Today we departed Killarney and took the train to Dublin. We had to transfer trains in Mallow but we just got off and waited on the same platform for about 10-15 minutes. It is quite simple but if you have difficulty managing your luggage yourself (there was no assistance), this may prove be a little difficult. There wasn't much room on the train for the luggage and some bags needed to be lifted up on top of a large heap.
Upon arrival, our local host Damien was waiting with his Monograms sign. He had prepared a list of things to see and do in Dublin and even marked each of our city maps highlighting it all.
After a tour to show us the lay of the land in Dublin, we stopped for about 1.5 hours to explore on our own and pick up some lunch before going to the Gibson Hotel for 2 nights. We had a delicious sandwich at the Kilkenny store which has a restaurant on the top floor.
The Gibson Hotel was not right in the city centre but has a tram lightrail right outside the door which transports you downtown in about 15 minutes. We bought a 1 day Flexi pass for 7.3 Euros which allows you unlimited travel.
A Sheep reading the newspaper in the Gibson Hotel lobby
They were filming "First Dates", the TV series, at The Gibson. It seems this is where the whole series is filmed! We were in the elevator with some of the guys who seemed a little nervous. We have never seen the show so don't really know a lot about it.
"Sphere With Sphere" at Trinity College
Waiting to get in to Trinity College (better to go very early)
The next day we set off for Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Old Library.
After viewing the Book of Kells, you go up some stairs where you enter the Long Room and it is then that your jaw drops!!!! Thousands of books are towering above you in beautiful wood bookshelves with wooden ladders perched throughout providing access to the very top books.
The main chamber of the Old Library is the Long Room; at nearly 65 metres in length, it is filled with 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books and is claimed to be one of the most impressive libraries in the world.
Marble busts line the Long Room. The busts are of the great philosophers and writers of the western world. By the way, they are all of men, connected with Trinity College.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Molly Malone (Cockles and Mussels) -She has been groped so often that the bronze hue is wearing off of her bosom (check out the image below before it wore off LOL.
Here is the song
Musicians Everywhere - Harry Fennell
We decided to visit Temple Bar in the afternoon as we heard it gets very crazy at night with thousands of people. We had a Guinness and started talking to a couple who asked us where we were from. It turns out they were from Saint John, New Brunswick where Dan is from and lo and behold this man who was a police officer, had gone through police academy with a friend of Dan’s who actually was his roommate when he lived in Saint John. They knew so many of the same people. It just shows the world is a very small place.
Free hugs outside The Temple Bar (I got a group hug)
We felt like having Italian food for dinner and I used yelp to find the closest Italian restaurant. Rosa Madres was just a block away and was the best meal we had so far.
Back to the hotel using our flexi pass!
Tomorrow we are off to Belfast but instead of traveling by train we will be driving. Seems there’s some engineering being done on the train and everyone has to get off midway with their luggage and get back on buses so they decided to make it easier for us and just transfer us all the way by minibus.
1 comment:
fun times in Ireland
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