Travel Diaries: Dublin ~ Diane's Vintage Zest!

Travel Diaries: Dublin

This is the last chapter in my travel diaries.  Yay!  Let's get into it!


*See the whole trip here!*












Day 1 (Wednesday, 4/24)
  • Eats: Bull & Castle

Well, this was a really short day for us since we got in so late from Galway.  After turning in our rental car (undamaged!) we checked into the hotel.

We were surprised to see Christchurch Cathedral right outside our hotel window!

(Funny story is that the next morning, my guy wakes up and says, "Did you hear someone up late last night banging on a pole or something?"  I had to laugh, because it was the church bells that were ringing all night.  He's such a light sleeper!)




For some reason, my guy was feeling a bit bad, maybe from all of the tarts we had eaten during the day.  So, we stayed in the room for a bit until he was feeling better.

Right across the street, we went to Bull & Castle.  Unfortunately, it was late so we stopped in to have food at their Beer Hall upstairs instead.




It was still pretty great!  My man had a steak sandwich, of course.  :)




I ordered halloumi cheese skewers with veggies.  It was surprisingly good!




Day 2 (Thursday, 4/25)

  • Sights: Guinness Storehouse
  • Eats: Gallagher's Boxty House
  • Drinks: Gogarty's, The Palace Bar

We got a bit of a late start this morning, so for breakfast, we had our last two tarts from Galway.  Yum!




Then, we went to one of my guy's must-do stops.  The Guinness Storehouse!  Yes, this is my third brewery tour of the trip after Heineken in Amsterdam and De Halve Maan in Bruges.




For dinner, we went to Gallagher's Boxty House on Temple Bar.  Yum!




For a starter, I got the potato cakes.




My guy got a clam chowder.  Both were great!




For entrees, we both got boxtys, which are like fluffy crepes made of potato.

They look the same as below, but they were pretty different.  I got the Corned beef & cabbage boxty and my guy got the Chicken boxty.  Delish!!!




We had both gotten the 3-course menu, so we had dessert still coming.

I ordered the Apple boxty, which was amazing!




My guy got the Bailey's cheesecake.  Although this was good, it is pretty common to find similar cheesecakes around the city.  DEFINITELY get the boxty here since it is unique to this place!




Afterwards, we wandered around Temple Bar for a while.  We popped in and out some of the popular places, like Gogarty's, but we ended up at The Palace Bar, which fit just right.  Very Goldilocks of us!





Day 3 (Friday, 4/26)

  • Sights: Merrion Square Park, Jameson Distillery, General Post Office, Trinity College (Book of Kells, Library), Grafton Street, St. Stephen's Green
  • Eats: The Winding Stair, Bobo's
  • Drinks: The Brazen Head, The Auld Dubliner

First, we went to the Merrion Square Park to walk the grounds and take a picture of Oscar Wilde.  Apparently you need to keep your dogs on lead.




Next, we headed towards the other side of town for a tour, but we had about 45 minutes to kill.  On to The Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin.




Next, we went to the Jameson Distillery, where there was a guided tour.  Yep, that's three brewery tours and now a distillery tour.  Yes, I am the best girl.  :)




I did buy a couple of souvenirs that would be the best way for me to sample more whiskey.




We started to walk towards Temple Bar to find somewhere to eat.  On the way, we walked along the river and crossed Ha' Penny bridge!




On the way, I spotted The Winding Stair.  It was a recommendation that we had received, and I'm so glad that they were still serving their set lunch menu.  Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to try their amazing food!




My guy got the halloumi cheese appetizer to start.  Really, really good!




But, I won because I had the most amazing tomato soup of my life.  It was so great that my guy joked that we should probably come back the next day for brunch.  :)




For an entree, we had an amazing roast chicken with snap peas and potatoes.  We were totally stuffed after this because it was so huge!




Afterwards, we shared one dessert that we had seen on several menus: Bread & Butter pudding.  We weren't sure what to expect, but it was absolutely delectable!  I almost wish that we had ordered another dessert because they all sounded so great.




Now for more walking!  We went to the General Post Office, which had some history behind it.




The columns still have some of the bulletholes from the 1916 Easter Rising.




Next, we went towards Trinity College just to walk around the grounds.




However, it turned out that we had just enough time to catch a glimpse of the beautiful library.




