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!*

Bruges
Brussels
Ireland - Part 1
Ireland - Part 2
Dublin (this post!)

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!