The next day we got to sleep in a little bit and due the the rain, got a late start into the city to orient ourselves. We got 5 day bus passes and hopped on the bus to the city center. We walked in the rain to find a brunch place that tripadvisor had recommended called the Whitefriar grill. It would have been amazing if they hadn't run out of what I was really excited to eat but it was a nice warm brunch at a trendy place to wait out the rain. We walked around quite a goos chunk of the city just wandering where our feet felt like taking us. We stopped in St. Stephen's green, Temple Bar, and over to see the River Liffey....all in the rain.
In Stephen's Green
Temple bar by night.
River Liffey
We went grocery shopping and made a nice dinner back at Orlagh's and went to sleep early as we were very tired.
The next morning we wanted to get a head start on the rain. We walked our new commute to the city across a cute bridge over the Dodder River and through Donneybrook to the bus stop.
We walked around Fitzsimmons Square to find Fitzsimmons place after asking for directions a couple times. Dublin is not the easiest city to navigate. There are many streets that have the same name except the only difference is street, place, square, way etc. Very confusing. We found my great great great grandmas front door, which is now a law office and I took a few photos. Of course, like mother like daughter, I loved the look of the Georgian doors and took lots of photos.
The rain was coming so we decided to make our way to the Book of Kells which is at the old library at Trinity University. Once we got there it started to rain and being the idiot that I am, I had decided not to bring my rain jacket that day so Tina braved the rain for us and waited in line while I waited in the dry overhang.
After that we walked around Trinity as the sun came out which was really nice. It's very pretty but I would hate to go to school there with so many tourists all over the campus all the time.
After that we walked back to Marion Square and walked in the park a bit. There is a corner dedicated to Oscar Wilde with a statue of him sitting on a rock and 2 small pillars with quotes from him etched into the sides. Being the quote lover I am, I enjoyed reading all of them. Oscar Wilde was a sassy guy....
"Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught"
"Only dull people are brilliant before breakfast"
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"
After that we walked over to Temple Bar to hear some live music at Gogarty's.
Then we walked over the Liffey to O'Connell street and see what that's all about but just more stores and stuff that wasn't all that interesting, except the Spire and I got a good flag picture.
The next day we took the bus from Donneybrook to Phoenix park and it was a great morning walking around the park and exploring.
We stopped by the President's house which is also in Phoenix Park
And got some ice cream on our way out to meet Orlagh for lunch. Hey, haven't you ever heard that life is enjoyed more when you eat dessert first?
Lunch at Peacock Green was delicious and after that, Orlagh had to head back to work and we walked around more. We stopped int he Iveagh Gardens, even though most of it was closed off and then stumbled upon Coppers in the daylight!
We ended up back on Grafton street and got to see some great street musicians including a band called strip cheese that we stuck around for a while to listen to. We also got to turn ourselves into Leprachauns!
That evening we stopped in a TI and found out how to make our way to Killiney for some beach sitting and great views. We hopped on the dart for about 20 minutes and were there in no time.
We enjoyed the beach and met some nice people. One man and his french wife who lived in the next town over, Dun Laogaire. We asked how to get to the top of the hill and they said it wasn't walkable before the sun set so they offered to drive us and go with us so we did! They were so wonderfully nice and had led very interesting lives.
It was very pretty and I could have stayed up there for a while but they offered to drive us back tot he dart in Dun Laogaire so we decided to take them up on it.
The nextday Tina woke up feeling ill so I ventured off without her. It was a really gross day but I tried to make the most of it. I went to St. Stephens green and read under an overhang to wait out some rain. I met Orlagh for some coffee and then headed out to the Guinness Storehouse.
This is the lease that Arthur Guinnses signed to have the Storehouse.
I learned how to pour the perfect pint and now I'm a pro.
This is at the end in the gravity bar with my certificate for the perfect pint and my Guinness! Yum!
I also saw a guy wearing a GBN basketball shirt and met some people on vacation there from Northbrook. Small world!
I had some frustrating trouble with the bus and basically had to RUN home to get ready in 2 minutes for Riverdance that night. We had gotten tickets to see it at the Gaiety Theater off Grafton Street. We got there juuuuust as it was started and it was exciting for Tina because she had never seen anything like it before.
Grafton Street by night after we got out of Riverdance.
We walked up to Temple bar and stopped in a pub for a couple guiness' and to listen to some more live music. We met 2 older Americans who were visiting family and were very nice.
The next day we took the bus to Dun Laiogaire to meet one of Orlaghs friends for lunch and a walk down the pier. It was not a nice day which was a bit of a bummer but there was wind and lots of sailboats so it was still pretty. We walked around the cute little town a bit before heading back to Dublin to get some sleep as we both had travels the next morning.
Tina flew back to Deutschland and I hopped on a bus to Galway. It was a sunny beautiful day but very blustery and windy. I got to Galway, stashed my bag at the train station and got to walking around the city. Orlagh had made me list of things to do and places to see but mostly I just wandered around. There was a lot going on. Here are some pictures from Galway.
And my tour in Co. Clare. The Burren and the cliffs of moher
