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Published: July 15th 2009
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Busy day today. We left our B&B early (7am) to take a taxi to Belfast Central Station for our 8am train to Dublin. We collected our tickets and then found a café inside to get some breakfast before boarding the train. The train station was quite empty so we had no trouble finding seats and a place to store out luggage on the train (usually there is a dog pile of bags that collect near the doors).
We arrived in Dublin at 10am and walked to our hotel (Trinity Capital) to drop off our bags and set out for a day of walking around the city. Our room was already ready when we got to the hotel so we were able to settle in for a minute before heading out to explore the city.
Our hotel is located right around the corner from Trinity College so we went there first. I had already decided against seeing the Book of Kells because the crowds are so big and you have to pay 10 euro to crowd around a tiny case with the book inside and I didn’t really think it was worth it. Instead we walked around the inner campus
and then continued down College Green to Suffolk Street to the Visitor Center to buy our Heritage Card. On the way we stopped to take a picture of the Molly Malone statue, or the “Tart with the Cart”.
We spent most of the day on Dame Street (which turns into Lord Edward St., High Street, then Thomas Street). We passed the Olympia Theatre, a Victorian-style music theatre dating back to the 1800’s, and then walked into Dublin Castle only to find out that it was closed because the Secretary General of the United Nations was there Apparently the castle will often close with no notice at all because it’s a popular meeting place for political officials. (Luckily we’re coming back to Dublin so we’ll hopefully be able to see it then).
We walked around back and went to the Chester Beatty Library because the admission was free. The library has a collection of old manuscripts, prints and books from around the world. We browsed through pretty quickly and then walked over to City Hall next door. City Hall was build between 1769 and 1779 and has been the center of municipal government since 1852.
Down the street
from City Hall is Christ Church Cathedral, which was our next stop. The cathedral dates back to 1038, although the current structure dates to about 1871 to 1878 when it was restored. There is a crypt underneath that dates to medieval times. One of our favorite parts of the crypt was a mummified cat and mouse. According to the story, one was chasing the other and bot got stuck in an organ pipe and were mummifies (during the 1850’s). They are referenced in the James Joyce book “Finnegan’s Wake” when he says, “…As stuck as that cat to that mouse in that tube of that Christchurch organ…”.
After t Christ Church we walked down adjacent Nicholas Street to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Ireland’s largest church tha t was founded next to a sacred well wehre St. Patrick supposedly baptized converts around 450AD. The church, whose present building dates to about 1254 to 1270, is filled with monuments, plaques, and tombs (including the grave of Johnathan Swift), and is reminiscint of a smaller Westminster Abbey on the inside.
Our next stop was the Guinness Storehouse, located further down the same street (there are tons of signs to direct you how
to get there). The actual tour wasn’t that exciting. It’s full of videos and props but you don’t really get to see the brewing process at work. The highlight of the tour is the end when you get to enjoy a pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar, located at the very top, which offers an incredible view over all of Dublin. It gets crowded up there though, so you may have to wait a while if you want to sit and enjoy the view for awhile (or rest your feet after all that walking!).
After the storehouse, we walked back up Dame Street and stopped to eat at Eddie Rockets, a 50’s style American diner. I had a veggie burger, fries and an Oreo cookie milkshake. Not exactly Irish, but good nonetheless (especially since I have a thing for diners).
After dinner we walked around Temple Bar, an area of cobbled streets lined with pubs and restaurants.. It was a nice surprise to find that the shops in Dublin stay open later than anywhere else we’ve been. After Temple Bar we walked over to Grafton Street, the main shopping area (and also where they filmed “Once”, one
of my recent favorite movies) and then to St. Stephen’s Green, a lovely park and perfect place to relax after a long day of walking. We sat for while and then walked back to our hotel where I am now watching the Michael Jackson memorial on TV and enjoying being in a real hotel, complete with an elevator!
Tomorrow we pick up our rental car and than it’s off to Kilkenny. I’m a bit nervous about driving here, but that will be part of the adventure!
P.S. The weather in Dublin is exactly what I’d heard it would be like…it rains lightly for a few minutes and then clears up for awhile, only to repeat this pattern over and over again. It’s quite tolerable as far as rain goes so hopefully it will stay this mild while we’re driving!
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notnem
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Driving in Ireland
The roads to Kilkenny are very good once you get to the M50, so it should be ok. Enjoy the trip, Kilkenny is a great city.