I just got back from my trip last night from Dublin, and I am completely whipped out from the trip. Trying to see a the city in just days is a lot of work, but Kevin and I definitely got most of it in it seems like! I Figured the easiest way would be to break down the days of the trip day by day, so here it goes!
Wednesday
This is when our travels began! We had to board a 9:40am train from Twickenham and begin our journey to Gatwick Airport, just 50 miles outside of London. It was only about an hour train ride, but we figured to better be safe than sorry! Getting through the airport was a breeze and then we just sat and waited for our flight, which was around 1:30 pm. The flight was only about an hour long, gate to gate, so it went by quick. I was able to catch a few pictures before landing on my ipad though!
This is when our travels began! We had to board a 9:40am train from Twickenham and begin our journey to Gatwick Airport, just 50 miles outside of London. It was only about an hour train ride, but we figured to better be safe than sorry! Getting through the airport was a breeze and then we just sat and waited for our flight, which was around 1:30 pm. The flight was only about an hour long, gate to gate, so it went by quick. I was able to catch a few pictures before landing on my ipad though!
Once we landed, we hopped on a bus and rode into Dublin! We were staying at a youth hostel which was located in Temple Bar - the heart of Dublin. Hostels are a very interesting type of accommodation. Its almost like living in a traditional style dorm again. You are staying in a room with multiple bunk beds, there is a traditional hall type bathroom that everyone shares (there are separate sex ones though), you have a common room, and there is a dinning area. For what Kevin & I needed, it was perfect. It only cost $12 per night per bed (so $24 a night for the two of us), we really only needed a place to shower and rest. However, since it is cheap you do pay the price by having a not-so comfortable bed and not the best breakfast in the morning (cearal & toast). But for the price we paid it was great. We even got free wifi! (which a lot of hotels in Europe don't offer).
After checking in, we went out and began to explore. We found a local place to eat and then went to a bar Kevin wanted to check out to listen to some Irish music. While flying over to Dublin and staying in Dublin was cheap, the food and beer here cost LOTS. a single beer was about 5 euros, which is abotu 7 to 8 dollars. yikes!
Thursday
This was our first full day so we were prepared to take it all in! We left our hostel around 10:30 and started heading out. We ran into several cathedrals and got to take pictures in several of them (St. Augustine & Christ Church Cathedral). We went to the far west side of town to see the Kilmainham Gaol (Gaol is gaelic for jail), which Kevin's aunt had recommended to us. It was probably my favorite thing we did the entire trip!
The jail was built in 1796 and is made out of limestone, which does not retain any heat and retains lots of moisture. So the jail was always freezing. It was intended to only hold 1 inmate to a cell, but because of the material the jail was made of the first floor of the jail could not be used because of its temperature and flooding. So the jail immediately ran into problems with were to put their inmates. During the potato famine, one year there were 9,000 inmates that went through the jail even though the jail could only hold roughly 300 people. Because of this, cells were flooded with people and even the hallways were being used as sleeping quarters. To make matters worse: there were only 4 toilets in the jail. During this time, even children around the age of 5 were being imprisoned. but for many whom were starving, being in prison and getting a little bit of food each day was better than not being in prison and starving. An addition was eventually added to the jail after the famine and as the numbers went down the jail was able to met its ideal one inmate to one cell ratio. The jail was also famous for having public executions right outside the front. Many famous people during the multiple rebellions during this time were executed here - Joseph Plunket, William O'Brien, James Connolly, etc. The jail also has its own museum full of history on the multiple rebellions in Ireland during the duration of the jail, lifestyles of the inmates, and history on several inmates.
I know that this is a lot information, but this isn't even half of it. so I found some links that talks more about the jail and those who served time in it.
After the Kilmainham Gaol we headed up to the Guinness Factory to do their tour. It was an amazing, and HUGE, facility! It was broken up into 7 floors (crazy, right?) The first floor was just were you entered and ticketing, the second floor was the orientation and it talked about the ingredients used to make each Guinness, the third floor went through the steps to brew it as well as old machinery used in the factory and tasting!! Fourth floor was about advertising where it showed you old bottles and old commercials used, fifth floor was the drinking IQ and tracing Guinness roots, the sixth floor was the Guinness Academy, where they showed you how to pour your own Guinness the proper way, and the final floor was the Gravity Bar. The Gravity Bar was a room of windows that lets you see a total panorama of the city. It was amazing! Plus at the end, you got your Guinness to enjoy. I'm not really into it, so I gave my cup to Kevin but I did take a few pictures to at least pretend like I drank it :)
The rest of the day we just hung around and cooked our own pasta dinner (because the kitchen had its own fully equipped kitchen) and then went out and checked out a few of the pubs in the area. We even saw the oldest pub in all of Ireland, and perhaps even Europe!
Friday
We started our day by going off to Trinity College, also known as Dublin College. It was a beautiful campus (puts every college I have ever seen to shame!), but it is really known for being home to the Book of Kells, which is a gospel book that contains the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We Unfortunately did not get to go see the book itself, it was a little too pricey of an exhibit for us to actually see.
After walking through Trinity College, we headed over to the National Museum of Natural History and Archaeology The Natural History Museum was a collection of animals throughout generations, mostly from Ireland. It had a huge skeleton of the Great Irish Deer that once roamed through Ireland. The Archaeological Museum discussed a lot about the ancient history of Ireland, including jewelry that dates back to 900 BC to the age of the vikings. It was really neat because it was all collections of things I had never really seen or thought of as being apart of Ireland's history!
After the museums, we headed back to the hostel to catch a break. After that we headed out and tried another set of pubs!
Saturday
This was our last day in Dublin, but we practically had all day to finish seeing any last minute things! We headed down to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is the largest cathedral in Ireland. It is built over the spot which St. Patrick was baptized at, giving its name.
Afterwards, we took a stroll down O'Connell Street and paid a visit to the General Post Office where the 1916 uprising occurred as well as many monuments dedicated to the men that fought for Ireland's freedom.
After that we rested and headed back to the airport and started our journey back to London.
It was an amazing few days, and this blog nor my pictures do justice to how awesome Dublin was!
Be sure to check out my facebook album to see the rest of my pictures form the places I talked about plus random sites and pictures from the streets!
No comments:
Post a Comment