Dublin was COOOOOL! (i started this post on 12 June... YIKES)
before going to Dublin, many people i know had told me that there isnt much to see and do. but Dublin was FANTASTIC! the place has got loads to see in terms of history and culture and cute little eating places to explore...
(because this is a really LATE post, i have to add that i went to Dublin from 7 to 9 June)
landed in Dublin airport at 11am and took the bus to the city - had lunch at this place called Avoca Cafe, which is on the top floor of a 'lifestyle' shop selling clothes and food items and bits for around the house. had a super filling lunch of soup, balsamic vinegar chicken skwers with cous cous while my brother had a seafood platter. so we had to walk it off by going sightseeing! off to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (the gospels written in Latin by early Christian monks) in the Old Library and the famous Long Room (it has 200,000 books from floor to ceiling and busts of famous philosophers lining the shelves) then to Grafton Street (pedestrianised shopping area) en route to St Stephen's Green. Stopped in a cafe for a HUGE iced mocha which made me even more bloated so after walking around St Stephen's Green we were too tired and went straight back to the hostel to sleep because we really couldnt eat any dinner...
After 12 hours of beauty sleep we were raring to go on the wednesday and walking down the Liffrey River we first visited Christchurch Cathedral then St Patrick's Cathedral then off to the Chester Beatty Library in the grounds of Dublin Castle. The Cathedrals were beautiful though there was a bit of an eerie feel when i went down to the crypt. My brother says that there wasnt that much to see so he feels we got ripped off by the houses of God as we had to pay entrance whereas for the museums they were free. The Chester Beatty Library is definitely worth the visit - it is the private collection of Chester Beatty of things like books, paintings, scrolls and pottery and all sorts of stuff he collected in his life from the Far East, Middle East and Europe. The National Museum of History and Archaeology was good too for their wide range of displays... from Early Ireland from cave men and the discovery of gold buried in bogs by early Irishmen/Vikings to the Easter Uprising at the General Post Office in 1916 and the fight for independence. Next door was the National Library and while we couldnt go in since we didnt have library cards, we browsed through a free exhibition on James Joyce and Ulysses - like all about the novel including characters and plotlines, and his writing process (very impressive because of the interactive elements like touch screen computers). My brother got very enthusiastic about reading Joyce but then i told him it wouldnt last considering i never finished reading Portrait Of the Artist As A Young Man even though it was a text for Modes of Reading.
The great thing about Ireland is the ban on smoking in pubs. Went to The Temple Bar in Temple Bar area for live music and a sip of Guiness (my brother had a pint that i took some of). Live folk music that was FREE, mind you. And good too... :)
The last day was spent at the Guiness Museum (pricey but a must visit) where we learnt about the history of Guiness and the making of it. A great part of the museum is the exhibition on advertising through the ages and they have some computer stations where you can watch all the commercials they had from the different parts of the world through the years (from the 1920s till the present). Plus we got a free pint (i took a half pint) at the modernist bar on the top floor where we had a panorama view of the city. It was a nice way to end my visit to the city... I think that if we had more time we might have had the chance to visit the Writers' Museum and the Film Archive but the 3 days were really enjoyable.
Overall Rating of Dublin? 4 stars? and the flight there was only 1p! and 1p back to the UK! hahaha... (not including tax though, but i think return ended up being 25 pounds)
(because this is a really LATE post, i have to add that i went to Dublin from 7 to 9 June)
landed in Dublin airport at 11am and took the bus to the city - had lunch at this place called Avoca Cafe, which is on the top floor of a 'lifestyle' shop selling clothes and food items and bits for around the house. had a super filling lunch of soup, balsamic vinegar chicken skwers with cous cous while my brother had a seafood platter. so we had to walk it off by going sightseeing! off to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (the gospels written in Latin by early Christian monks) in the Old Library and the famous Long Room (it has 200,000 books from floor to ceiling and busts of famous philosophers lining the shelves) then to Grafton Street (pedestrianised shopping area) en route to St Stephen's Green. Stopped in a cafe for a HUGE iced mocha which made me even more bloated so after walking around St Stephen's Green we were too tired and went straight back to the hostel to sleep because we really couldnt eat any dinner...
After 12 hours of beauty sleep we were raring to go on the wednesday and walking down the Liffrey River we first visited Christchurch Cathedral then St Patrick's Cathedral then off to the Chester Beatty Library in the grounds of Dublin Castle. The Cathedrals were beautiful though there was a bit of an eerie feel when i went down to the crypt. My brother says that there wasnt that much to see so he feels we got ripped off by the houses of God as we had to pay entrance whereas for the museums they were free. The Chester Beatty Library is definitely worth the visit - it is the private collection of Chester Beatty of things like books, paintings, scrolls and pottery and all sorts of stuff he collected in his life from the Far East, Middle East and Europe. The National Museum of History and Archaeology was good too for their wide range of displays... from Early Ireland from cave men and the discovery of gold buried in bogs by early Irishmen/Vikings to the Easter Uprising at the General Post Office in 1916 and the fight for independence. Next door was the National Library and while we couldnt go in since we didnt have library cards, we browsed through a free exhibition on James Joyce and Ulysses - like all about the novel including characters and plotlines, and his writing process (very impressive because of the interactive elements like touch screen computers). My brother got very enthusiastic about reading Joyce but then i told him it wouldnt last considering i never finished reading Portrait Of the Artist As A Young Man even though it was a text for Modes of Reading.
The great thing about Ireland is the ban on smoking in pubs. Went to The Temple Bar in Temple Bar area for live music and a sip of Guiness (my brother had a pint that i took some of). Live folk music that was FREE, mind you. And good too... :)
The last day was spent at the Guiness Museum (pricey but a must visit) where we learnt about the history of Guiness and the making of it. A great part of the museum is the exhibition on advertising through the ages and they have some computer stations where you can watch all the commercials they had from the different parts of the world through the years (from the 1920s till the present). Plus we got a free pint (i took a half pint) at the modernist bar on the top floor where we had a panorama view of the city. It was a nice way to end my visit to the city... I think that if we had more time we might have had the chance to visit the Writers' Museum and the Film Archive but the 3 days were really enjoyable.
Overall Rating of Dublin? 4 stars? and the flight there was only 1p! and 1p back to the UK! hahaha... (not including tax though, but i think return ended up being 25 pounds)
posted by ade at
3:36 pm
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