Dublin Down (Part 1 of 7)

Hello from Dublin!  Just kidding.. it was pretty tough to get any blogging done while on vacation, so I'm more than two weeks back and trying to catch up on this.  This trip was about 9 months in the making - I booked my flight back in December, so I was excited to finally go.  Also, after the language difficulty in Brazil, I was happy to visit a country with English as a primary language.  I didn't realize until closer to my trip how ambitious my plans were - traveling to seven cities in two weeks via airplane and rental cars (plus the whole driving on the other side of the road thing).  The good thing is that I survived!  Since I spent the longest time (three days) in Dublin, this will likely be the longest post.

Weirdly enough, I flew Ethiopian Airlines to Dublin - it was a nonstop flight and I had a whole row to myself, so it was a fairly peaceful 10 hours there.  A downside is that it was 8:30 am when I arrived, so I was pretty exhausted but had to explore.  The weather in Dublin was warm and LA-like for the first two days, which I was unprepared for.  I love Dublin - I stayed in the Temple Bar area, which reminded me of Austin and Nashville, with the abundance of bars and live music.  It's a great city - it's mostly walkable with a great nightlife and plenty of museums.

Dublin was so vibrant.  I spent a majority of my time visiting museums and going out at night.. and subsequently sleeping off the night life adventures.  No pictures of that, because what happens in Dub pubs stays in Dub pubs.  (That's not a saying, but it probably should be!)  If there weren't so many things to see in Dublin, I would've gone out every night.  I learned my lesson the one day I slept in until noon.  Museums and stores tend to close pretty early in Dublin - at about 5 or 6.

This is the famous Ha-Penny Bridge over the River Liffey.  There's a lot of bridges, but this is the most famous of them.

When I was first passing by Grafton Street, they were pulling out the saran wrap and when I came back, this was finished.

This neat cafe I went to.

People regularly sit on those steps and just hang out.  I was sitting there on my last day before flying home, eating fries when I randomly ran into my Belfast hostel friend.  It was awesome!

One of the first places I visited was The National Leprechaun Museum, which was interesting.  I expected it to be kitschy but it was pretty fun and theatrical, giving people the leprechaun experience.

The tunnel you walk through that transforms you into a leprechaun.

I have no idea why my phone has the random blue spots.

Leprechaun's gold is out of reach.

This is where the leprechauns live.  Apparently they like dark places.

The Molly Malone statue

I also popped into the Dublin Castle.  Since I was in a time crunch, I didn't do the whole guided tour experience.

Inside the Dublin Castle's courtyard

They hold fancy dinners here.

The inauguration of the Irish president is held here.

I took this picture because I was shocked they still have Tower Records.  I actually saw more than one.

I went to St. Stephen's Park between visiting museums, and it was so peaceful and beautiful.




The Little Museum of Dublin, which is, like its name, pretty small.  It was a tour and a pretty good history of Dublin, which is currently marking its 1916 uprising,  You can see signs all over town.




Also went to the National Gallery of Ireland.

This is me sometimes.

I also took the Hop On Hop Off Sightseeing Bus tour in Dublin, which helped save time with getting to and from attractions.  Dublin doesn't have a great public transportation system, at least compared to London.  While I was there, they also had bus strikes on Thursday/Fridays weekly, plus there was a lot of road construction, so traffic was an issue in the city.  Unfortunately for me, Uber/Lyft weren't really active there, and their taxis didn't accept credit cards.  It wasn't until the last day that I discovered Hailo, which is their Uber but only for taxis.  The hop on hop off let me see a lot of great architecture in Dublin and the first driver I had was so great, he was singing and everything.  I would have stayed on if I didn't have a ton of things to see.

The spire

The General Post Office (GPO).  It's actually a post office but also part of the 1916 uprising.  I went to the museum but it didn't particularly interest me.

Also went to the Guinness Storehouse, which was awesome.  It's probably the number one thing to see in Dublin, with good reason.  Unfortunately the Jameson Distillery was closed until March 2017, for St. Patrick's Day.  I'm not a whiskey drinker, though, so I didn't really miss out.  Anyway, everyone who I met who'd visited Dublin had been to Guinness or had plans to.  It's an awesome seven (I think) floor museum that tells you everything about the company, from how the beer is brewed to its marketing.  I learned how to pour my perfect pint of Guinness and enjoyed it from the awesome 360 rooftop bar.







 





















  

The oyster actually whistles.  It's pretty cool!

Here's where I waited in line to learn how to pour the perfect pour.

Look how focused I am!

Succeeded!

The lady on the left was the one teaching us.  She was from China, so that was interesting.

My certificate and my beer at the 360 bar.

One view at the 360 bar.

I also popped in at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, but a lot of exhibits were closed.







Also visited the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts and History.




(There's not a ton of pictures at some of these places because I was rushing trying to visit everything before I left Dublin.  Things close at 5 or 6 there.)

I also visited Glasnevin Cemetary, which is Dublin's most famous cemetery.  Several historical figures from the 1916 uprising were buried here.




There was a museum there too - tiny but interesting.

Body snatching - yikes!

One of the other notable attractions in Dublin is Kilmainham Gaol.  I had to visit this when I arrived in Dublin on the last day before I flew home.  I tried to go when I first got to Dublin, but I didn't book my ticket in advance so I wasn't able to get in that day, so I had to book it for a week later.  It was worth it - it's their old jail and is by a one-hour guided tour only.

Our guide outside the jail.

This is the most famous part of the jail.  It's been in movies and, unsurprisingly, a U2 music video.

One more thing - here's one (of two, which you'll see later) visual of the overseas disdain for Trump.