Dublin, Ireland

We went into Dublin not knowing what to expect. This is one of the cities that we did not have any preconceived ideas of what we wanted to do. I must say we were pleasantly surprised. Ireland has been a country of great history, interesting architecture, distinctive culture, and tremendous views.

We arrived in Dublin by plane from Scotland early enough in the day on Sunday that we basically had a full day to get an idea of the city. We stayed in a great hostel with pretty much everything we could need - great location, modern and comfortable lounge, and free wifi :) We spent most of our first day getting a feel for the streets and learning what Dublin had to offer. We wandered for about four hours that day, seeing many wonderful buildings and cool streets.


Directly outside of our hostel, one of Dublin's numerous bridges crossing the River Liffey

A picturesque scene in St. Stephen's Green, one of Dublin's many large people-filled parks

A small taste of home. We were walking down the street and out of nowhere came Tim's coffee in a little convenience store. No roll up though.

The cathedral of St. Patrick himself.

The second day we decided to take in a free walking tour. Not a hard decision. It was also a great decision because it was a great tour. We learned an incredible amount of history about Ireland and its capital and saw how all these giant old buildings came into play. Apparently there is this company that does these free tours all over Europe so we will definitely take advantage (they're free). Then we went out for burgers and, after, enjoyed Dublin's greatest tradition - Guinness. We decided that our trip to Dublin would not be complete without a pint (only one) of Dublin's famous beer from a local pub. It was a lot of fun to experience some great live Irish music in a place that is so essentially Irish (the beer wasn't too bad).

Dublin's other magnificent cathedral - Christ Church

The blue building is the Project Arts Centre. U2 was signed here after playing a gig (U2 is from Dublin).

The beautiful campus of Trinity College

Ang showing off her pint o' Guinness

Our third and final day was a great last day. We took a day tour that brought us through some of Ireland's beautiful countryside and history. We boarded a 16 passenger bus/van and headed south of Dublin into the Wicklow county and through the Glendalough area. It was incredible to experience this side of Ireland, the side that brought us here in the first place. We were not disappointed. Ireland is a beautiful country, complete with beautiful hills, valleys, and lakes. We stood in the places where parts of Braveheart and PS I Love You were filmed. We also were fortunate enough to visit a monastery started by St. Kevin in the 6th century. The oldest pieces of buildings were only from the 12th century though. Bummer. It was really cool to try and envision what it could have looked like 900 years ago. It was a great experience.

A shot from the opening scenes of Braveheart

PS I Love You. The part where she is lost and he saves her.




The bridge into the Glendalough Monastery

The giant, round, granite tower in the middle of the monastery

Glendalough's cemetery with St. Kevin's Church in the background.

A pathway through the valley of Glendalough


One of Glendalough's bedazzling lakes

Some things we learned: Irish is bilingual (English and Gaelic), it has been in conflict with the English forever and finally gained independence in 1922, and drinking is to Ireland what hockey is to Canada. It's been fun to experience some of what this city is, and to also gain an understand what the city was and how it has evolved into what we see today. Next stop - Belfast.