Abroad in Dublin, Ireland

What do you think of when I say Dublin? I am guessing, Guinness beer, four leaf clovers, leprechauns or maybe even kissing the blarney stone. Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland, is on Ireland’s east coast. It has great historical buildings that have lasted centuries.

I have to share that I was only going to be in Dublin for about 60 hours, so this blog will be a bit shorter. In spite of the limited time in Dublin, I was determined to see as much as possible.

The first stop after checking into my hotel, I was going to take a tour of the oldest, Dublin Castle, dating to the 13th century, and imposing St Patrick’s Cathedral, was founded back  in 1191. As soon as I entered the gates, i could see the old wall that had four tall corner towers connected by a high wall and all of that enclosed a huge central enclosure where they had  actors playing famous role in Ireland history, both men and women.

Inside the castle was quite striking. Some rooms were done as a replica and some were in their original state. Seeing the Grand ballroom and the staircase, was pretty cool.

After the castle, I walked over to the famous Temple bar to get the obligatory pint. The Temple Bar is one of the most famous pubs in Dublin. ... His son, Sir John Temple, went onto developed what we know as Temple Bar after a 'sea wall' was built in 1656 to hold back the Liffey. The Liffey is a river in E Republic of Ireland, rising in the Wicklow Mountains and flowing west, then northeast through Dublin into Dublin Bay.

After finishing my pint (I don’t even like beer) I took a stroll over the Ha’Penny bridge.

The Ha’Penny bridge a few cool fun facts. About 30,000 pedestrians cross the bridge every day, it’s 85 % original even after refurbishments and it was the only pedestrian bridge for 184 years.

It was a long day, so I was off to my hotel to get some sleep. I had one full day to explore before I had to jump on a plane and head home. As I walked back to the hotel, I decided to book an all day trip to Wicklow.

After a good night’s sleep and a big breakfast, I was off to the pick up spot to begin the tour.

The tour to Wicklow and Glendalough was great. I was able to see the countryside. The tour gives you a chance to see the best of Dublin city in the morning and then explore "the Garden of Ireland" County Wicklow all in one day. Explore Glendalough during a two hour stop. This is one of the most spectacular glacial valleys in all of Ireland. St Kevin established a famous monastic settlement in the valley of two lakes during the 6th century. We even had a visit to Guinness Lake. We had a chance to walk through the valley of two lakes and saw upper and lower at Glendalough. Beautiful!

We also went through the Wicklow Mountains National Park and saw its We saw remote glacial lakes, waterfalls and spectacular mountain passes. And as a bonus- we saw the film locations of PS I Love You, Brave Heart, and Vikings. After a several hour tour, we boarded the bus and headed back to Dublin city center.

After the tour I strolled along O’Connell street to grab dinner and another pint. After dinner I made a point to walk over and see the statue of Mr. O’ Connell and get pictures of the statue built in his honor. It was then time to head back to my room . A midday flight would only allow me to grab breakfast before it was time to take off.

The next morning, I was off to grab a traditional breakfast at O’Neills. They are one of the oldest restaurants in all of Dublin. They have been serving Dublin for over 300 years and it was DELICIOUS. A quick stroll back to my hotel and I would be off to the airport. That my ladies and gentleman is my 60 hours in Dublin. If you plan on doing a similar trip, I would love to hear about it!

As always darling stay tuned to see where we are headed to next! Also follow me on Instagram =)