Today we got up super early, and by super early I mean 6:30 am. We drove to the train/bus station and jumped on a bus bound for Dublin. Three and a half hours later, we were in the middle of the bustling city. We made our way down a few streets and ran into a farmers market, where we browsed, sampled a piece of cheese or two and moved on to find a place for lunch. The place we found was great. No, it was cool. It was Gruel (Great + Cool=Gruel, ie Tina Fay). We were just in time for their Saturday brunch. The food was fantastic. We sampled the french toast with thick slices of bacon, the corn beef hash and a egg tortilla filled with spinach, chorizo and goat cheese with a side of potatoes.
After brunch, we started walking toward the Guinness Storehouse. As we walked, we took everything in. The streets were busy with people and vendors. Lots of bridges and apartments among office buildings and industrial towers. Guinness was tattooed to buildings everywhere. The tour through the seven story building was all self-guided and somewhat interesting. However, it was pretty crowded, so we picked and chose what to check out. When we got to the top floor (a circular glass room), we joined the masquerade of pseudo Guinness lovers and enjoyed our free pint. The best part of the tour besides the free pint was the breathtaking views of the city. We sat by the window overlooking the rooftops for a few minutes and sipped our beers before taking off.
Our tour of Dublin continued with walking, walking and more walking. No better way to explore a city. We went by the jail, but unfortunately all of the tours were booked up for the day, so we moved on to Phoenix Park. The park in my mind is a lot like Central Park in New York. Full of open fields, walking paths, places to play sports and it even has a zoo. We stopped to watch a few up and coming Irish football stars play some pick-up as well as a few families kicking the ball around together. And the walking continued.
The next place we wanted to find was called Cobblestone. Known for having live music every day of the week, we thought we would pop in and see if we were in luck. We were indeed. There was 4 or 5 people sitting on couches and chairs in the front of the bar (the same set up as the one we saw in Galway), playing some lively Irish tunes to a pretty packed pub. We only stayed a few minutes, as no one wanted a drink and we were starting to get hungry for dinner.
We strolled along the river and ended back up in the area called Temple Bar, where the farmers market had been earlier. The first place we tried, we couldn't find anyone to seat us or a seat for that matter, so we moved right along. I guess restaurants work differently over here. There doesn't seem to be a hostess. You just look for a table, sit down and wait for a server to come by. We settled on a place called The Porterhouse Brewery. It was three stories with live music and packed with people. It wasn't authentic Irish food, but it was still good. We got a couple burgers, chips and a beef and Guinness stew. Ice cream for dessert of course. Before we got our food, we chatted with the man standing next to us about the rugby game on the TV. He tried to explain some of the rules and why the players do certain things. I still don't get it.
When we finished dinner, it was about time for us to head back to the bus depot to catch the last bus out of the city. Three and a half hours later, we were home. And exhausted.
Again, I think we can all agree that we wish we could have had more time to explore the city.
We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics. We want pics.
ReplyDeletetkm
I love the stories. Great stuff. I want to go. Actually, I want to go to Scotland, because i just discovered that Scotland has more red-haired girls than anywhere else in the world!
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