First, we saw the Book of Kells, which didn't allow photography.  However, we were allowed to take pictures of the gorgeous library, which more than made up for it.  :)




I want to have just one of these bookshelves in my house.  Not too much to ask, right?




Around the library, there are busts of famous thinkers and the oldest harp in Ireland.  Amazing things everywhere you look!




Afterwards, we went to Grafton Street for a bit of shopping.  I got out of there without purchasing a single thing.  Wooo!




Afterwards, we went to St. Stephen's Green for a stroll through the park.




On our way out of the park, I had to take a picture of this building, not because it is historical.  I just love plant-covered buildings and this one was so pretty!




We headed home to rest up for a bit for the night.

Then, we went to Bobo's for dinner.  We walked by it on our first night, and after looking up places to eat online, I read about how they had great burgers.  I wasn't super hungry, so I figured that I would order something just to keep my guy company.

And then this was placed before me.




Absolutely monster-sized burgers!  It was so delish that I ended up eating almost half of it!  It did make a yummy breakfast the next day.  :)





Day 4 (Saturday, 4/27)

  • Sights: Designermart @ Cow's Lane, Dublin Castle, Dubh Linn Gardens, Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral
  • Eats: The Porterhouse, Queen of Tarts, Pizza Milano
  • Drinks: The Porterhouse, The Auld Dubliner, Temple Bar


We had just a few things to tick off of our last day in Dublin, so we headed off to get those things done.  Lucky for me, there was a cute little craft fair on the way, called Designermart at Cow's Lane!




I wish I was a hat person!




My favorite items by far were these super cute felt wool animals.  This is the cutest snake I've ever seen.  :)




On our way to Dublin Castle, we were a bit confused on how to enter, and we saw a sign for a free tour.  On the second part of the tour, they went to places that we had already seen, so we decided to go for the first part of the tour and then wander off on our own.  It was great and we can't recommend the New Dublin walking tour enough!

First, we were taken to Dublin Castle and the Dubh Linn Gardens (pictures yet to be uploaded), and learned a ton about its history.




After arriving in Temple Bar, we parted ways with the tour and went to The Porterhouse for lunch.




I had the pie of the day, Steak and Onion!  Also, it came with one of the best salads I had of the trip.  Well, maybe it was one of the only salads.  :)




My guy got oysters along with an oyster stout, which is actually brewed with oysters!




And for his main, he had bangers and mash.




On our way to Christchurch cathedral (as if we hadn't had enough of the bells), I picked up a piece of baklava for a quick dessert.  :)




Then, we walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral before it closed for the day.


Picture to be downloaded soon!


Lil Miss got in the photo action with a model of the cathedral!




Even the grounds behind the cathedral were beautiful!  The sun was actually shining too.  :)




We zig zagged all the way back to a cute store that we had seen near Temple Bar, called Industry.




I loved this light fixture!




Since we had such a late lunch, weren't too hungry yet.  However, I thought it would be a good idea to pick something up for either later on that night / the next day in the airport.  Queen of Tarts seemed like a good place to try!




I loved the display of all of their baked goods.




Mmmm!




While we ordered our tarts, I had to snap a few pictures of the interior.  So cute!




Then, we got back to the hotel to pack, pack, and pack some more!

As a treat, we ate the Victorian sponge cake halfway through.  Yum!  I think I want this as my birthday cake.  Pretty please?




Later on that night, we went out to try a couple of bars, including The Auld Dubliner and Temple Bar.  I started to get a bit hungry, so we stopped in for a quick bite at Pizza Milano.  It was okay for being a convenient snack.  :)





Leaving Dublin (Sunday, 4/28)


The next morning, we took the first Airport Bus to finally come home.

At first, my guy thought I was crazy for bringing these tarts for breakfast, but he was grateful when we weren't starving and relying on the terrible airplane snacks that the airlines provided.

Roast chicken tart and spinach ricotta tart for the win!




And for dessert, a chocolate pecan tart that was simply divine.  I'm so glad that they it survived three times through security!





On the way back to California, Andrea from The Walking Dead was on our plane.  Funny!

Anyways, it was a nice, long trip and I'm finally back to normal after beating the jet lag.  Yay!

Stay tuned for some travel tips that I'll begin to post sometime in the next few weeks.

