadium tour and saw the players lounge, change rooms, press gallery, all the usual things. Given the association is only amateur it is a huge stadium. Apparently they have also been holding rugby games there lately as the other stadium is being repaired.

Today I did a bit of a walking tour of the city. Over a few bridges, the Millenium Spire (looks like a giant needle), plus the usual monuments and parks, etc. Also went past the old Custom House which has a dome!! One of the other local government agencies now use it. Then I headed out on a bus tour to see Malahide Castle and views of Dublin Bay. All very interesting.

Tomorrow I will finish up the walking tour of the city before my afternoon flight back to London!!

Will post more pics soon and provide the link here.

---