British Isles 2022: Part 1: Dublin, Ireland
After a long hiatus, we finally went on our first big post-Covid trip together. We decided to make a big loop around the British Isles. Our first stop took us to Dublin, Ireland!
Day 1:
After a rocky start leaving Seattle featuring delays, cancellations, & calls to customer service, we landed in Dublin. Right before we landed one of the airlines had a big computer outage, so the airport was in chaos. But we managed to find the buses and snag a spot to get to our hotel.
We made it to the hotel, freshened up, & were ready to start exploring! It was dinner time so we went to the Parnell’s Heritage Pub & Grill to get our first proper taste of Dublin with Fish & Chips and Beef & Guinness Casserole.
After dinner, we walked around a bit. One of the strangest things we saw were tons and tons of cowboy hats and American flags being sold everywhere. Come to find out, Garth Brooks was having a concert that day and everyone was getting their cowboy looks on. Not at all what you expect to see your first day in Ireland!
After checking out a few shops, we grabbed some gelato for dessert at Cloud Nine Temple Bar.
Then it was back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
Day 2:
We started the second day at Keogh’s Cafe for breakfast.
With full tummies, we started to make our way to Dublin Castle. Along the way, we made a brief stop at the garden outside Christ Church.
Then we explored Dublin Castle.
After the castle, we attempted to see St Patrick’s Cathedral but it was closed for service. So we decided to check out the Dublinia Museum instead. The Dublinia Museum was Viking and Medieval history, relating to Ireland/Dublin.
After some history at the Dublinia, we tried for St Patrick again but, alas, it was still closed. We were pretty cold and wet at this point, so we decided to find some warm beverages and snacks while we wait for the cathedral to open again.
After fueling up on warm tea, St Patrick’s Cathedral is finally open and we get the chance to check it out.
Afterwards, we made our way to the Archeology Museum.
Post museum, it’s dinner time! We stopped at J Sheehan’s and enjoyed some lamb shank, chicken burger, and Irish coffee.
Somehow, after that meal, we still were able to make room for some donuts for dessert.
After dinner & dessert, we made our way to Gaiety Theatre to see a Riverdance show. It was a lot of fun! I’ve been wanting to watch them live for some time and being able to see them in Ireland was awesome!
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to rest.
Day 3:
Jetlag finally kicked in and we were up at 4am cause we couldn’t sleep. Which gave us plenty of time to get ready and to the meeting spot for our bus tour to Blarney Castle!
Breakfast was a quick Starbucks stop on our way to the Molly Malone Statue, where we were to meet the group.
We loaded on the bus and began our long drive. Our first stop took us to Rock of Cashel, the first taste of old castle ruins on our trip!
Next stop: Blarney Castle! We ere given a few hours to explore the castle and surrounding park. We beelined it to the castle too see the Blarney Stone. The line was rather long, took a while to get to the top of the castle.
But I was able to convince Ali to give the stone a kiss.
Next, we grabbed a quick lunch at the Coach House Cafe, right next to the castle. We enjoyed a medley of cafe snacks and, of course, some tea.
Then we spent the rest of the allotted time walking around the surrounding park and gardens.
We met back up with the group and hit the road again, making another stop at Cahir Castle. The castle had both some interesting history, as well as being used as a set for multiple films.
After the castle, we made our way back in Dublin. We grabbed some convince store snacks for dinner and head back to the hotel.
Day 4:
It’s our last day in Dublin. We wake up early and pack. After checking out, we leave our bags at the front desk, and head out for the day.
We grabbed a quick tea as we run to make it to our first stop of the day. We got tickets to see the Book of Kells and the Old Library at Trinity College first thing in the morning. If you do see this, I definitely recommend seeing it right as they open. We were able to sneak in photos of the library before it was filled with too many people. We weren’t allowed to take photos of the actual book, but they did have a little gallery set up with info about the book before you head into the viewing room.
Afterward, we stopped at the National Gallery of Ireland.
We didn’t really have breakfast, so we were starving! But it was still too early for restaurants to be open yet. After walking around for awhile, we finally found a restaurant called Boxty, named after a traditional Irish potato cake. Of course, we tried some Corned Beef Boxty, along with a second round of Fish & Chips and Seafood Chowder.
Then we head back to the hotel to grab our bags before heading off to the train station. Next stop: Belfast!