Thanks for welcoming me back!




19 comments:

  1. I found you on "Let's Connect Thursdays"...checked out your blog and was so excited to see you share your travels to Ireland. I am going in August! (Dublin, Kerry, Galway, back to Dublin!) If you have any tips please share! I am going to save your posts and look over them in detail with some coffee later today!!!!

    Anne @ circusberry.wordpress.com

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  2. Great! Later on (but honestly I'm not sure when), I plan to write a little city guide for each place that I visited, including transportation options, museum pass information, etc. E-mail me if you have specific questions!

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  3. Hi Diane, and thanks for visiting my blog. I have also loved reading your Dublin adventures. I think we stayed in the same hotel :-)) I think you have shown very well how good food is in Ireland nowadays, lots of people are still under a wrong impression but food can be amazing in many places around Ireland.
    Thanks for sharing your stories!
    xEva

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  4. I think it was easily some of the best food I had on the trip. You're definitely welcome. :)

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  5. Amazing post. Diane your journey of Ireland looks tremendous. You have a given a perfect information regarding this country and it reminds me my tour of Ireland. I visited the beautiful city of Dublin and it was an astonishing journey full of joy and fun. I think the ideal choice of bus hire made my tour exemplary. Coach hire in South Dublin made it possible.

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  6. Dublin is a beautiful place to visit.
    It is full of everything. It is adventurous, romantic, thrilling and lot of
    fun. I also went there last month and enjoyed a lot on that trip. It was
    amazing, the Irish food is awesome. I liked it a lot, i got so many things from
    Dublin. The markets are very good, it is interesting to do shopping in that. We
    hired a car for travelling there because of that it became very easy for all of
    us to travel. We hired car from Dan dooley car rental and it was amazing to
    drive. You can refer this for further information http://www.dan-dooley.ie/car-rental-hire-dublin-airport.htm

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  7. Hi I am a new follower to your lovely blog (Via G+, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter & Blogvin)and it really feel pleasure meeting new awesome bloggers like you. Found you through Friendship Friday Blog Hop. I would love it if you follow me back

    my blog: wilsontom.blogspot.com

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  8. Good! Make sure to check out the previous two posts when we drove around the south of Ireland!

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  9. What a great post, I almost feel like I got to go to Ireland, too! I do hope to go someday. I hope you'll share this at my History & Home link party, tomorrow (Tue) through Fri, at We Call It Junkin.com Love to see you there. -Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com

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  10. Wow, what a great post! I loved reading every little thing because it brought back wonderful memories of our trip there a few years ago. Thanks for sharing!


    Best wishes,
    Natasha in Oz

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  11. I found you through the Blog Hop and I'm so glad I did! I went to Ireland about a year ago and had the most amazing time! I never realized it before I went but there is so much to see and do in Ireland and I'm really hoping I get to go back one day to spend a little more time. All of your photos are great and the food looked incredible! I loved being in the Temple Bar area in Dublin, especially at night, it was such a fun time :)


    Ivy
    stylelifelovely.blogspot.com

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  12. How amazing! So jealous! :)

    Thanks again for joining the Link Up this week! :)

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  13. Thank you for reading! It's just magical isn't it? Glad I could bring the memories back. :)

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  14. Oh, thanks! We spent 10 days in Ireland driving around the Southern half and we still have so much to see!

    Check out the rest of the trip here if you didn't get your fill :) :
    http://www.vintagezest.com/2013/04/travel-diaries-ireland-part-1.html
    http://www.vintagezest.com/2013/05/travel-diaries-ireland-part-2.html

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  15. I love Dublin! This brings back so many good memories of the fantastic city. The food, the people and the sight seeing are fantastic. Thanks for the pictures!

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  16. Diane, thank you for sharing this post at Treasure Box Tuesday. I visited Ireland a couple of years ago and loved it! Your post brought back lots of good memories. My world trivia is on Ireland tomorrow, so I will feature one of your pictures and link it back to this post.
    Wanda Ann @ Memories by the Mile

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  17. What a coincidence! I had no idea what it was, but I just thought it was so pretty. That must have been so fun to study in Dublin! :)

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  18. Love how you share your travels!! Thanks for linkin up to Sunday FUNday! Featuring you this weekend! XO

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I love to hear your comments! And putting in your two cents is always free. :)

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