Ireland 2013: Part 7

This last blog is going to cover all of our time in Dublin. We were there for two and a half days and I think it was plenty of time to see all of the major sights. The first thing we did upon arriving in Dublin, was to find and check into our hotel. We stayed at Number 31 and it was fabulous. It was for sure the most expensive hotel we stayed in throughout our entire trip. But it was a fantastic way to end our trip. The hotel itself is two buildings that are connected with a beautiful courtyard garden. The weather was nice enough in Dublin that they kept the doors between the buildings open so you could wander back and forth.

When we arrived, we were immediately offered tea or coffee and given a plate of delicious cookies to enjoy while we relaxed and they got our rooms ready for us. The decor was modern, but lush and cozy and extremely inviting. To be honest, it was hard to be convinced to leave the comfy sunken living room with the warm coffee to go to our rooms, but once we saw our rooms it was a different story!

Each room was absolutely stunning with warm colors, like eggplant, mustard, and dark green, velvet drapes and delicious knit throws. It was the perfect way to end our trip!

The foyer of the building in the hotel that housed all of the guest rooms. 

Beautiful chandelier. I'm sad that I didn't get more pictures of our beautiful
accommodations. You should check out their website...linked above!

We spent our first day wandering through St. Stephens Green and shopping on Grafton Street. Thanks to a co-worker of mine, Adam and I discovered our favorite store, Dubarry. We liked it so much that we ended up going there three times...and two of those visits were successful, if you know what I mean. I was able to walk away with a coat that I'm pretty sure I'll wear for the rest of my life...and Adam tells me that I WILL wear it for the rest of my life because that's how long it's going to take to get our money's worth! That said, I actually can't wait for winter...because I'm ready to break it out!

While in Dublin, we ate a lot of great food and saw a lot of great sights. We visiting the Book of Kells at Trinity College. The campus was beautiful and the library even more stunning.

Trinity College

Trinity College

We wandered in and out of churches as we wandered around the city. We were even able to hear a small orchestra practicing for a concert in one of the churches. It was a magical experience.

A trip to Ireland would not be complete with out a good Pub Crawl. So one night we participated in a Literary Pub Crawl that was not only informative, but also highly entertaining...not to mention, we got to enjoy a few drinks along the way!

We toured the Guinness Brewery and had a Guinness in their rooftop bar. The views of the city were magnificent...but we had to fight for a seat!

Sporting my new coat...yes, it was that cold!

As some of you might know, Adam is a HUGE fan of Jameson Irish Whiskey...so we toured their distillery as well. Though the facility is much smaller than the Guinness Brewery, and despite the fact that I don't like whiskey...I thought this tour was great. We learned all about the process of making whiskey and learned about the differences between Scottish, Irish, and American Whiskeys. It was all very interesting and worth the wait!

Outside the Jameson Distillery.

Adam was trying to figure out a way to get this home...Jameson Chandelier!

Statue in St. Stephens Green

Another view of the beautiful St. Stephens Green

I really enjoyed walking through St. Stephens Green. It is a beautiful park filled with wonderful gardens and a pond that is home to ducks, geese, and swans. The weather warmed up later in the day when we were in Dublin and St. Stephens Green was packed with people soaking up the gorgeous sunny weather. If we had had more time, I could envision the perfect little picnic!

We were also able to enjoy a little market on our last full day in Dublin. They had wonderful cheese and vegetables and all types of cuisine. I enjoyed one of my all time favorite food stand staples, a Nutella crepe! It was warm and gooey and wonderful!

Olives at the market.

Fresh cheese...I wish we had markets like this at home!

A beautiful swan strutting his stuff for us in St. Stephens Green.

On our last night, we all went to Mass together in one of the beautiful churches sprinkled throughout Dublin. Afterwards, we celebrated our great trip coming to a close at SHEEHAN'S! This was very exciting...because hey, we could be related! We all walked away with full stomachs...and t-shirts!

Sheehan's was pretty popular!

Though we enjoyed the Guinness, we had to
revert back to our Italian favorite, Peroni!

Think this would fit in our suitcase???

After a great dinner, we walked back to our hotel through St. Stephens Green and saw a family of swans. These cute little babies were the best way to end our last evening in Dublin. I'll be honest, I took like 10 pictures of them! They were so cute!

All in all, our trip was perfect! We saw tons of sights, ate wonderful food, and enjoyed great company. And Adam and I have certainly been bitten by the travel bug...Where will we go next?!