DUBLIN!
we reluctantly left the dream irish countryside to head back to dublin..
luckily lots of fun awaited there too! you can’t go wrong in ireland.
before you scroll through photos of dublin, i have to share the
more entertaining version – chase’s latest vlog from there. he
never shows me a glimpse of these until they are done and i
usually don’t even know when/what he’s filming, so i
get just as big a kick out of them as anyone!
and now my version of our time in dublin..
(ha, it’s okay if you like chase’s take on things better…so do i!)
after spending chase’s birthday eve in the countryside at our favorite
little spot, we arrived back in cloudy dublin on his actual birthday.
we didn’t let the weather rain on our parade and decided to hop right
on a double decker green bus we found using this Public transport map of Dublin. We wanted to see the sights without getting drenched
and/or blown right off the streets. we sure got a taste of irish weather!
how cute are these green buses? can’t help but hop on one to
ride the streets and listen to the cute driver talk about ireland in his
accent. sometimes these hop on & off tours can be the best way to get a
feel for a city and an easy means of transport (especially when it’s cold!)
bus selfie in the rain ^^
i love dublin for the flower planters everywhere, and for
having such thing as a “leprechaun museum.” amazing.
we had ample rations for our ride, AKA cadbury chocolate ;)
did i mention i surprised chase with some irish colored balloons
and made him walk around the entire city with them?
he was getting so many funny looks, but he had to do it!
we worked with visit ireland and used the dublin freedom passes
which give you exactly that: freedom to use city buses, the bus tour,
entrance to main sights, and all the fun you want! it also got us from the
airport straight into town after dropping our car. it made things easy as
they have such a good system. plus, bonus points for wifi on the buses!
due to the rain + our tiredness, this is the best view we got
of st. patrick’s cathedral.. haha! you win some, you lose some.
^^ trinity college, dublin’s #1 sight.
the irish president’s home, rainy roads, and monuments.
we didn’t get out at the guiness storehouse for a drink, but
you can bet we did get out at the irish sweet shop for our fix! :)
^^ chase braved the rainy open top part of the bus to get some footage
(of course)
after some bus touring we were feeling the effects of our lingering
jet lag and the exhausting road trip around ireland, so we
retreated to our croke park hotel for a bit to recover, tour the
stadium right across from the hotel, and order room service..
a kind of luxury that should be enjoyed once in a while when necessary, like
on birthdays when you’re tired and cold :) yes, that is nutella hot cocoa. ^^
this hotel was so nice and just what we needed on these tiring days.
being sports fans we also loved that it’s the croke park hotel, across
from the main stadium where all of the big hurling, gaelic football,
and rugby matches! there was a major match happening while we
were here, so we got to see the game day frenzy…our cup of tea!
after some r&r it was back on the bus and into downtown for
some birthday shopping for chase, pub exploring, and dinner!
another perk is that the bus stopped right at our hotel (win!)
i have transferred my LOVE of primark (and its cute clothes +
cheapest prices) to chase so he chose to start his bday shopping
spree here. the best part is it was started in ireland, originally called
penney’s, so we went to the first flagship location! now it’s through
europe but it was fun to shop in the very first one. also, pssst.. i hear
it’s coming to the USA this fall! lucky east coasters, getting it first.
we stopped into the huge google dublin office – google’s headquarters in
europe – so it was a fun one to see, and we both knew people in this office!
then it was into temple bar to stroll the cute streets & pubs.
chase wanted to visit the famous temple bar itself, so
we headed there for some pub music first. the fiddle in the
band playing was surprisingly great. i could have listened all night!
we ducked off the cobblestone streets into elephant & castle
which looked the best to us. we ended up loving the food + atmosphere.
if you find yourself in dublin, please get the shrimp sandwich here.
our irish fun came to an end and we headed out the next day.
on to denmark we go!
^^ on the left was flying in to ireland, and the right
was flying out of it. absolutely beautiful in any light.
goodbye, ireland.
i already told you i’ll be back!
xoxoxo