Dublin, Ireland

A few years ago, my friend, Mary, and I ventured out on a Labor Day trip to Dublin and Edinburgh.  We spent roughly two days in each city and had a wonderful time!   I couldn't have asked for a better travel partner.  We both had similar ideas about what would be fun and how we should spend our time.  It was a great trip for both of us.  It came at the perfect time, too.  I met Christopher the following Spring and she was married roughly a year later!

Today, I want to share a little about our time in Dublin and the Irish countryside.  Upon arrival from NYC, we took a bus into Dublin from the airport and began to search for our hostel to drop off our bags before we started exploring.  I definitely recommend taking an overnight flight when going to Europe if you are coming from the East Coast.  We were able to rest on the plane and hit the ground running as soon as we arrived. We stayed at the Avalon House hostel which was very convenient once we were able to locate it. 

We eventually hit all the hot spots - Temple Bar, O'Connell Street, Grafton Street, the Ha'Penny Bridge, and many more.  But we began our day with a tour of Trinity College.  We were anxious to see the Book of Kells which is housed there.  We toured the Dublin Castle later that day as well.  Lots of great history and fun facts all day long!

Left and Middle: Dublin Castle; Right: Trinity College

After the Trinity College tour, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading over to the Guinness factory for a tour.  We paid a little more than we wanted for the tour, but it turned out to be a very cool place.  The tour was self-guided so we were able to spend lots of time looking around inside.  At the end of the tour, they provide samples in a 360 degree glass room.  This provided some excellent views and made the price much more worthwhile in the end!

After the Guinness factory, we toured the Dublin Castle and then headed off to the Temple Bar area for dinner.  This area was very lively!  I tried the beef stew and Mary had fish and chips at Farrington's.  I was pleased with my selection for sure!

The next morning we were up bright and early for our Wild Wickalow Tour of the Irish countryside.  The tour was fantastic.  I highly recommend it!  The guide was funny and knowledge.  My pictures don't really capture the beauty of the rolling hills and gorgeous lakes we saw throughout the day, but it was all very stunning!

One of the stops we made on the tour was for a brief visit to Glendalough.  This was just a beautiful place.  I could have spent hours upon hours here just admiring my surroundings.

Unfortunately, the tour moved on.  When we returned to Dublin, Mary and I did a bit of souvenir shopping before we headed back to the airport to catch our evening flight to Edinburgh.  Check back next week for the details about that leg of the journey!

Have you ever been to Dublin?  What did you enjoy there? 

Linking up with Helene today!

Andrea :)