ot planning a day in Galway, we decided the next time we come to Ireland, we will start there. We continue driving on small country roads dotted with sheep, b/c we know once we pull into Dublin, it will all become citified. As we come around a bend, we stumble across this castle and decide to take a break and stretch our legs for a bit. There are no signs for this castle so I have no idea about it. It's pretty well preserved though. Afterwards, we climb back into the car and continue on. Well, somehow we get lost in a tiny town and flagged down a man walking his dog. He gave us perfect directions to the freeway. The rest of the ride was uneventful.Once in Dublin, we drop off the rental at Hertz, catch the shuttle to the airport, then hop on the aircoach bus to our hotel. We are droppe
d off below St. Stephens Green on Lower Leeson St. and had to walk about 1/4 of a mile WITH our luggage to our hotel. I was a bit tired and grouchy from our long drive, so I was not a happy camper. Check in at the Mespil Hotel was easy. We get our key, check out our comfy room, and plop down for a 15 min. break. After freshenin
g up, we decide to take on Dublin! Boo and I walk through St. Stephens Green up to Grafton Street and check out all the shops. We pass the Molly Malone Statue and duck into the TI center, which is an old church converted into a tourist information center, and pick up some info. We stroll into the Templar Bar area and grab an early dinner at the Hard Rock in Dublin. It was just OK. I forgot how loud (and expensive) the Hard Rocks can be. Anyways, we were just nostalgic from the great time we had at the Hard Rock in Rome, that's why we hit the Hard Rock Cafe in Dublin. After a loud dinner, we walk past Trinity College and down to Merrion Square for the photo op with Oscar Wilde's lounging statue. Just as we started to relax on a park bench, here comes a Garda (guard-ee, Irish police) and tells us the park is closing. It's 7pm, so we head back towards our hotel. Not tired at all, we decide to walk around the block of th
e hotel to explore. Wow, we are actually in a real Irish neighborhood. Lots of small restaurants, grocery stores, cute pubs, and these beautiful all brick homes with brightly painted doors. It's rumored that when the English Queen Victoria died, all England owned/ruled properties were asked to paint their doors black, out of respect for the queen of England. The people of Ireland, who were British ruled at the time, opted to paint their doors in bright colors, an obviously silly, defiant slap in the face to England. Got to love the Irish Humor :) We then took a seat along the board walk of the little canal that runs directly in front of our hotel, and just people watched til we got tired enough to call it a night.
d off below St. Stephens Green on Lower Leeson St. and had to walk about 1/4 of a mile WITH our luggage to our hotel. I was a bit tired and grouchy from our long drive, so I was not a happy camper. Check in at the Mespil Hotel was easy. We get our key, check out our comfy room, and plop down for a 15 min. break. After freshenin
g up, we decide to take on Dublin! Boo and I walk through St. Stephens Green up to Grafton Street and check out all the shops. We pass the Molly Malone Statue and duck into the TI center, which is an old church converted into a tourist information center, and pick up some info. We stroll into the Templar Bar area and grab an early dinner at the Hard Rock in Dublin. It was just OK. I forgot how loud (and expensive) the Hard Rocks can be. Anyways, we were just nostalgic from the great time we had at the Hard Rock in Rome, that's why we hit the Hard Rock Cafe in Dublin. After a loud dinner, we walk past Trinity College and down to Merrion Square for the photo op with Oscar Wilde's lounging statue. Just as we started to relax on a park bench, here comes a Garda (guard-ee, Irish police) and tells us the park is closing. It's 7pm, so we head back towards our hotel. Not tired at all, we decide to walk around the block of th
e hotel to explore. Wow, we are actually in a real Irish neighborhood. Lots of small restaurants, grocery stores, cute pubs, and these beautiful all brick homes with brightly painted doors. It's rumored that when the English Queen Victoria died, all England owned/ruled properties were asked to paint their doors black, out of respect for the queen of England. The people of Ireland, who were British ruled at the time, opted to paint their doors in bright colors, an obviously silly, defiant slap in the face to England. Got to love the Irish Humor :) We then took a seat along the board walk of the little canal that runs directly in front of our hotel, and just people watched til we got tired enough to call it a night.The next day, we started out early and found a small cafe' to enjoy a quick breakfast. Then it was off to Trinity College to see the famed "Book of Kells." A colorful, artistic manuscript of the four gos
