Dublin for Canada Day

Let me start off with a quick recap of Friday June 29th. I went to work, went home, and then went out for "a drink" for a goodbye party for two of the flatmates who moved out this weekend. It was supposed to be one drink as I had to be up at 4am to go to the airport. Well one drink turned into many and before I knew it I was drinking vinegar out of pint glasses. That was when I realised it was 12:30 and I should be heading home. Well 4am came much to fast but I dragged myself out of bed and ran into the rest of the flatmates who were just coming back..... hahahaha.

The trip over the Dublin was pretty uneventful. I slept the whole 45min on the plane. Upon arriving I made my way into the city centre and went over the hostel. It was located in the middle of the city right by the famous millennium spire (to me its looks like a giant needle). As I wasn't allowed to check into the hostel until 2pm I made my way back into the city and decided to do a few touristy things before trying to find Kim who I was meeting up with out there. First I walked down the Liffey River and along it until I cut in behind temple bar so see all the famous bars to snap off a few photos as I was planning on leaving my camera behind when I returned to this area later that night.


My first main stop was Christchurch Cathedral which was built in around 1030AD and is one of the most remarkable cathedrals I have seen. It was quite unique with its bridge and a main road splitting it in half. Also in the crypt the had a lot of old religious books and treasures from around the world. Just down the road from Christchurch is the most famous cathedral in Ireland, called St. Patrick’s. Granted it was huge and impressive but I still think that Christchurch is superior in regards to Architecture and features. Still both are worth checking out.

The rest of the afternoon I spent walking around the parks and residential areas of Dublin. Some really nice places and some... well not so nice. Check out the photo of the BMW....



After this I made my way back to the giant Dublin Spire and back to the hostel where I was finally allowed to check in. This is where I met up with Kim who was already in the room. After catching up we started our walk over to the far side of town to check out the Guinness Storehouse. The line up was fairly short and after we both got in for student prices we made our way around the tour up the 6 floors to finish off with the best pint of Guinness I have ever had in the Gravity bar. The bar is enclosed in nothing but glass windows and gives a spectacular view over Dublin.


The remainder of the day was spent wondering around Trinity college and the shopping district before we went to go and get ready for a night at temple bar.

After a few cheap pints at the hostel bar we went into town and met up with one of my friends from work who happened to be out there the same weekend. We had a drink with him before heading to temple bar where we ended up befriending a few brits out on a stag night from Liverpool who wanted to buy as drinks because we were singing Liverpool footballs songs with them in the middle of the bar. hahahaha.


Our first stop for the 2nd day was the Jameson distillery where we were drinking whiskey at 10:00am. The tour was great and I highly recommend it to all of you if you make your way to Dublin.



As it was Canada day we had to do something typically Canadian. After a search for Tim Hortons (yes there are a few in Dublin for some reason) and some help terrible information from the tourist centre we were still struggling to find it. We jumped into a internet cafe where within no time at all we found the location and set off again. This time to our success we found the Tim Hortons and enjoyed a coffee and donut to celebrate Canada Day. I think we had a few odd looks from people around us as we took photos from every possible angle of the cups, donuts, and signs.

Kim had to make her way back to the town she is living in which is about an hour away so I spent the evening walking down the bay (about 45min away). After one final walk around the city centre I caught the late bus out to the airport and found a bench in the airport where I managed to get a few hours sleep. My plane left at 6:30am and arrived in Bristol about 7:30. Just enough time for me to get the bus to work, get changed, and start working. Needless to say I was exhausted but it was a great weekend away from England. Thanks again to Kim who met up with me and showed me around Dublin and who got me a free drink off the Liverpool fans in the bar. hahahaha. Good times!



Oh and don't worry I did find the hard rock cafe!!! Another one to cross off the list.