Day 1: Dublin
Miles traveled: 22.32 (walked 4.32; car/bus 18)
Steps: 10,513
We arrived in Dublin at around 8:30 a.m. after a 7-hour-and-51-minute flight. Despite not sleeping much on the plane, I was excited to visit this city of cobbled alleys, colourful doors, and centuries of stories whispered along the banks of the River Liffey.
Our hotel, Temple Bar Hotel, kept our luggage while we explored and wandered the quiet morning streets lined with pubs and restaurants. I saw a couple photographing the most delicious-looking pastéis de nata and asked them where they had bought them. Excitedly, they told us to go around the corner and turn right into another alley. I have never followed directions so quickly!
The alley led to an open market square with a coffee stand, a few people selling pastries and pies, and another selling beautiful flowers. When I say the small custard tart tasted even better than it looked, I’m not kidding.
Walking these charming streets, where James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, and Samuel Beckett once roamed, was exhilarating. Dublin is also home to two of my favourite authors, Marian Keyes and Cecelia Ahern, and I felt it slowly pull me into its embrace.
“When I die, Dublin will be written in my heart.” - James Joyce
I couldn’t get over the buildings around us. They were a beautiful mix of medieval, Georgian, and Victorian architecture on either side of the River Liffey. To get a better overview of Dublin, we did a hop-on, hop-off bus tour and were quite surprised by how small the city is, yet how much history it contains.
There is so much to see in Dublin, from the Guinness Storehouse to Trinity College, not to mention cathedrals, castles, museums, and gorgeous parks. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time in this charming city to do everything we wanted.
We decided to have an early dinner, and I had the best fish and chips I’ve eaten in years, followed by really good ice cream from Cloud Nine. The quiet streets of the morning had transformed into a bustling hive of activity. Some pubs were blasting music, while others were showing the World Cup. Our quiet street was gone, replaced by something very familiar, yet different—an Irish “Bourbon Street.” I had no idea!
I will link things I think might be of interest to you at the end of these travel posts. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you would like more information on.
When I booked the hotel room and saw that it was above a pub in the heart of the Temple Bar district, I pictured a quaint hotel with Irish music playing downstairs. What we got was a quaint hotel with EDM and bass vibrating through our room until around the time we fell asleep! Seriously, it wasn’t all night, thankfully.
You really painted a lovely picture!
The doors of Dublin, that’s gotta be a poem!😎