pels of the New Testament, written in Latin, and transcribed by Celtic Monks. The complexity of the artwork on each page is so intricate and magnificent, it is hard to understand that it was written in 800 AD. Trinity College itself is pretty neat. It's the oldest college in Ireland, established by Queen Elizabeth in 1592. The Book of Kells tour starts when you enter a dark rooms where a few pages are enlarged and illuminated, pointing out details of the art and describing what is on the page. Then you finally get to see the actual book itself. Afterwards you enter the old library. (This was my favorite part.) It is just gorgeous. A long hallway with stacks of old books lining up to the ceiling. Huge glass windows letting in natural light, marble bust statues of famous writers, philosophers, notable politicians. It is the epitome of what I think a library should look like. I could of spent hours in this room alone. Boo has an inherent aversion to libraries and all things readable, Hahaha! but he was patient enough to let me take my time in the library. The end of the tour spits you out into the gift shop. I did buy a few things here. I bought a post card featuring the l
ong library hall, shamrock pellets to take home and grow my own luck, and a small magnet Irish Potato Cookbook in the shape of a potato. It was cheesy but practical. It actually has a bunch of good and easy recipes. I found Boo sitting outside in the green grass courtyard amongst the students. He looked relaxed and like he fit right in. We left the college, crossed a bridge over the River Liffey, and went up O'Connell Street towards the Spire, the worlds tallest piece of sculpture. It is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument that is (390 ft) in height and cost 5 million dollars to construct. The Irish have some interesting names for the spire. Like; "the stiffy at the Liffey", or "stiletto in the ghetto" or "the skewer in the sewer." Anyways, it is there to commemorate the Easter Rising in 1916. "The Rising was mounted by Irish Republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic." (wikepedia) Along the way, we passed statues of famous Irishmen like "Charles Stewart Parnell, known as the uncrowned King of Ireland and Daniel O'Connell, who successfully and peacefully led the movement to achieve Catholic Emancipation." (wikepedia) We then turn left and head towards Parnell Square and to the Gardens of Remembrance. "The gardens were erected in the 1960s to commemorate all those who fought and died for Irish freedom. This could be seen as the central memorial to the struggle for Irish independence." (go Ireland website) It's a water fea
ture, a pool, laid out like a Latin cross. After resting our feet for a few minutes, we continue back towards the River Liffey. Along the way we stumble across an outdoors market. Boo buys us some fresh plums, a tangerine, and a banana for a quick lunch time snack. We continue on to Ha'penny bridge and enjoy our snack there. Ha'penny bridge is named so b/c at one point it cost a half a penny to cross this pedestrian bridge. We finish up our snack and cross over the bridge walk thru the Templar bar area and end at Dublin Castle, built in 1226. We find a free small museum about paying taxes (boring but quick) then walk across the garden into the Chester Beatty Library (yes, another library). To check out their 3 free exhibitions. The first was a quick 2 room gallery of drawings. The second and third exhibitions were Chester Beatty's, (who was an American mining engineer and only person to receive an honorary Irish citizenship) personal collections which he donated to Ireland. The first is called "Arts of the Book. Books from the ancient world including the world famous Chester Beatty Love Poems (c.1160 BC), Egyptian Books of the Dead and beautifully illuminated medieval European manuscripts and fine European printed books, as well as Old Master prints. Highlights from East Asia include one of the finest collections of Chinese jade books in the 
world, Japanese picture-scrolls depicting fables and legends, and deluxe woodblock prints." The next exhibition is called "The Sacred Traditions Gallery. Exhibits sacred texts, illuminated manuscripts and miniature paintings from the great religions and systems of belief represented in the collections - Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism with smaller displays on Confucianism, Daoism, Sikhism and Jainism" (Chester Beatty Library website) After cultural overload, we head back towards Grafton Street and buy an ice cream cone and stroll through St. Stephens Green Park. A huge park with walking trails, fountains, lakes, flowers, and park benches. We take a bench, snuggle, talk, and people watch for an hour. We decide we really don't want to go to the Guinness Storehouse and do the beer tour thing. We want to finish off our last night in Dublin the right way. With a good Italian meal and great bottle of wine. Hahaha! No really, that's how we spent our last night. At an Italian restaurant called Milanos. (I know some of you are thinking, how can they eat Italian in Ireland? that's sacrilege! Hey, I've been trying all the traditional Irish dishes since I got here.) So off we go to our hotel to shower and change for dinner. Milanos was a nice time. Afterwards, Boo and I enjoyed a romantic stroll around the neighborhood before we called it a night. We popped into a cute little grocery store, where I bought some scones to have with our tea for our last breakfast in Ireland tomorrow morning.
