Ireland - Dublin 1

On Friday, April 25th, we packed light and headed for Toronto airport. After a relatively painless jaunt, we parked at Viscount and caught the tram to Terminal 3. After meeting up with the Harrows, we settled in to await our late evening Westjet overnight flight to Dublin.

Landing around 10am Dublin time (+5 hours), we were met by our friendly shuttle driver Jay and whisked downtown to our accommodations, along with some local pointers and Gaelic lessons along the way. He also encouraged us to seek out the "blonde with the long black dress". Our shared apartment for three crazy nights was perfectly situated, just on the south side of the River Liffey at O'Connell Bridge and walking distance to a lot of fun and history.

After dropping our bags, we set out to explore the city, first on foot and then via hop on hop off bus. Forcing ourselves to stay up and adjust to the time change, our second wind led to shopping and pub hopping. We hit the Temple Bar area and also had a great lunch at Gallagher's Boxty, which we recognized from Somebody Feed Phil. Walking back to the apartment, we made a grocery run at Tesco's to stock up the room.

We did an organized walking tour with a guide, and explored St. Stephen's Green and Trinity College, though sadly the Longroom was currently emptied of books for some renovations. Next time. He also took us to other parts of the downtown and described the history, politics, religion, and the philanthropy of the Guinness family that has so ingrained their brand loyalty in the people.

A few pints were sampled throughout the day, along with some live music in the evenings. The Porterhouse had been recommended by a good friend that lived in Dublin, and it did not disappoint. For the second evening, we experienced the Gravedigger ghostbus tour, which took us to several haunted locations including Kilmainham Gaol, St. Audoen's Church and Glasnevin Cemetery. 

After our great experience in London last year, we were sadly disappointed with this one....though it was definitely memorable! The B.O. in the bus alone was haunting enough. But the actors tried real hard to keep the mood and we gave them points for that. After they returned us to College Green, we stopped for another pint at Doyle's pub before turning in for the night.

Our apartment (middle building) from across the river

O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey

Seeing the city atop the Do Dublin Hop On Hop Off

Phoenix Park

Republic of Ireland!

Molly Malone

Temple Bar!

Splitting the G at Fitzgerald's pub

Great lunch at Gallagher's Boxty

Beautiful stroll through St. Stephen's Green

Courtyard at Trinity College

   The Porterhouse Pub

Beautiful interior at The Porterhouse

The Spire of Dublin - aka The Monument of Light (or the Stiffey by the Liffey!)

Gravedigger ghostbus tour

Twilight over Glasnevin Cemetery