Back to Dublin
After a day in the Irish countryside, it was back to Dublin for our final two days there. Tuesday, we visited St. Patrick’s cathedral, which had a pretty garden area in the back. There was also a row of graves, including Samuel Beckett’s, which I saw. We then navigated our way to Dublin Castle, which is actually right in the city, and we signed up for a tour. The guide led us through the old rooms, teaching us about regal history and daily life; the rooms had all sorts of old furniture, art, and portraits. The castle was surprisingly in good shape, although a couple of its towers had collapsed. We went down into the remains of one of the towers where we saw models of what the castle looked like when it was fully standing.
After the castle, we headed to a major shopping area in Dublin to do some gift-buying. Not long into the shopping, though, our stomachs demanded lunch and so commenced a search for a pub where we could eat. Overall, we enjoyed the food in Dublin (and appreciated it even more when we got to Paris). The pub atmosphere was cute and cozy, often with candles on tables in dimly lit rooms. And the prices were great; we loved that we could order dishes that would come with sides (salad, coleslaw, potato wedges) rather than having to order four separate courses and ring up quite a bill, the way we do in Italy. It was very agreeable to our budgets.
So, we found a pub where we had some salad, cheese, bread, and soup. Everything was so homemade and tasty. And it was great to escape the cold and warm up a bit! The weather in Dublin was a lot colder than the Italian weather we’ve been used to, so we weren’t prepared for the cold temperatures we encountered there.
Wednesday was our last day in Dublin, as we flew that evening to Paris. The sun actually came out that morning, so we got to enjoy a rare sunny day in Ireland! We took advantage of the nice weather, and walked around the campus of Trinity College, which was really nice. We then made our way to St. Stephen’s Green, which was filled with Dubliners enjoying the beautiful day! I really enjoyed the park, with the little stream running through it and the deep green grass. I would have liked to stay longer, but we had to get some lunch before journeying to the airport.
So, we had a final pub luncheon, which sadly wasn’t the best. My condiment-fearing friend, Erin, received some sort of creamy dressing on her sandwich; and I was served the wrong meal, and therefore had to wait a while for it to be replaced. But it was our only complaint with eating in Ireland; just unfortunate that it was our sendoff meal! At least I got some tasty hot chocolate there, complete with whipped cream!
|
