Advertisement
Published: August 5th 2014
Edit Blog Post
Max River Liffey
Max in front of the River Liffey When we arrived in Dublin on Tuesday morning, at 6:30, we were exhausted. Neither of us had gotten much sleep on the bus or ferry, and we both ended up taking naps that morning. Rebecca slept in the bus station, and Max slept on a bench on a bridge over the River Liffey in the middle of morning rush hour traffic. When we were finally ready to go we wandered around Dublin for a few hours, walking by the Spire (a big, ugly metal pointy thing in the middle of Dublin), walking through the campus of Trinity College, and spending time relaxing in Merrion Square Park. Around noon, we were able to drop our bags off at our Airbnb, and after chatting with the guys there, we headed over to City Hall to go on another Sandemans New Europe free walking tour. We walked around Dublin Castle and the Castle Gardens (at least the parts of the castle we could go in for free), Temple Bar, and Trinity College. We also saw Christ Church Cathedral (the oldest cathedral in Europe), the Spire, Rory Gallagher corner, and Parliament grounds. Our guide talked about the history of Ireland and included a bit about
Trinity College Library
Trinity College Library U2, since they're from Dublin, and the actor Jack Gleeson from Game of Thrones, who also lives in Dublin. After the tour we meandered our way back to the Airbnb since all the museums had already closed, and we decided to relax after a long night and day.
On Wednesday, July 23rd, we headed to the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology Branch. We viewed exhibits on prehistoric Ireland and treasure in Ireland. People settled in Ireland starting around 7000 BCE, during the stone age. Over time, as they learned to work with metal, they began to make beautiful jewelry, and the museum contains jewelry that had been hidden in stashes and hordes in bogs. We didn't have time to see any other exhibits since we wanted to go to a specific restaurant for lunch, the Vintage Kitchen. Our Airbnb host recommended it, and we made it just in time. The food was amazing! It was definitely worth leaving the museum a bit early for. After lunch, we decided to go to Trinity College and check out the tours of the school and its library. We made it just before the last one. The tours are student-led and cover
Pub
One of the pubs on the pub crawl a small part of the campus. Our guide talked about the school's history and told stories about former students and bizzarre incidents on campus. We didn't realize that it was founded as a Protestant school in the 16th century, and that until the 1970s, Catholics needed permission from their bishop to attend, guaranteeing that their Catholic faith was strong enough to withstand living in a completely Protestant environment. It was an interesting tour, and at the end we were able to go to the library to see old books and manuscripts, including the Book of Kells. It's amazing to see these books, which are over 1000 years old, in such good condition. The top floor of the library, which actually contains books on shelves, is also beautiful. The library is the direct inspiration for the Jedi Temple Library seen in Star Wars Episode II. Apparently George Lucas brought in special cameras to photograph the place so he could replicate it, as he couldn't directly film inside it. We had just enough time to look around before closing. We had decided that since we were in Dublin we wanted to go on a pub crawl. We were deciding between the music
Kilmainhaim 1
Kilmainhaim Gaol and literary pub crawls but finally went with the literary one. We reserved our spots but still had some time before it started, so we went to the Science Gallery at Trinity College. It's a combination art and science museum area which currently has exhibits about strange weather phenomena. It was fun to walk around and see the projects. One was a water drop falling at terminal velocity while being pushed up by a stream of air. So the question is: is it falling, rising, or staying in the same place? Soon it was time to go meet up for the pub crawl. We started at The Duke Pub where we were met by two actors who led the pub crawl, which was a lot of fun. Throughout the night they performed scenes and read pieces by various Irish authors. They also told us bits about the history of those authors. We went to four pubs in total and then got amazing ice cream, after which we went back to go to sleep.
We spent the morning on Thursday packing up our bags and moving to our hostel for the night. And once that was (finally) done, we headed
Kilmainhaim 2
Kilmainhaim Gaol over to the Kilmainhaim Gaol on the tram. At the Gaol (jail), we were able to look around the museum area before taking a tour of the place. It was initially built in the late 18th century and has not been used as a prison since the 1920s, when Ireland gained independence. Prisoners from the 1916 Easter Rising were held and then executed there. It had a peak incarceration and execution rate during the Potato Famine between 1845-1850. We saw the old and new cell areas and the outside yard. Learning about the history of the Gaol while walking around it was fascinating. It's definitely a tour with doing. After getting back to the city center, we went to the National Museum Archaeology Branch again and had just enough time to see an exhibit on Brian Boru, who was an important king in Ireland before the British took over. Then, since the museum closed at 5:00 and we weren't ready to head back to the hostel, we decided to spend some time in St. Stephen's Green. We walked around the park and lake before sitting down on a bench and relaxing for a few hours. We'd had a good few
Kilmainhaim 3
Kilmainhaim Gail New Wing days in Dublin, but it was time to see the rest of Ireland.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.25s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0396s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Aunt Susi
non-member comment
informative and fun
Rebecca, it is wonderful to read your blog and see pictures as well. I am so impressed with the depth of information that you are absorbing and this format is a brilliant way to document your 'great journey'. Be well and happy! love aunt susi