pels of the New Testament, written in Latin, and transcribed by Celtic Monks. The complexity of the artwork on each page is so intricate and magnificent, it is hard to understand that it was written in 800 AD. Trinity College itself is pretty neat. It's the oldest college in Ireland, established by Queen Elizabeth in 1592. The Book of Kells tour starts when you enter a dark rooms where a few pages are enlarged and illuminated, pointing out details of the art and describing what is on the page. Then you finally get to see the actual book itself. Afterwards you enter the old library. (This was my favorite part.) It is just gorgeous. A long hallway with stacks of old books lining up to the ceiling. Huge glass windows letting in natural light, marble bust statues of famous writers, philosophers, notable politicians. It is the epitome of what I think a library should look like. I could of spent hours in this room alone. Boo has an inherent aversion to libraries and all things readable, Hahaha! but he was patient enough to let me take my time in the library. The end of the tour spits you out into the gift shop. I did buy a few things here. I bought a post card featuring the l
ong library hall, shamrock pellets to take home and grow my own luck, and a small magnet Irish Potato Cookbook in the shape of a potato. It was cheesy but practical. It actually has a bunch of good and easy recipes. I found Boo sitting outside in the green grass courtyard amongst the students. He looked relaxed and like he fit right in. We left the college, crossed a bridge over the River Liffey, and went up O'Connell Street towards the Spire, the worlds tallest piece of sculpture. It is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument that is (390 ft) in height and cost 5 million dollars to construct. The Irish have some interesting names for the spire. Like; "the stiffy at the Liffey", or "stiletto in the ghetto" or "the skewer in the sewer." Anyways, it is there to commemorate the Easter Rising in 1916. "The Rising was mounted by Irish Republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic." (wikepedia) Along the way, we passed statues of famous Irishmen like "Charles Stewart Parnell, known as the uncrowned King of Ireland and Daniel O'Connell, who successfully and peacefully led the movement to achieve Catholic Emancipation." (wikepedia) We then turn left and head towards Parnell Square and to the Gardens of Remembrance. "The gardens were erected in the 1960s to commemorate all those who fought and died for Irish freedom. This could be seen as the central memorial to the struggle for Irish independence." (go Ireland website) It's a water fea
ture, a pool, laid out like a Latin cross. After resting our feet for a few minutes, we continue back towards the River Liffey. Along the way we stumble across an outdoors market. Boo buys us some fresh plums, a tangerine, and a banana for a quick lunch time snack. We continue on to Ha'penny bridge and enjoy our snack there. Ha'penny bridge is named so b/c at one point it cost a half a penny to cross this pedestrian bridge. We finish up our snack and cross over the bridge walk thru the Templar bar area and end at Dublin Castle, built in 1226. We find a free small museum about paying taxes (boring but quick) then walk across the garden into the Chester Beatty Library (yes, another library). To check out their 3 free exhibitions. The first was a quick 2 room gallery of drawings. The second and third exhibitions were Chester Beatty's, (who was an American mining engineer and only person to receive an honorary Irish citizenship) personal collections which he donated to Ireland. The first is called "Arts of the Book. Books from the ancient world including the world famous Chester Beatty Love Poems (c.1160 BC), Egyptian Books of the Dead and beautifully illuminated medieval European manuscripts and fine European printed books, as well as Old Master prints. Highlights from East Asia include one of the finest collections of Chinese jade books in the 
world, Japanese picture-scrolls depicting fables and legends, and deluxe woodblock prints." The next exhibition is called "The Sacred Traditions Gallery. Exhibits sacred texts, illuminated manuscripts and miniature paintings from the great religions and systems of belief represented in the collections - Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism with smaller displays on Confucianism, Daoism, Sikhism and Jainism" (Chester Beatty Library website) After cultural overload, we head back towards Grafton Street and buy an ice cream cone and stroll through St. Stephens Green Park. A huge park with walking trails, fountains, lakes, flowers, and park benches. We take a bench, snuggle, talk, and people watch for an hour. We decide we really don't want to go to the Guinness Storehouse and do the beer tour thing. We want to finish off our last night in Dublin the right way. With a good Italian meal and great bottle of wine. Hahaha! No really, that's how we spent our last night. At an Italian restaurant called Milanos. (I know some of you are thinking, how can they eat Italian in Ireland? that's sacrilege! Hey, I've been trying all the traditional Irish dishes since I got here.) So off we go to our hotel to shower and change for dinner. Milanos was a nice time. Afterwards, Boo and I enjoyed a romantic stroll around the neighborhood before we called it a night. We popped into a cute little grocery store, where I bought some scones to have with our tea for our last breakfast in Ireland tomorrow morning.The following morning, we are walking to the aircoach stop, when a taxi driver pulls up and
offers to take us to the airport for the same amount the bus would cost. We could not pass it up. We hop in and are whisked away. What a great cabbie. He gives us some great info on Dublin. He tells us that we actually, without knowing it, stayed in the south, well off, nice part of Dublin, and that north Dublin is the rougher part of town. He shows us the pub in the north end where President Clinton made an impromptu stop with, at the time, Prime Minister of Ireland, Michael McDowell to have a drink and meet some of his childhood friends.Airport check in was pretty quick and easy. We had 2 hours to wait so we went exploring the airport. How about we found the only reggae bar in the entire airport (probably in the entire Island) and decided to just chill for a bit. haha! Somethings can't be helped, they are just meant to be :)
I will miss Ireland. It is a country full of funny, interesting people. The landscape is gorgeous and so different from county to county. We learned alot, laughed alot, walked alot, and will miss it alot. Til the next time we are able to make it back to this beautiful country, I will be sipping on my Jameson and Gingers, reminiscing about green countrysides dotted with sheep, tall and round medieval stone towers, cozy pubs, and roadway round abouts :)
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